Genre analysis of persuasive texts: Sales correspondence, invitations and charity appeals, and pedagogical implications

This study adopted a genre-based approach to analyse the move structures and linguistic features of three types of persuasive messages, namely sales correspondence, invitations and charity appeals. The corpus software, Wmatrix, was used to identify the persuasive appeals (logos, ethos and pathos) and the corresponding language features in different moves. Results show that the three different persuasive texts have their respective move structures, and different linguistic features are found in specific moves. The discussion of similarities and differences involved in doing persuasion for sales correspondence, invitations and charity appeals generates a clearer picture of what persuasion is about and the different ways that can be used to realise it. Implications are drawn as to how teachers can develop corresponding teaching materials and learning resources for business English courses and for improving students’ persuasive use of English in workplace communication.