This article explores the application of a genre-based approach to the analysis of English Job Application Letters (EJALs), with a particular focus on Japanese university students and graduates preparing for international studies or business careers.The aim of the study is to examine the movestep structures and linguistic features of EJALs in order to provide pedagogical insights for English for Specific Purposes (ESP).Using a corpus of 15 authentic solicited letters, the analysis has revealed that most of the identified moves are commonly employed, and that grammatical features such as tense usage and register are strongly move-specific.Building on these findings, the study also reports on a classroom application in which explicit instruction in moves and language features helped students produce more coherent and professional cover letters.These results underscore the importance of genre-based pedagogy for equipping non-native English learners with the skills necessary for effective business writing in globalized professional environments.This study is believed to contribute to ESP by demonstrating how genre analysis can be directly translated into pedagogical practice for Japanese learners.
Ian Hart (Sun,) studied this question.