Interdiscursivity Functions of Incident Reports

Abstract

Professional communication ensures efficient work procedures in the professional world. In understanding the professional world, discursive realities such as the use of professional genres, professional culturesand professional practices need to be highlighted. This will help to prepare learners for the real world as calls have been made to bridge the gap between what the academic programmes offer and what the professional world requires. One approach that will be able to bridge the gap is Interdiscursivity approach. This is especially true as research in the area have shown that Interdiscursivity was still under researched. This gap is apparent in the oil and gas industry as it is an important industry which fuels other industries. In this qualitative research, a study was carried out in order to identify Interdiscursivity functions of incident reports obtained from an oil and gas company. Interdiscursivity refers the relation that a discourse has to other discourses in realizing the meaning of professional genres. Data collection method involved the analysis of fifteen incident reports obtainedfrom an oil and gas company. Findings from the incident reports suggested that the reports contained three main functions: descriptive, informative and instructional.