ERIC EJ962379: Promoting Genre Awareness in the EFL Classroom

2011·0.24 MB·English

by  ERIC

Diane Millar
Promoting Genre Awareness
in the EFL Classroom
Several weeks after I had first inviting foreigners would have been to
arrived in Senegal as an Ameri- send us an email detailing the purpose
can foreign service officer, a of the event and proposing how they
colleague phoned and asked me to wanted us to help. I said that I would
come to the Embassy’s Information be happy to attend, if my schedule
Resource Center, as some students allowed, but I would need to receive
from out of town wanted to speak an appropriate email invitation. Thus,
with me. Before leaving my office, I an impromptu event ended up being
glanced at my calendar to see if I had a mini-cultural exchange opportunity.
perhaps forgotten this meeting; but My colleague tried to teach the stu-
no, nothing had been scheduled. Still, dents about how things are normally
as I’m always happy to chat with stu- done in the United States, while for
dents who are eager to speak English, me it was a small window into what is
I agreed to meet them. Entering the normal in Senegalese culture.
center, I was greeted by an energetic On a broad level this was an issue
group of about 20 students, each rep- of cross-cultural differences. How-
resenting a different English club in ever, more specifically and more rel-
their town. They had banded together evant to English teachers, this was
to travel two hours to Dakar to visit an issue of genre awareness. Genre
the library and to invite me to a awareness is the ability to select and
conference, which they were organiz- use an appropriate genre based on
ing for the following month. I asked a number of factors, including the
them for details, and their spokesper- purpose of communication, the con-
son described the event that they were text, and the people involved. Genre
organizing. awareness is the “rhetorical flexibil-
When the student finished, my ity necessary for adapting…to ever-
colleague, who is Senegalese, explained evolving contexts” (Johns 2008, 238).
to them that while we were delighted In this situation, with the purpose
to see them, the proper procedure for being to invite and solicit assistance
2 2011 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
from a foreigner, the students thought that the Overview of the genre approach
most appropriate genre to select was a spoken Research articles about genre began emerg-
presentation. On the other hand, my col- ing in the early 1980s, in part as a reaction
league and I thought that a written invitation against both product and process writing
was the most appropriate genre. approaches that were, and still are, popular
While genre theory actually describes in writing classes. In product approaches, the
both written and spoken communication, main focus is on presenting decontextual-
genre pedagogy is most often used to teach ized prescriptive text models and on teach-
academic and professional writing. Hyland ing students how to replicate these idealized
(2008, 543) argues that “today, genre is one models, such as the five-paragraph essay. In
of the most important and influential con- process writing approaches, the primary focus
cepts in literacy education.” Countless articles is on the individual writer and on teaching
have been written both analyzing different student writers a variety of decontextualized
genres and promoting genre-based pedagogy strategies, such as brainstorming, drafting,
for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and and self-editing. Genre researchers, on the
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes other hand, argue that all texts depend on
(see for example Bhatia 1997; Hyland 2004; the context in which they are used. The pur-
Swales and Feak 2000). More recently, teach- pose of the communication and the context,
including the audience, the topic, and the
ers have begun to explore how they can also
mode, directly shape the organization and the
utilize genre theories and approaches in their
language of a text. Genre proponents “aim
general English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
to draw together language, content, and the
classrooms. For example, Paltridge (2001)
context of discourse production and interpre-
presents numerous ways to use genre peda-
tation” (Paltridge 2001, 2). The main belief
gogy in the EFL classroom, Yan (2005) sug-
“is that we don’t just write, we write something
gests blending genre and process approaches
to achieve some purpose: it is a way of getting
in EFL classes, and Bax (2006) discusses using
something done” (Hyland 2003, 18; italics in
genre as a guiding principle for EFL syllabus
the original).
design. Others discuss implementing a genre-
based approach in different contexts: Firkins,
What is a genre?
