Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Writing

Ding Eng Na Sunway University College

Abstract This paper considers the application of genre-based approach to teaching of writing in the English for Specific Purposes ESP! conte"t# especially for learners ai$ing to use English in the professional setting% The genre-based approach to language teaching atte$pts to teach learners the &$oves' of a genre and to raise awareness of the linguistic features associated with the $oves as a way to overco$e learners' difficulties in writing appropriately and effectively% This paper addresses the concern to help learners to $a(e their choices in deciding what (ind of infor$ation should be put in their writing to create $eaningful and purposeful te"ts% A nu$ber of genre analysis strategies are presented to de$onstrate how learners can be taught to $odify and blend their choices of words according to the conte"ts in which they write% )* +usiness $a,ors participated in this study% The control group N-./! were taught through the usual lecturing style while the e"peri$ental group N-.*! were taught using the genre-based approach% 0ollowing the $ultiple trait scoring of the learners' te"ts# the te"ts were analy1ed for content# structure and language while the $oves were analy1ed using the $oves score% The results of the study indicate that learners do write better when they are $ade aware of the rhetoric structure and providing $odels see$ to increase the salience of the co$$unicative $oves considered by the learners for inclusion in their te"ts%

2ntroduction 3riting is considered to be one of the $ost difficult s(ills learners are e"pected to $aster% An ability to write appropriately and effectively is a tas( that $ost ES4 learners faced in spite of the years spent learning and developing their writing s(ills% 3riting is co$ple" and $ultifaceted in nature% Tribble 566)# p%*7! posed a 8uestion pertaining to writing# 93hat $a(es one piece of writing $ore acceptable than another:; <opefully# through the understanding of genre-based approach# ta(ing the co$$unicative purpose as the (ey characteristic feature of a genre# this 8uestion can be answered% This paper ai$s to investigate the effectiveness of using a genre-based approach to teaching learners to use language purposefully by using $odel te"t designed for specific professional conte"t which is referred to as $odeling% 2t is a co$$on techni8ue used for teaching genre where learners are presented with a $odel te"t that can be i$itated while they are writing their te"ts% There is no doubt that a $odel te"t varies but basically# $odel te"t is seen as being e"e$plary of its (ind written by writer in specific situation that is subse8uently reused to e"e$plify a genre% Through $odeling# learners duplicate the defining characteristic of its genre but using a different content% The genre chosen for this study is an ad,ust$ent letter%

3riting for technical or professional purposes presents $any challenges to learners as it involves $any different areas of (nowledge and s(ills% 2n $ost cases# learners who have average proficiency of the English language still perfor$ poorly in their writing tas(s# and $ost of the$ consistently e"hibit difficulties in e"pressing the$selves in writing% 2n writing# it is essential that learners do not ,ust (now how to write gra$$atically correct te"t but also (now how to apply their (nowledge for particular purposes and conte"ts% A focus on genres in writing instruction can provide the learners with a fra$e that enables the$ to orient to and interpret particular co$$unicative events% A genre-based approach ai$s to $a(e the learners $ore aware of the concept of genre and the way it affects te"ts and increase their ability to differentiate their language and te"t structure through the use of greater linguistic choices% Every discipline# profession and business has its own genres or conventional for$s of written co$$unication% 3ith its wide range of genres# it is 8uite difficult to teach or to predict the type of genres the learners need in their future wor(place% =oreover# there is not one $odel that can ade8uately fit every situation% 2n short# the tas( of writing is obviously $ore challenging for the novice writer who is not a native spea(er% Therefore# learners $ust (now how to adapt certain constraints to fit the tas( at hand% Adopting a genre approach relieves writers fro$ having to create a new te"t or co$$unication for each situation% This is because genre arises fro$ the fre8uent recurrences of si$ilar situations% <ence# learners can assi$ilate what they have learned and put it into practice% 2n this aspect# $odeling of e"e$plary sa$ples of prose can be introduced as a way to help learners to achieve a better sense of purpose# for$ and direction in their writing% Through $odeling# they are $ade aware of the defining characteristics of a te"t% 3ith this awareness# they can then create a si$ilar te"t using different content to suit the tas( at hand%

