Abstract

In the past twenty years, many scholars have studied the genre and genre analyses in the field of linguistic research. Many genre analyses of different discourse have been studied in professional settings. But because of the influence of culture, there are many differences between genre analysis of Chinese and English cover letters.
The thesis analyses the English and Chinese cover letters from the move analysis. The contrastive case analysis between the Chinese and English cover letters shows there exist the certain homogeneity. The generic structure of Chinese letters is more complex than that in English letters, Chinese letters has eight moves and English counterparts has six moves respectively. The results indicates that foreign writers pay more attention to Bhatia’s model in their letters, while the typical generic structure of the cover letters are less conscious by the Chinese writers. The differences may be the influence of the factors of social-cultural contexts.
The research indicates that it is necessary for us to have an analysis of genre application letters from the point of social cognition and discourse, which not only benefit to reveal integral characters of the forms of the job letters, but also provides valuable suggestions to job hunters.
 
Key words: move analysis  genre analysis  comparative analysis   English and Chinese job application letter

摘要  

近二十年来, 许多学者开始对体裁和体裁分析进行了研究, 包括许多不同类型的语篇。由于受文化差异的影响，中英文求职信在体裁上也存在很大的差异。
本篇论文从话步分析的角度对中英文求职信的体裁进行了比较研究，研究显示中英文求职信虽然有一些相同的体裁特征，但是由于文化和社会环境的差异也造成了两种求职信之间的明显的差别。中文求职信有八个不同的话步，英文求职信有六个不同的话步.他们在求职信体裁中也产生了不同的效果。研究结果表明不同的文化和语言环境导致求职信体裁发生很大的变化。
研究表明, 从话步分析的视角对中英文求职信进行的体裁分析, 不仅能表现出求职信体裁的整体特点, 为求职者的求职信提供指导性建议, 而且有助于增强我们的的宏观认知能力和批判性思维的能力。
 
关键词:话步分析；体裁分析；对比分析；中英文求职信

Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Background
Language is an important tool for communication in nature. With the social development and the progress of modern science and technology, more and more people are trying to seek a job to enhance the quality of life. How to find a satisfactory job is a big problem for them. Everyone needs to prepare for the letter of application, if they are applying for a position. The cover letter is a medium for telling prospective employers whether the applicant fits the job. It serves as an introduction to applicants and transmits a professional impression to the prospective employers thus improving interview opportunities. So it plays a very important role in deciding whether or not applicants have bright interviews prospect.