Forey, and Sengupta (2007) discuss working
In his seminal book on genre, Swales
with low-level students; Myskow and Gordon
(1990, 58) defined genre as “a class of com-
(2010) describe using a genre approach with
municative events, the members of which
high school students to teach them how to
share some set of communicative purposes.”
write college application letters; and Swami
Hyland (2008, 543) defines genre as “a term
(2008) outlines a study to sensitize students
for grouping texts together, representing how
to genre structures.
writers typically use language to respond to
However, fewer articles in the literature
recurring situations”; he notes that genre “is
discuss the challenges many EFL teachers face
based on the idea that members of a commu-
if they wish to adopt a genre-based pedagogy.
nity usually have little difficulty in recognising
This article attempts to address these issues
similarities in the texts they use frequently
and propose possible solutions. First, I will
and are able to draw on their repeated experi-
briefly outline genre theory and set out some ences with such texts to read, understand and
broad definitions of genre. I will also discuss perhaps write them relatively easily.” From a
how genre knowledge is acquired and how it slightly different perspective, Martin (1992)
has been taught in ESP and EAP. Following defines genres as staged, goal-oriented, pur-
this, I will highlight two challenges to using poseful social processes. Martin, Christie, and
this pedagogy in a general EFL class. Finally, I Rothery (1987) explain that genres are staged
will argue that despite these challenges, teach- because they use typical schematic or orga-
ers can still introduce this critical knowledge nizational structures; they are goal-oriented
to their students by integrating genre aware- because they are used to get things done, and
ness activities—three of which I describe— they are social because members of the culture
into their classes. interact through them.
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2011 3
Personally, I find it easiest to think about the first sub-move, the author states that it is
genres as “socio-cognitive schemas” (Johns important to thank many people. Then in the
2008, 239). When looking at a common next three sub-moves, the author thanks peo-
process or situation, we each have a schema ple for their academic support, thanks people
of the steps and language involved in the for resources and money, and finally thanks
process. For example, if you think about his or her loved ones. In the final, optional,
going to a restaurant, you would probably announcing move, the author takes respon-
think about entering the restaurant, having sibility for any errors there might be in the
the host ask you how many people are in the dissertation. This structure, with these spe-
group, being seated, receiving the menu, and cific moves, in this order, was common to the
ordering. In reality these items may change vast majority of the 240 acknowledgements
slightly; for example, in some restaurants you that Hyland examined. While some flexibility
seat yourself, and in other restaurants there occurs, such as the presence or absence of
are no menus. Thus, your schema and one the final announcing move, this structure is
occurrence of going to a restaurant are not the a fundamental distinguishing feature of this
same. Genres work in a similar fashion. If I say particular genre.
to you “recipe,” you will have a prototype in In addition to sharing a particular move
your mind of what content this includes and structure, genres also tend to utilize particular
the order in which the content is presented, lexico-grammatical patterns to achieve their
perhaps starting with a list of ingredients, purposes. Genre analysis, incorporating dis-
followed by step-by-step instructions. This course analysis and corpus analysis, examines
schema in your mind is not an actual recipe. the lexico-grammatical tendencies and pat-
Actual recipes are texts. A genre represents a terns for particular genres. For example, Biber
group of texts that all share a communicative and Conrad (2009) compared the general
purpose. They do not need to be identical, linguistic features of newspapers, academic
just as every restaurant experience is not iden- prose, and conversation. They found that in
tical. However, in order to achieve their com- terms of lexical features, nominalizations and
municative purpose, they tend to share similar prepositional phrases were very common in
discourse structures and to use language in newspapers and academic prose, but were rare
similar ways. or less common in conversation. Personal pro-
In terms of discourse structure, a particular nouns were rare in newspapers and academic
genre will follow a series of steps, or moves, to prose, but extremely common in conversa-
achieve the communicative purpose. In a reci- tion. In terms of verb forms, the researchers
pe, the moves are the name of the dish, a brief found that the passive voice was used between
description of the dish (optional), a list of 15 and 25 percent of the time in newspapers
ingredients and amounts, the steps for cook- and academic prose, but was rarely used in
ing, and the number of people the dish serves conversation. Moreover, modal verbs, while
(optional). While this is a rather rudimentary common in conversations, were uncommon
analysis, there is substantial literature analyz- in newspapers and academic prose.
