Genre Awareness: Crossing Discourse Community BordersSarah Anderson

The concept of genre awareness is not a new idea, but it is one that has been

frequently discussed in recent years. This is seen as a result of a growing concern that

higher education writing is not preparing its graduates for the work they will be doing in

their career field (Beaufort; Davis & Birbili; Dirk; Devitt, Bawarshi, & Reiff). Carolyn

Miller pushed the idea forward in her often referenced article “Genre as Social Action”

with the idea that genres should be defined on what action they accomplish rather than

their form or language, which is more often than not the focus of college-level essays

(151). In her book “Writing in the Real World,” Anne Beaufort follows the career paths

of several graduates as they enter the workforce and learn the differences between

business writing and college essays. In several instances, these writers find themselves

writing in a genre from outside of the discourse community in which it resides. Beaufort

shows that experience is necessary to gain a foothold in these areas and that even then

that may not be enough. To be effective, the writer must understand their writing, their

audience, and where the genre fits into and helps to mold the discourse community, while

it is being molded itself.

This analysis investigates the project charter genre, used by industrial engineers.

By looking at specific examples, it is possible to see how a genre is defined by the

discourse community in which it resides. Beyond the accepted genre guidelines, the

discourse community itself has an effect on the project charters as well. Because of the

broad range of client discourse communities, the engineers compiling these documents

need to be conscious of the fact that project charters are dynamic and have an effect upon

the audience in the discourse community through their ability to cause social action. A

meta-cognitive awareness of the impact of these documents is crucial to ensure that the

genre has the desired influence on its readers. The writer needs to have an awareness of

the impact of the work by itself within the discourse community, not just by the genre it

is a part of.

The industrial engineering field is wide and varied, and its engineers’ writing

communicates with those who do not necessarily understand the profession. Industrial

engineers often work to make an assembly line produce more efficiently. They could also

work in a hospital improving the system that gets patients through from start to finish,

and they work in the information technology sector making information more accessible

and error-free. This variety allows industrial engineers’ positions to range from working

on a factory floor to helping to make decisions in the office of the CEO of a major

corporation. Because of its many viewpoints, those in the industrial engineering field are

constantly finding that they must angle their writing in such a way so as for those outside

of the discourse community to understand and accept it. With their close collaboration

with writers of different backgrounds and professions, one can even go even as far as to

say that outside of some exceptions such as between academics, industrial engineers are

always writing within others’ discourse communities a concept that has not been given

much light in research in the past.

The project charter is arguably the most important writing an industrial engineer

will do on a semi-regular basis because of the implications of its effects. This document

sets out to define the scope of a process improvement project, outlining the problem, the

members on the team and the project sponsor, the project’s objectives, including benefits,

and its goals. There are many factors to consider in writing this document. It cannot be

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too vague or there will be no way of knowing if the goals have been accomplished, but

specifics are not always possible with the information available at the time. The real

challenge is presenting the charter in a way that convinces superior executives and

project stakeholders that the project is worthwhile. Having upper level support and

cooperation is key to a successful project. This document is compiled by industrial

engineers, often collaborating with those from other departments or professions, and is

presented to the person(s) responsible for deciding whether or not to proceed with the

endeavor.

Berkenkotter and Hucken note that genres are dynamic and must account for “the

fact that recurring situations resemble each other only in certain ways and only to a

certain degree” (481). The aim of the project charter genre is to describe the many facets

of a project in a way that convincingly presents the reasons a project should be carried

out. The diversity of the types of business projects that can be embarked on means that

there are different needs in each of these situations, so the project charter should cater to

that need.

One project charter, compiled by the California Department of Social Services

and the Department of Health Care Services, outlines the goal of improving the quality of

care given to foster children. This project specifically outlines the use of psychotropic

medication (drugs such as tranquilizers, sedatives, and antidepressants that affect mental

activity) and the plan to more efficiently and effectively prescribe these to the youth in

their system. The charter is designed so that a person can look at it and easily find the

data they are looking for. This is done by the use of headlines and bullet points, rather

than paragraph form. On the first page it includes a list of customer benefits, an obvious

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gain when considering the potential business venture. It is incomplete, leaving space to

add stakeholder benefits and a budget.

Another charter set up by the California Secretary of State’s Business Programs

Division aims to conduct an overhaul of the existing information system. It begins by

expressing the need for the project, immediately giving the audience an understanding of

why they should be invested in the solution offered by the outcome. It goes on to give the

scope of the project and its various aspects, again easily found using the headers. This

document is put out by a higher government office and is therefore presented more

formally with some sections in paragraph form.

