Writing as a social enterprise: sample inclass activities of a genre-based approach to teaching English as a foreign language

Abstract

This papers aims at discussing some principles of a genre-oriented approach to foreign language teaching from the perspective of Functional Linguistics. We also argue in favor of the relevance of using technological tools to enrich writing pedagogy. To do that, we analyze some sample in-class activities that come from two different educational contexts: a Diploma course intended to English teachers in continuing education and a course on academic writing, designed to medical graduate students. Our findings point to the significance of combining a process and a product-oriented approach to writing, including instruction; text revision and rewriting; and scaffolding. Finally, we make the case that a functional view of language should underpin a genre-oriented pedagogy, as it opens room for analyzing language as a social enterprise.

Keywords

• Academic writing. Functional view of language. English as a foreign language.