GENERIC STRUCTURE POTENTIAL OF THE ENGLISH INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION PAGES OF UNIVERSITY WEBSITES IN VIETNAM

Abstract

University websites are an indispensible means for the purposes of information, administration and promotion. In such a globalization era, university websites are designed as a kind of multimodal text with the combination of language, signs, audio and visual components, and presentation effects; and most websites are bilingual, trilingual, or even multi-lingual, so as to address a variety of audience with different access purposes, of different age groups, and from different countries and background. This paper reports on a study of the generic structure potential (GSP) of the English introductory information pages of 10 university websites in Vietnam. The GSP analysis is based on Hasan’s (1985) framework. The aim of the analysis is to explore the obligatory, the optional, and the iterative elements, which together construct the GSP of these websites. From the findings, suggestions related to improving the quality and the functioning of the websites could then be drawn out.