ing the precise moves of specific genres. To While these are rather broad features per-
give you a clearer idea of the level of detail in taining to the differences between speech and
such analyses, I will describe Hyland’s analysis formal writing, I hope that even this brief
of PhD and MA dissertation acknowledge- overview illustrates how information about
ments. (A dissertation acknowledgement is genres might be helpful to writing teachers.
the thank you section at the beginning of the If a teacher knows the types of lexical forms
document.) Hyland (2008) found that sam- and patterns, the types of verb tenses, and the
ples of this genre all followed the exact same types of sentence structures used in a particu-
pattern consisting of three moves: a reflecting lar genre, then the teacher will have a better
move, a thanking move, and an optional, idea of what to teach to improve the students’
announcing move. In the reflecting move, the writing skills. For example, based on the anal-
author looks back at his or her life and states ysis above, if you want your students to write
why the degree is important. Next, in the effective academic texts, then you may need
thanking move, there are four sub-moves. In to focus several classes on how to form and
4 2011 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
use nominalizations. If you are teaching jour- do not usually include information about the
nalists to write for newspapers, then you will cause or time of death (Johns 1997). More-
want to include lessons on the passive voice. over, certain genres may not exist in certain
Numerous authors have conducted this cultures. For example, sympathy cards are not
type of genre analysis. For example, just to generally used in China (Gerot 1995); the
name a few, there are analyses of sales letters purpose expressing sympathy is not combined
(Bhatia 1993), graduate level writing (Swales with the text type personal note. Chinese
and Feak 2000), essay introductions (Henry students encountering this genre in North
and Roseberry 1999), and emails and text America may find such cards quite strange.
messages (Biber and Conrad 2009). In each Therefore, when we enter a new culture
analysis, the authors present the typical moves or a new sub-culture we may need to learn
of the genre—that is, the overall organization new genres. For example, when you became
of the parts of the genre and the purpose a teacher, you needed to learn the structure
of each part. These authors also discuss the
and features of a lesson plan. And while you
types of lexico-grammatical patterns that are
are probably very good at writing lesson plans,
common to the genre. Each analysis reveals
if I asked you to write a Request for Proposal,
specific features of the individual genre, giv-
you would probably not know where to begin,
ing writing teachers a wealth of information
unless you had experience working in a busi-
about the particular types of writing that they
ness that bids on contracts. If I asked you to
wish to teach.
write a Tenant Estoppel Certificate, you would
probably not know what it even looked like,
Discourse communities and acquiring
unless you were a real-estate lawyer. Busi-
genres
ness and law are sub-cultures, or discourse
When we are born and raised in a par-
communities, that have their own particular
ticular culture, our conventionalized ways of
genres. If you wish to be a member of these
communicating seem obvious or natural to
communities, you need to learn the conven-
us. Our knowledge about these conventions is
tions of these unfamiliar genres.
implicit, and these conventions are not neces-
In much the same way, when our ESP
sarily ever explicitly taught to us. We learn the
students want to work in a particular occu-
conventions by being part of that culture. We
pation or when our EAP students want to
learn how to tell stories, how to tell jokes, how
attend a university in the United States, they
to write postcards, and how to write thank-
also need to learn new genres (Johns 1997).
