第二部分教学研究与教学模式
A Gen re–based App roach in Teaching EFL Practical Writing
云南大学 马 玲 夏艾米伦
Abstract: This article investigates and analyzes the implementation of a genre-based approach for the teaching of EFL practical w riting in combination w ith the process approach. This proposed methodology would utilize the teaching of vocabulary and grammar forms w ithin a larger context of text purpose and audience. EFL students should thus be liberated from the fear and anxiety of writing. This will be accomplished by providing students w ith appropriate models and opportunities to collaborate w ith peers while developing w riting skills such as planning,drafting and revision.
Key words:a genre-based approach process approach practical w riting
1.In troduction
Writing skills are essential for language learners who need to communicate with others. The ability to express oneself clearly on paper is a very important element in the mastery of another language. However,most EFL learners consider writing as the most dif ficult language skill to develop. Even after years of learning English,their writing effectiveness is inadequate. Many factors such as motivation,anxiety,learning environment,and teaching approaches hinder EFL learners from writing effectively. In addition,EFL learners may have lim ited linguistic competence,vocabulary,content,and discourse forms. Hyland (1990) finds that the dif ficulties faced by EFL/ESL students when asked to produce a piece of writing are often due to inadequate understanding of howtexts are organized. Reid (1993) and Widdowson (1998) express similar concerns that many ESL writers do use their first language rhetorical patterns when writing English. Writers from one culture who write for readers in another culture often have problems fulfilling audience expectations. Thus they produce texts which do not meet the expectations of their audiences or the rhetorical patterns of the target language. Thus Raimes (1983) concludes that approaches which focus on rhetorical form and on the reader’s expectations might be suitable for EFL writers.
2.A Genre-Based App roach and the Teaching o f Writing
“Genre” has been an important concept in literacy and language education in recent years,particularly concerning the teaching of writing. Researchers and language teachers look at genre in different ways. The word“genre”is defined by Martin (1984: 25) as“a staged,goal-oriented, purposeful activity in which speakers engage as members of our culture.”Later he redefined it as“a staged,goal-oriented,social process”(Martin,1992: 205). Perhaps the earliest and most widely known genre initiative as far as classroom practice is concerned is that of the so-called“genre school”in Australia (Reid,1993). Based on the“genre-school,”a genre-based approach provides a model for explaining language in relation to the context in which it is used. writing should be introduced in contexts that enable students to focus on questions such as“What is my purpose and who is my audience?”rather than“What shall I write about?”So in order to achieve the purpose and satisfy the need of the audience,students are then able to choose an appropriate discourse form. In other words,purpose+audience=form (schematic structure + language features). For example,in writing procedures,the purpose of the procedure is to tell someone howto do or make something,as in a recipe,or howto fix a bike. The purpose determines the particular generic structure of a procedural text in which a goal is stated what you are doing or making,what materials you need and what actions or steps you need to achieve the purpose.Therefore,the generic structure of a procedural text helps obtain the goal. The following example illustrates howlanguage works in a particular context to achieve a particular purpose.
Sample text 1:Procedures use mainly temporal conjunctive relations:
First you take a piece of cardboard and one piece of chalk.
Then you drawsomething on the cardboard.
Next you cut it out when you want light to go through.
Then stick different colored cellophane paper over the areas that have a hole.
When you have finished this,stick it on the window.
[Teaching factual writing: Metropolitan EAST DSP,1988:23]
Sample 2: Recounts using the past tense:
Generic structure Language feature
3.Teaching Gramm ar in Context
A genre-based approach has communicative purpose as its foundation and was developed through the systemic-functional linguistics of Halliday (1985). Its primary concern is the nature of language as a resource for conveying meaning: linguistic form is a function in nature; while grammatical structures are functional for conveying meanings.
From the sample texts 1&2,we can see the students are able to use the imperative,simple present tense,and action verbs in writing a procedure. They use past tense in recount writing. It is effective for the students to learn grammar in the context,which involves their own experience to express their meaning clearly to the reader.
4. Prog ress via Gen re App roach
Process writing is concerned with howwriting takes place. Genre theory has sought to shift the focus to what is written,by whom and in what context. There is a debate on these two approaches. Yet,from practical point of view,these two approaches are interdependent and effective in the teaching of EFL writing. In recent years much of the attention on teaching writing skills to ESL students has focused on the“process approach”which provides students freedom to choose topics,relying on personal experiences and concerns. Peer editing and revision make students collaborate with each other. Nevertheless,its practical application to ESL/EFL is a primary concern.The process approach fails to address that L2 learners“may have only limited competence in using alien discourse forms. Learners simply need more information on what we expect them to produce”(Hyland,1990: 66). Furthermore,teaching in a second or foreign language often inhibits the use of the process approach,because its focus is on expressive and personal writing. This type of writing is far more demanding of students who are neither fam iliar nor com fortable with the convention and expectations of expressive writing,”and who may be lowin motivation,academ ic standard,or English proficiency. As Pennington et al.(1997) suggest that many teachers take a“middle-of-the road”approach combining product and process teaching philosophies,with somewhat a more traditional approach in Asian countries.
Considering the above-cited factors,there is an alternative orthodoxy as a pedagogical approach to the teaching of EFL writing,that is a genre-based approach combined with a process writing approach. The genre approach is presented as favoring explicit presentation of text models and a highly visible,interventionist role for the teacher,who is expected to guide access to clearly distinguished linguistic structures. Furthermore,a genre approach is based on the notion that the structure of a text contributes significantly to the realization of its meanings and that a description of the linguistic structures and language features can be an important pedagogical resource and provide learners with comprehensible input (Christie et al,1990a;Hyland,1990). As Krashen(1982)confirms,the important issue in acquiring a language is comprehensible input. If students receive enough“comprehensible input,”the acquisition will occur. With the awareness of linguistic features and language features of a particular genre,the students are able to write from their own experience of the world or information obtained. Conferencing,group discussion,drafting,and preparation for publication can build up the students’ confidence and relieve their anxiety in writing the target language.
The genre via process approaches provides the teaching of EFL writing with a framework that situates the teaching of discrete vocabulary items and grammatical forms within a larger context of text purpose and audience. The orientation of a genre-based approach is to languagein-use,rather than is language-in-form. Writing is introduced in meaningful contexts in which students are able to write with authentic purpose and real audiences,rather than to puzzle on what to be written about. By being aware of different genres conveying different purposes,generic structures and linguistic features,students gain confidence to be able to learn to produce a text that serves its intended purposes. Furthermore,the students are given opportunities to collaborate with each other in English writing.
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