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Date Posted: 17:09:01 07/18/03 Fri
Author: Ricardo Lacerda
Subject: Task 11

***Explain what a genre-based approach is. ***

“A genre is a particular class of speech events (in discourse analysis) which are considered as being of the same type, having particular and distinctive characteristics.” Thus, texts that belong to the same genre have some of these characteristics in common. The genre-based approach takes this as the basic step from where students start understanding the language.

We behave differently, according to the situation we are exposed to. The way we talk or write changes in relation to the problem we have to solve. In second laguage learning, students have to be aware of these differences. Knowing words or sentences isolated is not enough. They also should be able to know how to link these units cohesively, producing a text that will achieve the communicative purpose desired. That is the concern of a genre-based approach.

In order to produce good texts, students need first to be introduced to the genre. Authentic texts is essential since the begining, so that students can create a background knowledge of genres that are used in “real-life” situations. Examples are also very important. If a student is asked to write a book of instructions, like a ‘User’s Guide’ of a machine, it is probable that his knowledge about the machine is not enough to create it. S/He has to have an example of the kind of language, the genre, with which s/he is supposed to work.

This approach is more used to develop writing skills. However, since it deals with any kind of speech event, we can use it to analyse and produce oral texts, as well as the written ones.

Bibliography:

Genre: Where art thou? Tracing the role of genre in the foreign language curriculum http://uccllt.ucdavis.edu/Events/papers/Crane,etal.Irvine2002Paper.htm

Adapting genre theory to EFL contexts http://www.encounters.jp/mike/professional/publications/bevseminar.html

Writing across genres http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/00/jul/gallagher.html

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