An Evaluation of a Genre-Based Approach to the Teaching of EAP/ESP Writing

Abstract

An attempt was made to determine the effectiveness of a genre-based approach to teaching writing in an English for academic purposes context. Genre is defined as spoken or written text that serves a particular purpose in a society & is composed of a series of obligatory or protional segments called moves. The aim of genre analysis is to identify how the moves are organized in a given genre (rhetorical organization), identify the linguistic features chosen by expert users of the genre to realize a communicative purpose, & explain the choices in terms of social & psychological contexts. Three hypotheses are tested: genre-based instruction will (1) result in significant improvements in achieving communicative goals, (2) improve the subjects' ability to produce texts that conform to the allowable move structure, & (3) improve the subjects' ability to texture their writing. The hypotheses were tested on 1st-year students (N = 34) in the Faculty of Management of the U of Brunei Darussalam divided into genre & nongenre groups. Results indicate that the genre group improved significantly in comparison of pre- & posttest scores of motivation & texture index. Analysis of the outcome is discussed, & explanations for the results are offered. Findings also indicate that a teaching approach focusing on rhetorical organization can be successful in an English for academic/specific purposes teaching situation with advanced learners. 2 Tables, 12 References. M. Castillo