Iwan Kurniawan, Irawansyah

Rhetorical Structure of University Promotional Brochures Written by Indonesians at Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

Introduction

Rhetorical structure of university promotional brochures written by indonesians at undergraduate and graduate programs. Explores the rhetorical structure of Indonesian university promotional brochures for undergraduate & graduate programs. Identifies obligatory moves/steps & differences.

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to know the rhetorical structures of university brochures of undergraduate and graduate program and the differences of them in term of moves and steps. This research was qualitative and quantitative in nature; in other words, it employed mixed method. Qualitative data was taken in the forms of university brochures communicative purposes narrations, whereas quantitative data in the form of move and step frequency and percentage. The rhetorical structure are as follows: service Provider Overview, presenting academic service, Internationalism, presenting university achievement, presenting student life, Presenting the location of the service, Validating the effectiveness of service provided, Special notes. From those moves and steps structures, all the moves proposed by Barabas are found where service provider, presenting academic, presenting students life, presenting service location, and special notes are 100% obligatory for undergraduate level; service provider, presenting academic, special notes are 100% obligatory. For steps, university names, university emblems, university departments, academic programs, procedure applications, contact information are 100% obligatory in undergraduate and university names, university emblems, brochure titles, university departments, academic programs are 100% obligatory. The differences between undergraduate and graduate promotional brochures are on the move of validating the effectiveness of service provided, from steps numbers on respective moves, the status obligatory or optional of moves and steps.

Review

This study undertakes a valuable exploration into the rhetorical structures of university promotional brochures from Indonesian undergraduate and graduate programs. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research aims to identify the specific rhetorical moves and steps present in these materials, as well as to delineate any differences between the two program levels. The abstract effectively conveys the study's primary objectives and hints at a comprehensive analysis of the communicative purposes embedded within these promotional texts, indicating a solid foundation for understanding genre-specific communication strategies in higher education marketing. A significant strength of this work lies in its detailed identification of rhetorical structures, drawing upon an existing framework (Barabas's moves). The research delineates eight key moves, ranging from "Service Provider Overview" to "Special notes," and further breaks these down into specific steps. The quantitative analysis is particularly insightful, distinguishing between obligatory and optional elements for both undergraduate and graduate brochures. For instance, the abstract highlights that moves such as "service provider" and "presenting academic service" are 100% obligatory at both levels, with subtle variations and additional obligatory moves/steps at the undergraduate level. The explicit comparison of these structures between undergraduate and graduate programs addresses a clear research gap, providing empirical evidence for distinct rhetorical strategies employed for different target audiences. While the abstract provides a strong overview of the study's findings, several areas could benefit from further elaboration in the full paper. Firstly, a more explicit discussion of the chosen theoretical framework, "moves proposed by Barabas," and its suitability or adaptation for the Indonesian context would enhance the methodological rigor. Secondly, the abstract, though informative, is quite dense; refining the clarity and conciseness in the full text could improve readability. Finally, a more pronounced discussion of the broader implications of these findings—for example, on effective brochure design, higher education marketing strategies, or the cross-cultural transferability of rhetorical genre analysis—would significantly bolster the study's contribution and demonstrate its practical and theoretical significance beyond the reported structures. Clarification on the phrase "written by Indonesians" in the title would also be beneficial to ensure the scope is precisely understood.

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