attributes are very closely related because the boundaries of the text will be determined by each communicative event. The criteria for identifying moves are, then, both non-linguistic and linguistic, with emphasis placed on the former. The non-linguistic element is related to content of the text and determines where a task, or a section of the text starts and where it ends, thus setting textual boundaries. The linguistic elements are forms mainly chosen for encoding moves. A typical move can be realised by a set of linguistic choices, of which the actual form found in the text is only one type. However, Swales (1981, 1986, 1990) contributes to the units of analysis in that he sees moves as related to the realisation of communicative purposes of genre.
In addition, moves can be explained further using schema theory. A text can be divided into a hierarchical set of stages. According to Swales (1990), a text belonging to a certain genre is seen as having the communicative purposes of the genre. A text is also seen as composed of a set of moves and steps. Therefore, in a text, communicative purposes can be seen as the highest level which is, in turn, related to moves and steps. A move can be seen as accomplishing a specific task and, at the same time, contributing to the realisation of the communicative purposes in general in so doing.
Through these kinds of interwoven relationships, Swales (1990) processes a text using an approach similar to top-down processing. First of all, he aims to find the
communicative purposes of the genre, and then to identify moves and steps in order to see how they are related to the communicative purposes. Here there does not need to be a one- to-one correspondence between the communicative purposes and moves. A communicative purpose can be realised in one or more moves.
The relationship between moves and steps is of a ‘consists o f nature and one move can consist of one or more steps. The steps are the lower level of the text, and represent smaller tasks a move can be divided into, or alternative strategies for realising the move. One move can be taken as one step if no further steps exist under this move. These steps can also contribute directly to the realisation of communicative purposes. Some steps within a move are compulsory and some are optional. In this way, choices are given to ways of realising communicative purposes, and a genre analyst or learner will not be confined by rigid rules. Instead, s/he can follow a reliable guideline linking the communicative purposes to the lower levels of moves and steps.
However, Swales’ (1981, 1986, 1990) analysis mainly focuses on moves and steps, and lacks a thorough analysis as to how communicative purposes, or moves and steps, are realised in linguistic forms. This means that he mainly examines the major communicative events of a text, but does not examine fully how these are realised by linguistic choices. According to schema theory, moves and steps do not represent the bottom level of information processing because they are still what the reader or analyst abstracts from the content of the text. The bottom level of a text should refer to the data in the printed form — the linguistic forms. This study will give a more thorough analysis of linguistic forms. However, it will avoid detailed analysis of the actual forms in most cases and focus on the linguistic choices that are used as strategies to realise communicative purposes, moves and steps.
In this way, a primary network of top-down analysis will be applied in this study: communicative purposes are seen as the highest level, which are closely related to each of the lower levels, such as moves, steps and linguistic forms. On the other hand, these purposes are used as the key for determining moves and steps. The linguistic choices are seen as the specific strategies used to realise moves and steps.
In addition, a bottom-up process will also be applied where necessary, such as determining what meaning the specific linguistic choices can have, and how well these choices can be used to express moves and steps. One may note that it is the nature of choices that is important for this study. As noted earlier regarding the definition of genre, linguistic forms are seen as choices rather than something fixed to express communicative purposes. Any move may be realised by a number of forms, and a writer or learner can be provided with a set of these choices. S/he can then use them as constraints and conventions of writing the genre.
Therefore, I will not hesitate to adopt moves in my analysis. However, since the genres concerned in this study are related to letter forms, the moves will be divided into two kinds: one relating to the formulaic moves, eg. the use of headings, salutations, greetings, well-wishes, date and signature; and the other relating to the content moves that reside in the main body of the letter. A detailed study of these in each sales genre will be given in relevant chapters of this thesis.