Genre-based Instruction in ESL Settings

This book evaluates the efficacy of genre-based instruction by sensitizing the ESL learners to genre. The main questions addressed are: How does sensitizing ESL learners to the rhetorical move structure of a genre, the communicative purposes of these moves, and linguistic features that realize these moves help them to become confident writers? What impact does this sensitization have on them? To answer these questions, an experiment was conducted by identifying two genres--sales promotion and job application letters--and a texttype--academic essays. This was done for two groups of students with two different needs--ESAP and EGAP. Pre- and post- tests were conducted. An analysis of the scripts revealed that the students improved not only their confidence to handle genres but also their attitude toward language learning as explicit instruction provided them with "a concrete opportunity to acquire conceptual and cultural frameworks to undertake writing tasks beyond the courses in which such teaching occurs" (Cheng, 2006, p. 77). The findings suggest that knowledge of genre and the generic features works as a powerful pedagogical tool for teachers and students.