Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction

For teacher educators, genre-based pedagogies offer a valuable resource for assisting both pre- and in-service writing instructors to assist their students to produce effective and relevant texts. Instead of focusing on the process of composition, the content of texts, or the abstract prescriptions of disembodied grammars, genre pedagogies enable teachers to ground their courses in the texts that students will have to write in their target contexts, thereby supporting learners to participate effectively in the world outside the ESL classroom. Genre theory and research thus give teacher educators a more central role in preparing individuals to teach second language writing and to confidently advise them on the development of curriculum materials and activities for writing classes. In this paper, I will briefly introduce the principles of genre-based language instruction and sketch some broad classroom models, looking at ESP and SFL approaches. I then explore what it means to implement genre teaching in more practical terms, setting out some key ways in which teachers can plan, sequence, support, and assess learning.