you notes, by listening, reading, and observ-
However, this is a complex challenge because
ing. Stories, jokes, postcards, and thank-you
genres vary tremendously depending on the
notes are all part of our common repertoire of
specific context and the particular discourse
genres. All readers and writers who have the
community. In the professional world “physi-
same repertoire share certain knowledge. They
cists don’t write like philosophers nor lawyers
understand the communicative and social
like applied linguists…. Communities have
purposes of a text, they understand the social
different ideas about what is worth commu-
roles embodied in the text, they know the
context in which the text is used, they know nicating, how it can be communicated, what
the type of content to be presented, and they readers are likely to know, how they might be
know the formal text features that will occur persuaded, and so on” (Hyland 2008, 549). In
(Johns 1997). the academic world, what an essay looks like
However, genres differ from culture to for history students is substantially different
culture. In contrast to American genres, for from what an essay looks like for chemistry
example, Mexican wedding invitations often students. Discussing her first-year university
include not only the bride and bridegroom’s students who had been schooled in writing
names and the names of their parents, but five-paragraph essays, Johns (2008, 247) notes
also all the names of participants in the cer- that they each had to learn “an important les-
emony (Johns 1997). Brazilian obituary pages son: ‘essay’ in academic classes doesn’t always
include thank-you notices for those who mean Five Paragraph Essay. In fact, it seldom
helped the family of the deceased, but they does.”
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2011 5
Teaching genres produce a few decontextualized ‘genres’ such
In terms of how to apply genre theory to as ‘exposition’, ‘discussion’, and ‘historical
the classroom, opinions vary greatly. Research- recount’, they can produce texts in the genres
ers from what is known as New Rhetoric of a culture” (Johns 2008, 245). Still, while
Studies argue that genres cannot be taught. “these KEY GENRES are certainly a begin-
They point out that genres are so changeable ning, stepping stones for preparedness” (Johns
and so context-dependent that it makes no 2008, 245; capitalization in the original),
sense to teach them outside of that particular this type of approach may not teach students
context (Johns 2008). On the other hand, enough about how to employ and adapt
researchers and practitioners, mainly from the these patterns to different contexts. More
ESP and Sydney schools, argue that students longitudinal studies will be needed to see if
who are already disadvantaged by being sec- learning this core set of text patterns can help
ond language learners need explicit instruc- students adapt their writing to a wide variety
tion in genre, if they are to succeed. Just as of contexts.
Delpit (1988) argued, over 20 years ago, A second challenge to using a genre-based
that to succeed in school African-American approach in the general EFL setting is less
students need to be explicitly taught the hid- theoretical and more practical. Knowledge
den “rules of the game,” these educators argue about genre depends on analysis of authentic
that EFL students need explicit instruction in texts. Unlike product approaches, which tend
genre patterns, features, and variations if they to prescribe one way to write a paragraph or
are to succeed academically and profession- essay and give students one sample model
ally (Hyland 2003). (See Hyon 1996 for an to follow, genre approaches analyze many
excellent overview of the three genre schools authentic text samples to find commonalities.
mentioned here.) With this aim in mind, This means that if teachers wish to analyze a
leading researchers working in ESP and EAP particular genre with their students, they need
have analyzed a wide range of specific genres either access to prior studies or access to a
in detail. Based on these detailed analyses, number of authentic texts. With the increas-
teachers can teach students the organizational ing reach of the Internet, gaining this access
and lexico-grammatical patterns of particular is becoming more and more feasible for many
genres. teachers around the world. However, there are
also many other teachers with very limited
Challenges for EFL teachers access to any resources, let alone a stockpile of
When we move genre-based pedagogy authentic texts. While there is no one solution
from ESP/EAP to EFL, we are faced with sev- to this dilemma, I would recommend that
eral challenges. First of all, how can teachers teachers ask their students and communities
predict what genres their students will need for help overcoming this challenge. If at the
to learn? If, as the research shows, genres are beginning of the school year you ask your
dependent on the discourse community, then students and colleagues to bring you any and
how can a teacher working with a group of all printed materials in English that they can
students at the secondary school level know find, including such things as food labels,
which genres to teach? Obviously, in any one advertisements, and cell phone manuals, then
class some students may go on to study phys- you may be able to develop a personal collec-
ics, while others may go on to study history tion of authentic genres.
or law.
