Benefits of the Genre approach in Teaching L2 writing process

I appreciated the comments in the Hyland article regarding the need for explicit instruction of the structure of genre types in the L2 classroom. He also implies that some L1 student writers may benefit from this kind of explicit instruction as well. Whereas the process approach provides strategies for idea generation, for organizing ideas, and for analyzing drafts, aside from the consideration of audience, the process approach, in a sense, lacks the social aspect of writing that genre pedagogies address.

Johns points out that “process instruction alone may not provide enough direction or situational focus for the ESL/EFL student who needs models, who needs to discuss cultures and cultural conflicts, and who needs practice in writing under a variety of conditions and in a variety of genres” (212). Incorporating the study of the structure of various genres can offer students valuable insight into the ways in which texts differ depending upon their purpose and their message.

The genre approach seems to offer something for teachers as well. When I taught English Composition in the 1980s and 1990s, the use of the process approach seemed to transform my role as “teacher” to something like “coach,” “collaborator,” or “facilitator.” Incorporating genre pedagogies into the writing classroom allows teachers to provide needed support in the form of “scaffolding” for those student writers whose cultural background and/or language skills make it difficult for them to produce the type of texts required by course assignments (Hyland 26).

The concern that Hyland mentions is that by explicitly teaching the structures of various genres, teachers may inadvertently imply that students should adopt these examples as templates that they can use to create a text. Instead, the teacher’s goal should be that students will learn why certain genres tend to construct text in specific patterns, and that students will develop the skill to adapt that knowledge to their own writing needs and situations (26). 

Here are a few questions that came to mind as I pondered this topic:

1)      Is there a “hierarchy” of genres that should be considered in teaching L2 writing? (In other words, are certain genres more appropriate than others for presenting to English language learners at particular levels of proficiency?) 

2)      If teachers adopt a“genre pedagogy” in their L2 writing classroom, how do they add it to the existing process approach that they currently employ and teach? Is it included as an additional step? If so, at what point is genre to be considered and discussed?

References cited:

Hyland, Ken. "Genre-based Pedagogies: A Social Response to Process." Journal of Second Language Writing 12 (2003): 17-29. Web.

Johns, Ann M. "Genre and ESL/EFL Composition Instruction." Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing. Ed. B. Kroll. 2003. 195-217. Print.