Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-18T19:44:50.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Integrating process and genre into the second language writing classroom: Research into practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Juval V. Racelis
Affiliation:
Arizona State University, USAjuval.racelis@asu.edu
Paul Kei Matsuda
Affiliation:
Arizona State University, USApaul.matsuda@asu.edu

Abstract

The field of second language (L2) writing has moved beyond the false dichotomies between process- and genre-based pedagogies perpetuated in the 1980s and 1990s, but there has still been little research on how the two are actually reconciled in the classroom. Consequently, L2 writing instructors are left with an incomplete picture, unsure how to incorporate such research into their own classrooms. This paper describes how one teacher, Juval, encountered the research on process- and genre-based pedagogies and negotiated his understanding of this research into his practice. Alongside Juval's voice is the voice of a teacher educator, Paul, setting these frameworks in the context of larger developments in the field of L2 writing. Their discussion takes Juval from his initial view of writing as a grammar-elicitation task to his resort to research for answers to the complex needs of his students. With further support from colleagues, Juval reaches a place where the two pedagogies are not only reconciled but work together to prepare his students for their writing tasks. His narrative chimes with the experience of many L2 writing teachers and should inspire novice and experienced teachers to reflect on their relationship with theory and research.

Type
Thinking Allowed
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berlin, J. A. (1988). Rhetoric and ideology in the writing class. College English 50, 477494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, L. L. & Kroll, B. (with Cumming, A., Erickson, M., Johns, A. M., Leki, I., Reid, J. & Silva, T.) (2002). ESL composition tales: Reflections on teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brière, E. J. (1966). Quantity before quality in second language composition. Language Learning 16, 141151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casanave, C. P. (2003). Looking ahead to more sociopolitically-oriented case study research in L2 writing scholarship: (But should it be called ‘post-process’?). Journal of Second Language Writing 12, 85102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elbow, P. (1999). Research in defense of private writing: Consequences for theory and research. Written Communication 16.2, 139170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R. & Yuan, F. (2004). The effects of planning on fluency, complexity, and accuracy in second language narrative writing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 26.1, 5984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erazmus, E. T. (1960). Second language composition teaching at the intermediate level. Language Learning 10, 2531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faigley, L. (1986). Competing theories of process: A critique and proposal. College English 48, 527542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, D. & Hedgecock, J. (2005). Teaching ESL composition: Purpose, process and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Flower, L. & Hayes, J. R. (1981). A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication 32.4, 365387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, G., Taylor, C., Bridgeman, B., Carson, J., Kroll, B. & Kantor, R. (1996). A study of writing tasks assigned in academic degree programs. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.Google Scholar
Horowitz, D. (1986). Process and product: Less than meets the eye. TESOL Quarterly 20, 141144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyland, K. (2007). Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing 16.3, 148164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyon, S. (1996). Genre in three traditions: Implications for ESL. TESOL Quarterly 30.1, 693722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, M. A. (2009). ‘Far’ transfer of learning outcomes from an ESL writing course: Can the gap be bridged? Journal of Second Language Writing 18, 6984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, M. A. (2010). An investigation of learning transfer in English-for-general-academic-purposes writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing 19, 183206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, role and context: Developing academic literacies. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, A. M. (2002). Destabilizing students’ literacy theories. In Johns, A. M. (ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 237248.Google Scholar
Johns, A. M. (2008). Genre awareness for the novice academic student: An ongoing quest. Language Teaching 41.2, 237252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, A. M. (2011). The future of genre in L2 writing: Fundamental, but contested, instructional decisions. Journal of Second Language Writing 20.1, 5668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kent, T. (ed.) (1999). Post-process theory: Beyond the writing-process paradigm. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Krapels, A. R. (1990). An overview of second language writing process research. In Kroll, B. (ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press, 3756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, B. (1990). Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, P. K. (2001). Reexamining audiolingualism: On the genesis of reading and writing in L2 studies. In Belcher, D. & Hirvela, A. (eds.), Linking literacies: Perspectives on L2 reading-writing connections. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 84105.Google Scholar
Matsuda, P. K. (2002). Reinventing giants. In Blanton, L. L. & Kroll, B. (eds.), ESL composition tales: Reflections on teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 163171.Google Scholar
Matsuda, P. K. (2003a). Process and post-process: A discursive history. Journal of Second Language Writing 12, 6583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, P. K. (2003b). Second language writing in the twentieth century: A situated historical perspective. In Kroll, B. (ed.), Exploring the dynamics of second language writing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech 70, 151176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, D. (1972). Teach writing as a process not product. The Leaflet 71, 1114.Google Scholar
Pincas, A. (1962). Structural linguistics and systematic composition teaching to students of English as a second language. Language Learning 12.3, 185194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raimes, A. (1991). Out of the woods: Emerging traditions in the teaching of writing. TESOL Quarterly 25, 407430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivers, W. (1968). Teaching foreign language skills. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Silva, T. (1990). Second language composition instruction: Developments, issues and directions in Kroll, ESL. In B. (ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spack, R. (1988). Initiating ESL students into the academic discourse community: How far should we go? TESOL Quarterly 22, 2951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susser, B. (1994). Process approaches in ESL/EFL writing instructions. Journal of Second Language Writing 3.1, 3147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tardy, C. M. (2009). Building genre knowledge. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.Google Scholar