Genre awareness
In response to this challenge, some
researchers have proposed a core set of general Given the challenges of teaching genre,
school genres, or macro-genres, arguing that what should EFL teachers do? Personally, I
these are useful for students to learn because believe that some explicit instruction in the
they can be combined in a variety of ways. school genres mentioned above may be useful.
These school genres include such things as In addition to this, I believe that all teachers
narrative, recount, argument, report, and should incorporate a range of genre awareness
description (Hyland 2003). In this approach activities in their classes. Genre awareness
the claim “is that if students can control and activities ask students to notice how language
6 2011 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
works in relation to the context. As noted ear- Personal Letter, Business Letter, Memo, Rec-
lier, genre awareness aims “to assist students ipe, Note, Essay, Report, Email, Story, Post-
in developing the rhetorical flexibility neces- card, Advertisement, Poster, Thank-you Card,
sary for adapting their socio-cognitive genre Accident Report, and SMS Text Message.
knowledge to ever-evolving contexts” (Johns Ask the students to read through the list
2008, 238). This approach, also known as and discuss with their group what each text
consciousness-raising, “assists students both type is. Answer any questions students have.
to create text and reflect on writing by help- Step 3: Write Audience on the board;
ing them to focus on how a text works as
under that heading, write the following list:
discourse rather than on its content” (Hyland
Friend, Teacher, Customer, Colleague, Boss,
2003, 87). For a good introduction to a wide Parents, General Public, Children, President
range of genre awareness activities that EFL of a Company, Stranger, Police, and President
teachers can use, I would highly recommend of the Country.
Genre and the Language Learning Classroom Explain that these are all types of audi-
by Brian Paltridge (2001). Paltridge encour- ences whom we might write to. Ask students
ages teachers to think of using activities that to come up with possible combinations of:
focus on three levels: (1) Genre and Context, Text Type + Audience. Explain that some
(2)  Genre and Discourse, and (3)  Genre combinations are possible [memo + boss =
and Language. I will follow his organization you might write a memo to your boss], and
to suggest a range of activities that teachers some combinations are not possible or at least
might use. not likely [memo + family ≠ you would not
write a memo to your family]. Have students
Genre and context awareness activities
make a list of all possible combinations. There
Genre and context awareness activities ask is no one-to-one correspondence; different
students to focus mainly on the purpose of text types can be used for different audiences.
the communication and the people involved. For example, you can write a postcard to your
Types of activities could include noticing friends, to your family, and to your colleagues.
how language becomes more or less formal When students have finished writing, ask
depending on the audience; discussing what them to explain why some combinations are
topics may be taboo in certain contexts or possible and why some combinations are
with certain people; listing genres and stat- not possible. You may even wish to ask them
ing when using them is appropriate, for which combinations are actually inappropri-
instance, when it is appropriate to send an ate but would be amusing, such as SMS Mes-
email vs. sending an SMS; brainstorming sage + President of the Country.
lists of genres used in different professions;
Step 4 (optional): For higher-level groups,
searching through piles of authentic texts and
write the word Purposes on the board. Under
stating what the genre is and what its purpose
that heading, write the following list: To
is. Or, as in the example that follows, discuss-
inform, To entertain, To instruct, To explain,
ing which genres can be used with different
To persuade, To amuse, To complain, To
people and for different purposes.
compliment, To express love, To request, To
describe, and To criticize.
Text / Audience / Purpose activity
Ask the groups to come up with a list of
Step 1: Explain to students that we write in
possible combinations of: Text Type + Audi-
different ways for different purposes. Explain
ence + Purpose. Again there is no one-to-one
that we have certain words for ways of writ-
correspondence; memos can be used to per-
ing. Choose the name of a genre that students
suade, to complain, and/or to explain.
will be familiar with to explain the concept.
When students have finished listing com-
An example might be a letter. Have students
binations, ask them to explain why some com-
discuss what a letter is, why we write letters
binations are possible and why some are not.
and to whom we might write letters.