The study This study investigated the effectiveness of using genre-based approach to teaching writing through the use of $odel te"ts% 2n particular the study ai$ed to identify the $oves of the ad,ust$ent letter# the allowable $oves order and the strategies used to reali1e the $oves% 0ro$ a language teaching perspective# it is essential to view genre as consisting of a series of $oves Swales# 566/!% A $ove is considered as a part of a te"t which achieves a particular purpose within a te"t% Apart fro$ the analysis of $oves# this study also viewed the learners' writing in ter$s of content# structure and language%

The following research hypotheses were addressed> 5% The participants will structure their writing through the $oves identified in the specified genre after genre-based instruction% ?% The participants will i$prove their ability to write better after genre-based instruction@

=ethod Participants Si"ty-five undergraduates fro$ a +usiness Degree Progra$ fro$ a private University College enrolled in English for +usiness Study 22 participated in this study% They were second year students% All these students have passed their pre-re8uisite# English for +usiness Study 2 before they could enroll in this English for +usiness Study 22% An top of this they were also as(ed to sit for an English Place$ent Test to ensure that all of the$ have ac8uired a certain level of English proficiency in order to participate in this study% The results obtained fro$ the English Place$ent Test indicated that there was no difference in their level of English proficiency and the level of significance recorded was p- /%B.7% 2n short# all of the$ have the level of English proficiency needed for study%

Cesearch =ethod The Duasi-e"peri$ental study was used because under the present situation the rando$ selection and assign$ent were not possible% Therefore# si"ty-five students were designated to two classes% 2n other words# there were a $i"ed-selection of students in a class co$prising of the four $ain progra$$es# na$ely 0inance# Accounting# +usiness Ad$inistration and =ar(eting% The general ai$ of the 8uasi-e"peri$ent was to e"a$ine the i$pact of a genre-based approach on the participants' writing in +usiness conte"t as in this case# was on the ad,ust$ent letter% The writing tas( designed and ad$inistered during this phase of the study ai$ed to $easure the following dependant variables> Conte"t of Participants' Te"t CPT!# and 3ritten Cecall of Salient Points-The =oves 3CSP!% 2n this research design# one e"peri$ental and one control group were used in the study% The study was conducted over a period of eight wee(s%

Procedure and =aterials 3riting Topic> The learners' tas( E to write an ad,ust$ent letter based on a given scenario% +efore the writing tas( was ad$inistered# the learners# both the e"peri$ental and control groups undergone a series of wor(shops% 0or the e"peri$ental group# their wor(shops were on genre-based approach while the control group was taught based on the usual nor$al lecturing style% +oth the groups were given the sa$e $aterials% Apart fro$ the e"peri$ental $aterials which were specifically highlighted to raise the learners' awareness of the genre-based approach# $ost of the essential features of the two studies re$ained identical% 4earners were given five e"e$plary $odel te"ts of an ad,ust$ent letter for their $odeling session% 0or the e"peri$ental group# the principle orientation used for genrebased approach is based on the teaching learning cycle by =artin# Christie and Cothery# 56B7% The techni8ues used are =odeling-Negotiation-Construction cycle% At the end of the eight wee(s# learners were as(ed to response to a clai$ letter%

Data Analysis The participants' writing tas( the ad,ust$ent letter! was assessed in ter$s of> Conte"t of Participants' Te"t CPT! and 3ritten Cecall of Salient Point-The =oves 3CSP!% The scoring procedure used for assessing the CPT was based on the =ultiple Trait Scoring by <a$p- 4yons ?//.! and the instru$ent used for assessing the 3CSP was based on the =oves Score by <enry F Coseberry 566B!% The results fro$ the e"peri$ental and the control groups were co$pared using the T-tests%

