Rhetorical Genre Studies for a Sustainable Future

Tosh Tachino, Ph.D., is a university lecturer and a language and communication consultant. His research involves the intersection of academic research and public policy, and he examines knowledge mobilization from linguistic and rhetorical perspectives.

Transcript

1. Rhetorical Genre Studies for A Sustainable Future Tosh Tachino (The University of Electro- Communications) Diana Wegner (Douglas College [Emerita]) Shurli Makmillen (Douglas College) CASDW-ACR 2024 The Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing / l’Association canadienne de rédactologie (CASDW-ACR)
2. 17 SDG Goals 2 1. No Poverty 2. Zero Hunger 3. Good Health and Well-being 4. Quality Education 5. Gender Equality 6. Clean Water & Sanitation 7. Affordable & Clean Energy 8. Decent Work & Economic Growth 9. Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure 10. Reduced Inequalities 11. Sustainable Cities & Communities 12. Responsible Consumption & Production 13. Climate Action 14. Life Below Water 15. Life on Land 16. Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions 17 Partnerships for the Goals
3. Academics for SDGs 3 Increasing calls for academics to contribute to SDGs (Ferrer-Estévez & Chalmeta 2021)
4. RGS on SDG What can rhetorical genre studies offer? Social and rhetorical dimensions Qualitative and naturalistic methods Integration of linguistics and rhetoric A tool for analyzing social change 4
5. Main Concepts in RGS Genre as social action (Miller, 1984) Social structuration (Giddens, 1984) Exigence (Bitzer, 1968): An external pressing problem Motive (Burke, 1969): An internal cognition that impels human behavior. Content, Form, Time, Act, Space (Ongstad, 2021) Uptake (Freadman, 1987, 1994, 2002, 2020) 5
6. AI for Sustainable Future: An RGS Perspective Tosh Tachino The University of Electro-Communication toshtachino@uec.ac.jp
7. SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Responsible AI Innovation and Use 7
8. 8 AI is already creating conversations that are devoid of emotion, making it difficult for people to form meaningful relationships or understand how others in our social and work circles are truly feeling. Most concerning is that the pervasive use of AI will inhibit deep human connections, leaving relationships with others less reciprocal, shallower or more narcissistic. This threatens to stunt emotions and further inhibit genuine human connection. (Price, 2024) Perceived Threats?
9. 9 Exigence: Fly in a soup Motive: An urge for redress Content: There’s a fly in my soup! Form: “There’s a fly in my soup!” Time: Immediate Act: Complaint Space: At a restaurant [Take 1] “There’s a fly in my soup!”
10. 10 Form (by ChatGPT): “Excuse me, I hate to bother you, but I just noticed there's a fly in my soup. Could you please replace it with a new one? Thank you.” Everything else remains the same: AI communication is not a genre AI may help articulate you better [Take 2] “There’s a fly in my soup!”
11. 11 Content: Non-verbal communication Form: Silently walking out Act: Complaint The same act can be carried out by some other means. AI does not have to affect social actions or the human relationships that ensue. [Take 3] “There’s a fly in my soup!”
12. 12 “There was a fly in my soup!” Exigence: A fly in a soup Time: Later (after ruminating) Space: Online (anonymous, public) Content & Form: “Unbelievable! I find a fly in my soup! This place is a dump, and they should go to hell!” Motive: Revenge Act: Complaint
13. 13 Prompt: “I'm so mad at them for daring to serve a fly with my soup! I want to get them bad!” It's understandable to feel upset about such an unpleasant experience. However, it's important to remember that constructive feedback is more likely to lead to positive changes. A review that is overly emotional or vengeful might be dismissed or ignored. Here’s how to express your dissatisfaction effectively while still ensuring your feedback can lead to improvements: Be Honest and Direct: Clearly express your disappointment and the impact it had on your dining experience. 1. Avoid Personal Attacks: Focus on the issue rather than attacking the staff or the restaurant personally. 2. Be Constructive: While expressing your anger, suggest specific actions the restaurant can take to avoid similar problems in the future. 3.
14. 14 "I visited [Restaurant Name] on [date] and was extremely disappointed to find a fly in my soup. This was completely unacceptable and ruined my dining experience. Such a lack of attention to food hygiene is shocking and should never happen in any restaurant. I hope the management takes immediate steps to ensure that their kitchen is clean and that food safety standards are strictly followed. I won't be returning unless I see evidence of significant improvements. Serving food with such serious hygiene issues is not just disappointing—it's dangerous." Sample Review:
15. 15 "I visited [Restaurant Name] on [date] and had a generally pleasant experience. The ambiance was welcoming, and the staff were courteous. Unfortunately, my experience was marred by finding a fly in my soup. This was quite off-putting and made it difficult to enjoy my meal. I didn't mention it to the staff at the time, but I believe it's important for the restaurant to address this issue to prevent it from happening to other customers. Ensuring proper food handling and kitchen cleanliness is crucial for maintaining high standards. I hope this feedback helps the restaurant improve, as it has the potential to be a great dining spot.” Prompt: I want to make my review as effective as possible so that it will never happen again.
