On “Genre and ESL/EFL composition instruction” by Ann M. Johns: Clearing up the messy term “Genre”

Genre is a term that has become pervasive in everyday language in different contexts and discipline. Johns tackles genre in composition studies and in ESL/EFL instruction. In developing in a second or foreign language, learners need to become aware that language is used differently in different contexts to achieve different purposes.

Genre-based approaches to writing instruction have become an alternative to process pedagogy in teaching writing. In the latter, genre is used with a goal in mind to achieve, the writing is staged, and the language used serves the targeted communicative purpose. Swales defines genre as ‘‘[the] structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes’’. Following this definition and in the same line of thought as Johns (2003), I do believe that when teaching writing instructors need to make students understand what genre is because such an understanding helps students to have a conceptual framework to approach the writing task.

When students write, they target a specific discourse community or rather they are supposed to be members or seek membership in that particular discourse community. For this reason that need to master the appropriate discourse. Dell Hymes (1972) parameters of communicative competence came to my mind when I was reading Johns’ articles. Using a genre-based pedagogy for me means that students should develop the competence of using the discourse that is appropriate for the targeted discourse community. The student will develop a repertoire of genres and will have to write in the genre that best fits his/her audience and intended purpose.

A genre-based pedagogy can be used in writing instruction but also in reading and speaking. Argumentation for instance can be constructed differently in writing and speaking, but it still has some common features to both media.