Grammar and Institutional Discourse

This entry describes the grammatical characteristics of institutional discourse in both written and spoken modes. More specifically, institutional communication is analyzed in relation to two contexts: academic and legal. After giving a brief outline of some seminal definitions of institutional discourse, the entry provides an overview of research into grammatical features of written academic texts by starting first from traditional written academic genres and then moving on to new forms of digital academic discourse online. This is followed by a discussion on the use of particular grammatical devices in spoken institutional discourse, focusing on two institutional settings: academic and legal. The entry addresses these issues from the perspective of English and across languages. This overview has revealed how professionals in those contexts are able to marshal particular grammatical structures to help achieve discursive goals, while also managing macro-level interpersonal relationships through discourse.