16. 16 “There was a fly in my soup!” Exigence: A fly in a soup Time: Later Space: Online (anonymous, public) Motive: Focus on the outcome (altered by AI mediation) Act: Complaint/Restaurant Review Role: Guide for both the restaurant owner and other diners
17. 17 "Hi [Owner's Name], I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to share an experience I had during my last visit to your restaurant on [date]. As you know, I’ve been a loyal customer for 10 years and have always enjoyed the great food and service. However, I found a fly in my soup during my recent visit. I was quite surprised and disappointed because this is not the standard I’ve come to expect from your establishment. I didn’t mention it at the time because I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I felt it was important to bring it to your attention. I love your restaurant and want to continue enjoying my meals there. I hope you can look into this matter to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Thank you for understanding and for the wonderful experiences you’ve provided over the years.” Prompt: This is my favorite restaurant, and I have been going there for 10 years without any problems. I love the owner, and he is like a friend to me. I don't want to damage this relationship, but I also want to make sure there won't be another incident like this.
18. 18 “There was a fly in my soup, but...” Exigence: A fly in a soup Motive: Focus on the preserving the relationship Time: Later (after calming down) Space: Online (identified, private) or in person Act: Relationship repair AI affected form, content, time, and space to perform the act better.
19. 19 ADD A FOOTER AI can help when you are affected by emotions after things like: Argument Criticism Rejection, etc. AI-mediated Human Relationships The key is: Prioritizing human relationships and using AI to achieve this goal. Human AI Human
20. 20 Double AI-Mediated Human Relationship The restaurant owner can use AI, too! And so can anyone else.
21. 21 Dangers Replacing a real human relationship with an appearance of a relationship (through a lack of social investment) Alienating the other person who recognizes AI responses (Hohenstein, et al., 2023) Losing the social skill for maintaining relationships through lack of use Potentials Maintaining a larger network of relationships Establishing/managing a relationship between hostile parties. Double AI-Mediated Human Relationships Human | AI ⇕ AI | Human
22. 22 1. Possibly in some genres where human interaction is not central It has already disappeared or it is disappearing in some situations: operating an elevator, withdrawing cash, dictating, translating, retail checkout, travel booking, food ordering, etc. 2. No when human interaction is central to the social action. Family gathering, performing arts, volunteer work, (human) friendship, (human) romantic relationships. Will Human Interactions Disappear? Human | AI ⇕ AI | Human
23. 23 RGS allows us to recognize the following: In some situations, AI does not change anything. AI can be a useful tool in enhancing some social actions. AI can mediate or even change social motives (for better or worse). The key is to prioritize human relations and work toward responsible AI development (SDG 9) and use (SDG 12) to achieve this purpose. RGS in Analyzing AI for a Sustainable Future
24. 24 AI for Sustainable Future: An RGS Perspective Any Questions? Tosh Tachino The University of Electro- Communications toshtachino@uec.ac.jp
25. 25 Bitzer, L. F. (1968). The rhetorical situation. Philosophy & rhetoric, 1-14. Burke, K. (1969). A rhetoric of motives. University of California Press. Ferrer-Estévez, M., & Chalmeta, R. (2021). Integrating Sustainable Development Goals in educational institutions. The International Journal of Management Education, 19(2), 100494. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2021.100494 Freadman, A. (1987). Anyone for tennis? In I. Reid (Ed.), The place of genre in learning: Current debates (pp. 91-124). Deakin University Centre for Studies in Literary Education. Freadman, A. (1994). Anyone for tennis? In A. Freedman & P. Medway (Eds.). Genre and the new rhetoric (pp. 43-66). Taylor & Francis. Freadman, A. (2002). Uptake. In R. Coe, L. Lingard, & T. Teslenko (Eds.), The rhetoric and ideology of genre (pp. 39-53). Hampton Press. Freadman, A. (2020). A tardy uptake. Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, 30, 105-132. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Univ of California Press. Hohenstein, J., Kizilcec, R. F., DiFranzo, D., et al. (2023) Artificial intelligence in communication impacts language and social relationships. Scientific Reports, 13(5487), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023- 30938-9 Miller, C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly journal of speech, 70(2), 151-167. Ongstad, S. V. (2021). Genre constituents in “Reflections on genre as social action”—in the light of 1980s’ genre research. Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, 31, 86–108. https://doi.org/10.31468/dwr.857 United Nations (n.d.). Take action for the sustainable development goals. United Nations. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ References