Genre theory: A horn of plenty for EFL learners

Abstract

The present article focuses on genre theory and its pedagogical use in the EFL classroom. The functional nature of language is discussed. The article emphasises that people use language to accomplish various communicative and social functions. By incorporating genres into the EFL classroom, learners become aware of how language works in context. Learners concentrate on texts as discourse rather than on their content. It is demonstrated how specific genres, job interviews in particular, can be identified through structural organisation and the various linguistic features within it.