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A Move Analysis of Chinese High School Enrollment Promotional Discourse

Author(s)

Yunqiao Chen*,#, Shanshan Du#, Limin Lin

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Studies, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China *Corresponding author #Co-first author

Abstract

With the acceleration of educational marketization, private high schools in China increasingly rely on enrollment promotional discourse to construct institutional identities and attract prospective students. This study examines the generic structure and discursive strategies of private high school enrollment promotional discourse through move analysis. A corpus of enrollment promotional texts from 30 private high schools in three major cities was compiled and analyzed. The findings reveal that eight moves constitute the generic structure of this promotional genre, with four obligatory moves and four optional moves identified. Although elite and ordinary schools share a similar repertoire of rhetorical moves, they differ significantly in how these moves are strategically deployed. Elite schools tend to construct institutional legitimacy through symbolic resources, including institutional reputation, faculty qualifications, and academic achievements, whereas ordinary schools emphasize material resources, student experiences, and interpersonal strategies to enhance attractiveness and establish relational proximity. These differences reflect divergent institutional positioning strategies under educational market competition.

Keywords

Private High Schools; Enrollment Promotional Discourse; Move Analysis; Genre Analysis; Discursive Strategy

References

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