Again you may wish to ask the students which
Step 2: Divide students into small groups. combinations are actually inappropriate, but
Write Text Type on the board. Under that would be amusing or challenging, such as
heading, list the following types on the board: Business Letter + To express love.
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2011 7
Step 5: Finally, ask students to tell you require a response? or What is the problem?
which genres they most frequently use in their
Response – What is the solution to the
first language. Ask students to tell you with
problem?
which audiences and for which purposes they
use these genres. For example, you could ask Evaluation of response – How is the solu-
them if they ever email their parents or send tion to be evaluated? (optional move)
SMS messages to their teachers. Ask them to Step 2: Give each group of students the
think about why they use the genres in par- cut-up Job Seminar worksheet. Ask the stu-
ticular ways. At the end of the activity, point dents to put the statements in the correct
out to students that by noticing how genres order; knowing that it is a problem/solution
vary, both in their L1 and in English, they will structure ahead of time should help them.
learn more about language and how to use it This type of activity helps to build students’
appropriately. awareness about cohesive aspects of text, how
sentences connect to one another.
Genre and discourse awareness activities
Step 3: After the students are finished,
At the next level, discourse awareness
they can compare their answers. Discuss how
activities focus on how genres are structured
they knew how to order the sentences and
in different ways, using different moves to
highlight the problem/solution pattern of the
achieve the communicative purpose. Types
text.
of activities could be comparing a number
of authentic texts from the same genre—say, Step 4: Give the students the Sprate Plan
recipes—and discovering what they have in worksheet. Explain that this is an advertise-
common in terms of structure; giving students ment for a long-distance phone company. Ask
texts with pieces missing, such as stories with them to read the solution and to imagine what
no endings, and having students discuss what the problem might be. Using the first model
is wrong and why; scrambling up texts and as a guide, ask the students to write the title
having students put them in the correct order; and problem sections. Allow the groups to
presenting models of texts that follow differ- compare their work and discuss any similari-
ent discourse patterns and discussing why that ties or differences that they see.
pattern either is or is not effective. Or you Step 5: Give the students the Stress Man-
can have students examine and practice one agement worksheet. Explain that this is a
particular discourse pattern, as in the example poster advertising a seminar to manage stress.
below. This activity examines the problem/ Ask the students to read the title and the
solution pattern, most commonly used to problem and to imagine what the solution
promote or sell things. might be. Using the first model as a guide, ask
the students to complete the poster. Allow the
Problem/Solution activity
groups to compare their work and discuss any
For each group of students, you will need
similarities or differences that they see.
one copy of the Job Seminar worksheet (see
Appendix A) cut into strips, one copy of the Step 6: Finally, remind students that the
Sprate Plan worksheet (see Appendix B), and problem/solution discourse pattern is one way
one copy of the Stress Management worksheet to organize a text. Ask the students if they
(see Appendix C). know of any other discourse patterns (such as
enumeration, compare/contrast, cause/effect,
Step 1: Explain to students that in writ-
sequential) and where they might find them
ing, ordering information is very important.
(e.g., in newspapers, science reports, instruc-
One common discourse pattern is problem/
tions). At the end of the activity, remind stu-
solution. This pattern is used in a wide variety
dents that noticing how genres are organized
of genres, including print advertisements and
and learning different discourse patterns will
promotional posters. The discourse structure
help them to become better writers.
usually has the following moves:
Situation – What is the situation? (option- Genre and language awareness activities
al move)
Genre and language awareness activities
Problem – What aspects of the situation focus on the ways different lexico-grammat-
8 2011 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
ical structures and patterns are used in dif- the written text, and have them examine the
ferent genres to achieve the communicative language in the written text.
purpose. Such activities include examining an
Step 4: Ask students to compare and
authentic text, highlighting the use and num-
contrast the two texts: What do they have in
ber of particular parts of speech (e.g., personal
common? What is different about them?
pronouns or nouns), and discussing their use
Discuss how speech and writing differ.
