A Move Analysis of Iranian English Language Institute Websites: Homepage and About Us

This study examines how Iranian language institutes represent themselves in two pages of their institutional websites, namely, Homepage and About Us. Accordingly, this study aims at comparing and contrasting three formerly-established and three newly-established Iranian English language institutes in terms of their representation in the above-mentioned webpages. Swales’ model of move analysis (1990) within genre analysis was applied to dissect the Homepage and About Us pages of the two groups of websites. The analysis reveals that the websites of the two groups of institutes are similar regarding their Homepage and contain the same five moves. There are, on the other hand, some differences between the moves and steps in About Us pages of the former and newer institutions’ websites. The formerly-established institutes rely mainly on their long-lasting reputation to represent themselves, while the newly-established institutes represent innovative institutes conforming to the learners’ needs and expectations as well as offering some free services. It seems that newer institutes apply lengthier About Us pages to convince their learners of their capability to fulfill their claims. The results and models would be of high significance to language institutes businesses and to the researchers in genre analysis.