Abstract:

This article analyzes evaluation reports in the genre system of a university's retention, promotion and tenure (RPT) process. We first discuss how intertextuality in the report genre is mandated by the RPT genre system and analyze how writers use strategies that reflect institutional values of fairness and objectivity as well as different kinds of power in the system. We then consider how RPT report writers express stance about negative information in a faculty member's file in ways that show interpersonal sensitivity toward multiple audiences, including themselves. The study lends further understanding to how texts within genre systems balance intertextual and interpersonal concerns in order to achieve different functions in an institution.

Author: Rong Chen, Sunny Hyon