Learning to Mean in Spanish Writing: A Case Study of a Genre‐Based Pedagogy for Standards‐Based Writing Instruction

Abstract

AbstractThis case study reports the results of a genre‐based approach, which was used to explicitly teach the touristic landmark description to fourth‐grade students of Spanish as a foreign language. The instructional model and unit of instruction were informed by the pedagogies of the Sydney School of Linguistics and an instructional model for integrating the three modes of communication, as well as the literature on content‐based instruction. An analysis of the writing of a focal student, Jackie, provides evidence of the potential of the pedagogy to develop students' ability to appropriate the linguistic representation of content in ways that current frameworks do not yet consider. Thus, implications of the findings are explored related to the integration of functional linguistics, genre theory, and genre‐based pedagogy for instruction that is informed by the World‐Readiness Standards, the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Writing, and the NCSSFL‐ACTFL Can‐Do Statements for presentational writing.