Comparing the samples, it is also possible to find patterns within the genre. One

aspect that both charters have in common is the specificity of the objectives: “Reduce

rate…by 25%,” “100% of entered data,” and “10 business days or less.” These exact

numbers are a crucial characteristic of project charters. They set goals and act as a

measure of success. They appeal to the audience’s logic, giving proof of the benefits of

the project. The charters also set up milestones to accomplish by certain dates, much of

which covers work that is done before the project itself even begins. The success of the

project is considerably dependent on the accuracy of the charter, as it establishes the

resources that will be required so they can be budgeted for. A project charter is a piece of

writing which not only acts as a catalyst for action by a group of people, it gives

instructions on what they are to do, when to do it, and why it is important. This is all done

in language understandable by those involved in the project, whether they are industrial

engineers or not.

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The project charters both have the same fundamental design but are planned with

their respective audiences in mind and therefore change according to the circumstance.

The Business Programs division had to compare bids for different information systems,

which required a very detailed description of their requirements for such an undertaking,

whereas the Social Services needed to include the various organizations whose criteria

they must meet.

Project genres are most often situated in the discourse community of the client

that is contracting the project and must be approached as such. Both Anne Beaufort and

Amy Devitt look at situations in which the authors are writing in a genre that is outside of

their discourse community. Beaufort follows writers who are new to the genres of press

releases, request letters, and grant proposals, all of which require insight into their

audience and an awareness of the aims of the documents in regards to their audience’s

response. She reaffirms Miller, saying that “the key to understanding the intricacies of the

genre lies not so much in linguistic complexities but rather in the genre’s function within

a given discourse community” (120). An engineer cannot hope to produce a successful

charter without an awareness of how it and resulting project will make a difference in the

way the business is operated. Anis Bawarshi looks at a specific genre, the patient medical

history form (PMHF), and analyzes it from the viewpoints of the many different people

of different discourse communities that come into contact with it. The number of people

coming in contact with a project charter is similar to Bawarshi’s demonstration of the

effect of the overlap of discourse communities found in the patient medical history form.

Devitt examines the consequences of writing in a genre for those outside of a

discourse community using the example of jury instructions, noting that the situation is

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more complex than an instance of a genre “simply cross[ing] community borders” (549).

These projects, such as the one involving prescribing drugs to foster children, can have

consequences within the discourse community that are more far-reaching than initially

intended, and it is crucial that the scope of the project is investigated thoroughly to be the

most prepared for the outcome. It is important for those writing project charters to not be

aware only of the purpose of the genre itself, but of the purpose of the specific instance at

hand, and the material consequences that come of composing these documents. This also

includes writing the charter in a way that is clear and understandable for all involved.

When composing any written work, it is important to follow accepted genre

guidelines in order for the writing to be recognized and understood under the

circumstances in which it is written. That being said, the manner in which the work is

composed is also affected by the discourse community that will be reading the document.

In order to navigate the many discourse communities that the genre may fall under

(which may be multiple), the writer must be aware of the implications made by the

document within a given discourse community, whether they identify with it or not, and

they must foresee as many potential outcomes as possible that will result from publishing

it. This awareness will allow the document to accomplish the genre-specific and

situation-specific goals intended for the work when it was conceived.

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Appendix

Quality Improvement Project Charter (2012)California Department of Social Services, Department of Health Care Services http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/cbc/project-charter/cbc-project-charter-v6-4-final-2011-08-26.pdf

California Business Connect Project Charter (August 2011)California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Business Programs Division http://www.youthlaw.org/fileadmin/ncyl/youthlaw/policy_legislation/20121016-psychdrugs-quality-improve-charter.pdf

Bibliography

Beaufort, Anne. “Learning New Genres: The Convergence of Knowledge and Action.” Writing in the Real World. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. 103-137. Print.

---. “Transferring Writing Knowledge to the Workplace, Are We on Track?” Expanding Literacies: English Teaching and the New Workplace. Ed. Mary Sue Garay and Stephen A. Bernhardt. State University of New York Press, 1998. Print.

Berkenkotter, Carol, and Thomas N. Hucken. “Rethinking Genre From a Sociocognitive Perspective.” Written Communication 10.4 (1993) 475-509. Print.

Davis, Chris and Maria Birbili. “What do People Need to Know About Writing in Order to Write in Their Jobs?” British Journal of Educational Studies 4 (2000) 429-445. Print.

Devitt, Amy J, Anis Bawarshi, and Mary Jo Reiff. “Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities.” College English 5 (2003) 541-558. Print.

Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 1 (2010) 249-262. Print.

Miller, Carolyn R. "Genre As Social Action." Quarterly Journal of Speech 70.2 (1984): 151-167. Print.

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