AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

The process approach and genre approach are two ways that teachers can help learners of a second language to write. Genre approaches focus on learners writing for a specific purpose, and process approaches focus on the writing processes such as planning and drafting, and the work that goes into a final product. Both these approaches are beneficial to learners and it is important that teachers can incorporate both views into a writing classroom.

1.1 Genre approaches generally have three stages in the writing process. The first is where learners are shown a model of a genre they are going to produce. Learners then do exercises revolving around the relevant language forms, not forgetting to consider social context such as the purpose of the text and the target audience, and finally they produce a short text based on the practices and models. The construction of the text is first aided by the teacher and other learners but then independently by the learner. (Badger & White, 2000).

The process approaches consist of four writing stages. First is the pre-writing stage, where learners brainstorm and generate ideas on a topic. This is followed by a composing or drafting stage where the result of the brainstorm can be structured into a plan so learners can begin constructing their first draft text. The third stage is the revision stage, where learners revise their first draft, either individually or in groups. This is linked with the final stage of editing, where the draft is re-read thoroughly and changes such as re-organisation are made to the text. (2000).

1.2  Genre approaches emphasise the need to grasp an understanding of social conventions to help learners with their writing. Since genre approaches focus on writing to achieve a purpose, it is important that learners know the social context in which a text is produced and used, such as what one would associate articles or business reports with. To produce good writing, the genre approach suggests learners keep the purpose of the text they are writing as the main focus. (2000). This way the text is similar to authentic situations.

The process approach views successful writers as those who made an effort to consider their readers whilst writing. Good writing comes from practice and thorough revision; better writers were often those who re-read whole paragraphs of their text not just small sections. (Basturkmen, 2015). Some ways teachers can communicate this to learners is by showing learners strategies used by expert writers such as diagrams, lists, planning, evaluating, monitoring and editing. (Manchón, 2013). Teachers can also suggest learners revise their writing as they write, and consider editing such as removing whole sections, re-organising paragraphs and reacting to their text before moving on. (Basturkmen, 2015).

1.3  In the genre approach, teaching focuses on the purpose of the genre, organisation and then possibly language choices. This approach requires that teachers show learners that when texts have the same purpose, they usually have the same structures and language forms. (Basturkmen, 2015). Teachers should first model and discuss an example text to their students, and from there have a guided construction of the text and finally allow learners to construct the text independently. (2015). By first guiding the students with their drafts of writing, learners are able to understand what is required. It is important teachers then allow students to produce a finalised text piece on their own.

The teacher’s role in providing input is less important in the process approach than genre approach. According to Badger and White (2000), the teacher facilitates learning and draws out the learner’s potential. Teacher scaffolding is important in the process approach, and teachers should encourage peer interaction.  (Manchón, 2013). By introducing brainstorming to the learners, teachers can help learners begin generating ideas for the topic of their text. This is sometimes difficult for learners of a second language so it is helpful if the teacher can show suggestions. The teacher should make sure the class time is spent on learners actually writing; encouraging students to get their ideas down and look at the accuracy such as grammar and editing later. (Basturkmen, 2015).  

2. Although genre and process approaches are often seen as opposite in terms of teaching writing, there are ways in which they can complement each other. The strengths in one approach can complement the other approach’s weaknesses. For example, the genre approach focuses on the final product of writing and how social contexts play a large role in writing. However, it requires a linguistic understanding of texts. (Hyland, 2003). These can be taught using process approaches as they focus on writing using linguistic skills and planning. Process approaches pay insufficient attention to the purpose of writing, and this is the overall focus of genre approaches. If teachers can incorporate both of these approaches into their teaching they will be able to fill in the gaps one approach may create. While process approaches focus on making writing processes transparent, genre approaches make textual conventions transparent. (2003).Together both of these approaches will cover all the skills learners need as they begin to write, making both genre and process approaches complementary rather than incompatible if teachers incorporate both into their teaching.

Both approaches offer benefits to learners as they teach how to not only write with a purpose in mind, but how to maximise the processes used leading up to the final product. Genre approaches show learners that writing has many different purposes and can be used in many situations, so writing to fit a specific situation is always important. However, just as important is the process approach, which teaches learners to plan, brainstorm and generate ideas about a topic and also how to revise and edit their text. It is crucial that teachers use both these approaches when teaching writing to second language learners as they will not only learn how to write for a purpose and audience, but how to pre-write, edit and revise their writing at a close level.

References

Badger, R. & White, G. (2000). A process approach to teaching writing. English Language Teaching Journal, 54, 2: 153-160. 

Basturkmen, H. (2015, March 10). Week 2: Developing literacy in a second language. Class Handouts (pp. 1-13), The University of Auckland, New Zealand: DALSL

Hyland, K. (2003). Chapter 1 Writing and teaching writing. In Hyland, K. Second Language Writing (pp. 1-30).  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Manchón, R.M (2013). Teaching writing. In Chapelle, C. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. DOI: 10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1178