Genre Approach In Writing

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What is genre approach to writing? The foundation of a genre approach is on “systemic functional linguistics (SFL)”, a language theory which was developed by Halliday (Fekins, Forey, Sengupta, 2007). The SFL theory of language is based on functional notion of language (Hyland, 2003). Systemic functional linguistics focuses on syntactic structure of language and language function is always encouraged. The foundation of a genre approach is the “learning through guidance and interaction” (Painter 1986, cited in Macken-Horarik 2001, cited in Ferkins et.al 2007). As Badger and White (2000) believe, genre approach considers the writing process as essentially concerned with the function of language which has a close link with the social purpose.…show more content…
For instance, Tuffs (1993) believe that genres have a narrow focus. He believes that this narrow focus can be useful for a short time course; however, according to him, in long term courses as well as the advanced ones, genre approach narrows the choice of the students as well as the teacher. The other problem, he believes that in the English domain genre analysts find it difficult to hold an adequate corpus. One another very important drawbacks of a genre approach as Badger and White (2000) believe that this approach undervalues the skills needed for the production of a text. They believe that this approach sees the learners largely passive. It is said that this approach gives a single window through which students can look at their writing…show more content…
This approach, as stated above, best fits in some short term courses (Tuffs, 1993). In such courses, usually the focus is on introduction to the topic, and this is a perfect time for teachers to introduce the four stages cycle to the students, especially at the elementary levels. Genre based approach is a really helpful activity for the elementary levels, and that is because it gives students to explore the world around them. It also encourages students to think critically about whatever surrounds them. In addition, it gives students a new insight about the writing activity, an insight which is somewhat similar to product approach and different with the process writing. However, sometimes it is noticed that genre approach lacks creativity which may not suit the characteristics of higher level writing (Tuffs, 1993). In addition, Tuffs (1993) believe that this approach is genre specific and it cannot be guaranteed that the components of one genre can fit into other writing situations. Tuffs (1993) states that although readily available for analysis, these genres are not always transparent are far too complex to be pedagogical

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