Université de Montréal - Thèse sous forme numérique

16For Biber (1988, 1993), genre (e.g. guidebooks, poems, business letters,newspaper articles) refers to texts that are similar according to situational or externalcriteria and are defined on the basis of systematic non-linguistic criteria (e.g. intendedaudience, purpose, context), whereas text type refers to texts that are similar withrespect to their linguistic form (e.g. argumentative texts, descriptive texts), irrespectiveof genre categories, and may be defined on the basis of cognitive categories or linguisticcriteria (e.g. patterns in the use of verb tenses, lexical patterns, modals).The French tradition has been dissonant with regard to this distinction. Rastier,who differentiates between text and discourse, argues that these two are linked bymeans of the notion of ―genre‖ and that ―text type‖ refers to the textual functions mostcommon within a ―discourse genre‖ (Rastier 1989: 40). In contrast, Adam (1999), whodoes not draw a clear line between text and discourse, argues that genre refers to a typeof socio-discursive practice and that the term text type is simply not appropriate because―l‘unité « texte » est trop complexe et trop hétérogène pour présenter des régularitéslinguistiquement observables et codifiables‖ (Adam 1999: 82).As for Costa (2005), text and discourse are interdependent entities, i.e. there isno text without discourse and discourse is usually instantiated by means of text (eitherorally or in written form). According to the author, text implies the notion of―discourse‖ articulated by a given individual in a specific point in time and place. Fromthis perspective, it can be inferred that one of the specificities of specialized discourseconsists in it being used by experts in a socioprofessional and temporal context. Thisway, legal, commercial and medical discourses are examples of types of specializeddiscourse in that they refer to instructionalized and situational communication betweenexperts of specific domains.