(e.g., why we use many personal pronouns in
(See Appendix D for suggestions.)
conversation but not in scientific texts); trans-
Step 5: Ask groups of students to trans-
forming an informal text into a formal text to
form a spoken text into a written one. First
suit a new audience; comparing several texts
introduce the particular genre that you want
from the same genre and discussing which
them to write. Provide the students with
tenses are used and why; focusing on which
several authentic models, and highlight the
genres have many nominalizations and why
discourse pattern and lexico-grammatical fea-
this is so. Or, as in the example below, you
tures. Next, either let students listen to the
could ask students to transform spoken texts
spoken text several times, or give them the
into their appropriate written equivalents.
transcript of a spoken text. Then ask them to
Spoken vs. written language activity produce the written versions.
You will need to find two authentic texts, Sample tasks: (1) Have students listen to
one spoken and one written, about the same a weather report that contains the predicted
topic. Examples are: temperatures for a number of different cities.
Ask them to write the weather report for a
• a video of a cooking show vs. a recipe in
newspaper. (2) Have students listen to some-
a cookbook
one complaining about a situation. Ask them
• a taped weather report from the radio
to take notes and then write a letter of com-
vs. a weather report from the newspaper
plaint about the situation. (3) Have students
• a video or tape recording of the eve-
watch a show about how to do something (a
ning’s news vs. a newspaper
cooking show or home repair show). Ask them
• a video of a sporting event vs. the
to write the procedures for what they saw.
report of the event in the newspaper
Step 6: At the end of the activity, ask
Transcripts of the spoken texts are useful.
students to summarize what they learned
When making transcripts, ensure that you
about the difference between spoken and
transcribe exactly what is said instead of pol-
written language. (Remind them that written
ishing it up to look like “proper” English.
language is not just spoken language written
Step 1: Introduce the topic (e.g., cooking, down.) Discuss with the students why it is
weather, news, sports). Introduce the purpose important, when they are writing, to be aware
of the activity (to find linguistic differences of these differences.
between speaking and writing).
Conclusion
Step 2: Play the spoken text. A transcript
Over the past 20 years, genre theory and
of the text can be given to the students. Have
genre-based pedagogy have transformed the
students discuss the order of the information
way ESP and EAP teachers teach writing.
(what came first, second, third); have them
This influential pedagogy is starting to be
look at the language used:
adopted by EFL teachers. However, EFL
• How many personal pronouns—I, you,
teachers, working with large heterogeneous
he, etc.—were used?
classes, face the challenge of selecting which
• What tenses were used?
genres to teach. One option is to introduce
• Was the information in sentences or
basic school discourse patterns, such as nar-
phrases?
rative, description, and recount, as a way of
• Did the speaker repeat himself/herself
teaching genres. Another important option
or hesitate?
is to incorporate genre awareness activities
• How much detail was given?
into your classroom. By exploring different
Step 3: Give students the written text. genre types, in relation to their purposes,
Have them discuss the order of information in the context, the discourse organization, and
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2011 9
lexico-grammatical patterns, students can be –––. 2004. Genre and second language writing. Ann
encouraged to notice how language works. If Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
–––. 2008. Genre and academic writing in the dis-
they can better notice and describe similari-
ciplines. Language Teaching 41: 543–562.
ties and differences among genres, then they
Hyon, S. 1996. Genre in three traditions: Impli-
may be better equipped to write in a wide cations for ESL. TESOL Quarterly 30 (4):
variety of contexts. I have presented three 693–722.
sample genre awareness activities focusing Johns, A. M. 1997. Text, role, and context: Develop-
ing academic literacies. Cambridge: Cambridge
on context, discourse, and language. Many
University Press.
more activities are possible, and I encourage
–––. 2008. Genre awareness for the novice academ-
interested teachers to explore Genre and the ic student: An ongoing quest. Language Teaching
Language Learning Classroom (Paltridge 2001) 41 (2): 237–252.
and Second Language Writing (Hyland 2003) Martin, J. R. 1992. English text: System and struc-
ture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
for further suggestions. But also remember
Martin, J., F. Christie, and J. Rothery. 1987. Social
that you, too, can be a genre analyst. Armed
processes in education: A reply to Sawyer and
with two basic questions—What do these texts Watson (and others). In The place of genre in
from this particular genre have in common? and learning: Current debates, ed. I. Reid, 46–57.
