The reception of US student motivation letters
The function, form and significance of the genre in the Spanish university discourse community
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.34870Keywords:
academic genre, discourse community, reception, Spanish higher education system, student motivation letterAbstract
Although student motivation letters are yet to receive interest within Spanish scholarly circles, the genre is starting to be used to gauge students’ potential for university admission, especially at the master’s and doctoral levels. This paper intends to establish the current status of motivation letters in the Spanish university discourse community and to determine the genre’s basic features (communicative purpose, structure, content and style) as it is developing in Spanish. Public information on Spanish motivation letters, drawn from a survey of online and print material for writing effective motivation letters and from a selection of 25 Master of Business Administration programmes, indicates that the genre is not well established. Genre analysis of eight samples specifically tailored by Spanish universities further points towards genre instability and differences – as regards salient features – from its counterpart in the United States. My findings show that the communicative purpose of the genre within the Spanish context is informed by the cultural norms and preferences shared by members of the Spanish academic milieu.
References
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Samraj, B. and Monk, L. (2008) The statement of purpose in graduate program applications: Genre structure and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes 27 (2): 193–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2007.07.001
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Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi. org/10.1075/pbns.41.06swa
Swales, J. (1996) Occluded genres in the academy: The case of the submission letter. In E. Ventola and A. Mauranen (eds) Academia Writing: Intercultural and Textual Issues, 45–58. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Yates, J., Orlikowski, W. J. and Okamura, K. (1999) Explicit and implicit structuring of genres: Electronic communication in a Japanese R&D organization. Available online: http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/CCSWP188.html https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.1.83
Zarzar Charur, C. (2016) Taller de Lectura y Redacción: Para Bachillerato General. Mexico City: Grupo Editorial Patria.
Bhatia, V. K. (2004) Worlds of Written Discourse. London: Continuum.
Boletín Oficial del Estado (2010) Real Decreto 861/2010, de 2 de de julio, por el que se modifica el Real Decreto 1393/2007, de 29 de octubre, por el que se establece la ordenación de las enseñanzas universitarias oficiales. Boletín Oficial del Estado 161: 58454–58468.
Brown, R. M. (2004) Self-composed: Rhetoric in psychology personal statements. Written Communication 21 (3): 242–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088304264338
Burguera Serra, J. G. (2006) Mecanismos argumentativos en las cartas al director: La interrogación retórica. Pragmalingüística 14: 7–23. https://doi.org/10.25267/Pragmalinguistica.2006.i14.01
Chen, S. (2017) Disciplinary variations in academic promotional writing: The case of statements of purpose. Functional Linguistics 4 (4). Available online: https://doi. org/10.1186/s40554-017-0041-9
Chiu, Y. T. (2015) Personal statement in PhD applications: Gatekeepers evaluative perspectives. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 17: 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jeap.2015.02.002
Córdova Jiménez, A. (2011) Las cartas al director como género periodístico. Zer-Revista de Estudios de Comunicación 16 (30): 189–202.
Cron, A. W. (2010) The Statement of Purpose in Applications to PhD Programs in Rhetoric and Composition: An Activity Theory Analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH.
Dainty, P. and Anderson, M. (2008) The MBA Companion. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-29456-2
Ding, H. (2007) Genre analysis of personal statements: Analysis of moves in application essays to medical and dental schools. English for Specific Purposes 26 (3): 368–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2006.09.004
GAO (2007) Highlights of a GAO Forum: Global Competitiveness Implications for the Nation’s Higher Education System. Available online: http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/203073.html
Garrido Medina, J. (2005) La persuasión en las cartas del director. Estructura del discurso, proceso de resumen y evaluación de estrategias retóricas. Llengua Societat i Comunicaciò 3: 31–46.
Gaston, P. L. (2010) The Challenge of Bologna: What United States Higher Education Has to Learn from Europe, and Why It Matters that We Learn It. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Gelb, A. (2013) Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Johnstone, B. D. (2010) American higher education in an increasingly globalized world: The way ahead. In B. D. Johnstone, M. B. d’Ambrosio and P. J. Yakoboski (eds) Higher Education in a Global Society, 200–214. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Krasniqi, F. (2014) La Carta Literaria: Historia y Formas. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
Kriebernegg, U. (2011) The Transatlantic Dialogue on Higher Education: An Analysis of Cultural Narratives. Berlin: Logos.
López-Ferrero, C. and Bach, C. (2016) Discourse analysis of statements of purpose: Connecting academic and professional genres. Discourse Studies 18 (3): 268–310. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1461445616634553
MECD (2013) Datos básicos del sistema universitario español: Curso 2013-2014. Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Available online: https://www.mecd.gob.es/prensamecd/dms/mecd/prensa-mecd/actualidad/2014/02/20140213-datos-univer/datoscifras-13-14.pdf
Mesa-Arroyo, M. P. (2005) Un Análisis Pragmático, Comunicativo y Semántico-gramatical de la Carta de Presentación en Español. Available online: http://www.fil.bg.ac.rs/wpcontent/uploads/obavestenja/iberijske/ehes21/19Mesa%20Arroyo.pdf
Orlikowski, W. J. and Yates, J. (1994) Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly 39 (4): 541–574. https://doi. org/10.2307/2393771
Samraj, B. and Monk, L. (2008) The statement of purpose in graduate program applications: Genre structure and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes 27 (2): 193–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2007.07.001
Schneider, C. (2010) Foreword. In P. L. Gaston (author) The Challenge of Bologna: What United States Higher Education Has to Learn from Europe, and Why It Matters that We Learn It, xi–xix. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Shaw, P. (2016) Genre analysis. In K. Hyland and P. Shaw (eds) The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes, 243–255. London: Routledge.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi. org/10.1075/pbns.41.06swa
Swales, J. (1996) Occluded genres in the academy: The case of the submission letter. In E. Ventola and A. Mauranen (eds) Academia Writing: Intercultural and Textual Issues, 45–58. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Yates, J., Orlikowski, W. J. and Okamura, K. (1999) Explicit and implicit structuring of genres: Electronic communication in a Japanese R&D organization. Available online: http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/CCSWP188.html https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.1.83
Zarzar Charur, C. (2016) Taller de Lectura y Redacción: Para Bachillerato General. Mexico City: Grupo Editorial Patria.
Published
2019-08-28
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Fernández-Gil, M. J. (2019). The reception of US student motivation letters: The function, form and significance of the genre in the Spanish university discourse community. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 12(3), 266-288. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.34870
