An Interactive Genre within the University Textbook: The Preface

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 1999

An Interactive Genre within the University Textbook: The Preface

María José Luzón Universidad de Zaragoza

Abstract

This article examines the communicative categories and linguistic features of university textbook prefaces. The textbook preface is a highly interactive genre, with a double purpose: informative and promotional. The analysis of the genre moves and of their realization reveals that the preface is used by the author both to help the audience use the book and to convince them of the value of the book. This twofold purpose accounts for the most relevant features of prefaces: the frequent use of textual metadiscourse and the pervasive presence of evaluation. The criteria used in the preface to evaluate the textbook are related to the audience's expectations about introductory textbooks: novelty, usefulness, accessibility, comprehensiveness, importance, and interest.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 1999-10-01
DOI: 10.2190/105d-fd18-g6kk-uyt2
Open Access: Closed
Topics: disability studies

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Luzón (2007)

The Added Value Features of Online Scholarly Journals

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (1)

Freedman (1993)

Show and Tell? The Role of Explicit Teaching in the Learning of New Genres

Research in the Teaching of English

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