Why?—you can become more aware of how Geelong, Australia: Deakin University Press.
Millar, D. 2002. Making choices: Teaching writing
genres work and then share this awareness
in the workplace (Instructional activities manual).
with your students.
Edmonton, Canada: Grass Roots Press.
Myskow, G., and K. Gordon. 2010. A focus on pur-
References pose: Using a genre approach in an EFL writing
Bax, S. 2006. The role of genre in language syllabus class. ELT Journal 64 (3): 283–292.
design: The case of Bahrain. International Jour- Paltridge, B. 2001. Genre and the language learning
nal of Educational Development 26: 315–328. classroom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Bhatia, V. K. 1993. Analysing genre: Language use in Press.
professional settings. London: Longman. Swales, J. 1990. Genre analysis: English in academic
–––. 1997. Genre-mixing in academic introduc- and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge
tions. English for Specific Purposes 16 (3): 181– University Press.
196. Swales, J., and C. Feak. 2000. English in today’s
Biber, D., and S. Conrad. 2009. Register, genre, and research world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor: Uni-
style. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. versity of Michigan Press.
Delpit, L. 1988. The silenced dialogue: Power and Swami, J. A. 2008. Sensitizing ESL learners to
pedagogy in educating other people’s children. genre. ESL-EJ 12 (3): 1–13.
Harvard Educational Review 58 (3): 280–298. Yan, G. 2005. A process genre model for teaching
Firkins, A., G. Forey, and S. Sengupta. 2007. Teach- writing. English Teaching Forum 43 (3): 18–26.
ing writing to low proficiency EFL students.
ELT Journal 61 (4): 341–352.
Gerot, L. 1995. Making sense of text. Cammeray,
NSW: Gerd Stabler, Antipodean Educational
Diane Millar is a Regional English
Enterprises.
Language Officer in Dakar, Senegal,
Henry, A., and R. L. Roseberry. 1999. Raising
awareness of the generic structure and linguistic covering West Africa. She has taught EFL,
features of essay introductions. Language Aware- worked in adult literacy, and trained
ness 8 (3 & 4), 190–200. teachers for the past 25 years. She has
Hyland, K. 2003. Second language writing. New an MA in Applied Linguistics from the
York: Cambridge University Press. University of Surrey, UK.
10 2011 Number 2 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m
Job Seminar Worksheet
Promoting Genre Awareness in the EFL Classroom • Diane Millar
Copy and cut the following strips horizontally. You will need one set of strips for
each pair of students.
Job Search and Career Planning Seminars
Do YOU want to grow with the company but aren’t sure what direction you
should take? Do you read internal job postings but not apply for the jobs because
you are not sure how to write a resume or fill in the required application form? Do
you go for interviews but feel nervous about answering the questions?
The Human Resources Department is considering offering two three-hour semi-
nars for employees who would like to learn more about our job posting policy,
career planning, and job search techniques. The seminars would be offered on
employees’ own time (evenings or weekends) and would cover the following topics:
Session 1—Career Planning
In this session you would learn how to:
· set goals, priorities, and timelines
· document your skills and abilities
· analyze your personality and interests
· determine the type of job that suits you best
· create a learning plan
Session 2—Job Search Techniques
In this session you would learn how to:
· write a great resume
· complete an application form
· develop strong cover letters
· prepare for an interview
· answer common interview questions
If you would be interested in attending one or both of these sessions, please fill out
one of the attached forms and leave it in the labeled envelope. If there is enough
interest in the sessions, dates will be scheduled and interested employees will be
contacted.
(Adapted from Millar 2002)
E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 2 2011 11