Cesults and Discussion +oth researchers Ellis 566/! and Sch$idt 566/! through their e$pirical studies# advocated that learners learn better through for$al instruction as they beco$e $ore aware of the particular features of the target language and for$ e"plicit representations of what they are taught% 3hen learners go on to notice the feature in the subse8uent co$$unicative input# ac8uisition of that feature $ay occur% This is very $uch reflected in what the learners wrote in their te"ts% The results show that the writing tas( of both groups differed significantly at the /%/* level# thus allowing the null hypothesis of no difference to be re,ected% As $ight be e"pected# the results fro$ the three raters with regard to their $ar(ing for the three criteria# content# structure and language# all show e"cept fro$ Cater ? on language! that there are significance in the writing between the control and e"peri$ental groups% Table 5%/ below shows the $ean

rating and the level of significance obtained fro$ the three raters of the control and e"peri$ental groups in their writing tas(# an ad,ust$ent letter% The $ean results obtained see$ to indicate that the e"peri$ental group writes better in ter$s of the content# structure and language as they are $ore aware of the linguistic features contained in this particular genre# an ad,ust$ent letter% Through the $odeling sessions# they are able to $odify and blend their choices of words according to the conte"ts in which they write% Table 5%/> Cesults showing the $ean rating and the significance level obtained fro$ the three raters of the control and e"peri$ental groups in their writing tas(# an ad,ust$ent letter% Mean Rating Criterion Group Rater Rater Rater 1 2 3 Content Control group ?%.* ?%?. ?%.6 N-.5! E"peri$ental ?%6G .%/. .%/. group N-.G! Structure Control group ?%// N-.5! E"peri$ental ?%*) group N-.G! Control group 5%BG N-.5! E"peri$ental ?%G? group N-.G! ?%G? .%/. ?%5. ?%)* 5%75 ?%*. 5%BG ?%)? p- /%/?B p- /%/*G p- /%//6 Significance (p) Rater Rater Rater 1 2 3 p- /%/56 p- /%//. p- /%/57

p- /%/5)

p- /%/5)

p- /%//G

4anguage

According to Dudley-Evans nd! genre analysis is particularly useful for students with relatively little e"perience of writing% This see$s to be the case for the learners in this study as they only have two English courses in their whole degree progra$% They found learning the genre-based approach to be very useful as it has given the$ a sense of (nowledge as what to write and how to go about it% <ence# with an awareness of genre conventions# the learners will have less difficulty in the ordering and reordering of the te"t% The data fro$ the analysis of $oves is ongoing but will be presented and discussed in depth later%

Conclusion The results of this study indicate that providing learners with e"plicit (nowledge of the genre of the ad,ust$ent letter can be beneficial to the learners' output in deciding what (ind of infor$ation is appropriate and how infor$ation can be organi1ed% 2n conclusion# 2 would li(e to view genre-based approach as an additional approach to teaching learners to write better in a shorter period%

Ceferences Dudley-Evans# T% nd! Henre $odels for the teaching of acade$ic writing to Second 4anguage spea(ers> Advantages and disadvantages% Date accessed 5) =ay ?//)% Anline> http>IIe"change%state%govIeducationIengteachingIpubs%I+CIfunctionalsecG-55%ht$ Ellis# C% 566/% 2nstructed Second 4anguage Ac8uisition> 4earning in Classroo$% A"ford> +lac(well% <a$p-4yons# 4% ?//.!% 3riting teachers as assessors of writing% 2n Jroll +% Eds!# E"ploring the Dyna$ics of Second 4anguage 3riting Ca$bridge# Ca$bridge University Press% <enry# A and Coseberry# C% 5666% Caising awareness of the generic structure and linguistic features of essay introductions# online# Date accessed 57 Septe$ber ?//)# Available fro$> http>IIwww%$ultilingual-$atters%netI5aI//BI/56/I56//B/56/%pdf% Sch$idt#C% 566/% The role of consciousness in second language learning% Applied 4inguistics 55> 5?6-*B% Swales# K% 566/!% Henre analysis> English in acade$ic and research settings% Ca$bridge> Ca$bridge University Press% Tribble% C% 566)!% 3riting% A"ford> A"ford University Press