Genre Knowledge Research Articles

Meaning-oriented understanding of L2 academic writing development with task-type repetition

From a meaning-oriented perspective, the study drew on the nominalization in Systemic Functional Linguistics with Coh-Metrix and interviews to check how L2 academic writing of student writers may develop with the implementation of task-type repetition (TtR). The findings revealed that the development of L2 academic writing was presumably staged rather than constantly linear. Over the development, language proficiency dynamically resonated with TtR. First, the beginning session of TtR (from Task 1 to around Task 4) witnessed a more dynamic developmental trajectory during which the low-proficiency student constantly outperformed the other two in inter-sentential cohesion, while the intermediate-level student stood out over the middle session (Task 4- around Task 8). Second, at three genre stagings, students’ genre knowledge deeply resonated with their meaning-making activities throughout TtR, particularly in facilitating individual iterative reflection on their established writing knowledge. Third, the deficiency of genre knowledge may cause wide-range absence of nominalization at DESCRIPTION and CONCLUSION than EXPOSITION. Fourth, the linguistic fossilization identified at DESCRIPTION implies that anaphoric reconstrual may be individually mediated (by grammatically complicating the syntax in the study). Finally, a nuanced improvement in metaphorical enrichment and control was identified.

A comparative genre analysis of AI-generated and scholar-written abstracts for English review articles in international journals

There has been growing interest in the performance and efficiency of ChatGPT in generating academic texts. However, little empirical research has been conducted on its performance in producing review article abstracts. This study adopts the genre analysis approach to investigate the rhetorical moves of review article abstracts in hard and soft science disciplines based on two self-compiled corpora, respectively including 160 scholar-written abstracts from four high-impact international journals, and 160 abstracts generated by ChatGPT, with an aim to reveal the similarities and differences between human-written and AI-generated English review article abstracts. The results show significant differences between human-written and ChatGPT-generated abstracts, first in the frequency of three out of the five moves, and then in the sequential order of moves, with each type of abstracts demonstrating a preference for move sequence patterns as well as obligatory and optional elements. The two types of abstracts differ significantly in the frequency of move embedding, but share the same embedding combination patterns. These findings may deepen our understanding of ChatGPT's capabilities and limitations in generating academic texts across different disciplines, help improve the generative AI system, then highlight the complex relationship among the structure of academic abstracts, discipline cultures and genre knowledge.

Exploring Genre Awareness: L2 Learners’ Voices in Tertiary-Level Writing Contexts

This study explored tertiary-level L2 learners’ familiarization with genre-specific conventions in English writing skills. Employing a qualitative research paradigm, data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 26 L2 learners. An inductive content analysis was conducted to elicit recurring codes and themes. The learners expressed strengths encompassing the recognition of genre-specific features, awareness of linguistic and organizational conventions in genre writing, and formality level. They highlighted the challenges in their orientation to genre identification, text organization, and genre-specific language choices. The learners established connections between these challenges and limited prior writing experience in L1 and L2 and their subsequent reliance on L2 formal knowledge. Further sources of challenges were linked to affective factors, language proficiency, genre convention mastery, and topic familiarity. They reported feeling anxious due to unfamiliarity with genre features, lack of interest in a given topic, inadequate pre-writing, and planning stage, the demanding nature of the process-genre writing instruction, and instructors’ expectations. They proposed suggestions regarding the mastery of lexical and grammatical knowledge, the provision of effective feedback from instructors to improve textual organization, and genre-specific language conventions. Accordingly, instructional implications for the cultivation of genre knowledge and awareness of tertiary-level writing skills are presented.

Genre as an Act of Positioning

This article explores genres as recurrent acts of positioning that contribute to associating particular positions with the genre users as social actors. As an illustration, the study investigates the positioning of Chinese university presidents in their published opening convocation speeches. By combining rhetorical move analysis with the positioning triangle framework, this study demystifies three positions conventionally used by university presidents in the genre: guiding educator, morale builder, and university representative. These positions, legitimized by the role of the university president, establish specific types of social relations between the president and the students, which function as channels for the transmission of values, particularly collective values, to address relevant social expectations in Chinese society. This study suggests that the genre-based positioning analysis can offer valuable genre knowledge to novice practitioners, enabling them to familiarize themselves with adequate positionings that adhere to the code of conduct within a discourse community, thereby facilitating effective genre realization.

Effects of formative feedback on argumentative writing in English and cross-linguistic transfer to German

BackgroundArgumentative writing is a crucial but challenging competence for students. Process-oriented teaching with formative feedback benefits writing, yet the effects of feedback based on rubrics and exemplars versus in-text comments, remains unclear. MethodWe conducted a randomized controlled intervention study with 294 secondary students of English as a foreign language to examine the effects of formative feedback on argumentative writing and genre knowlege and investigate cross-linguistic transfer to German. Feedback was implemented within a learning unit on argumentative writing that we had developed for this project. The experimental groups (EG1: rubric + exemplar; EG2: in-text comments; EG3: rubric + exemplar and in-text comments) were compared to two control groups (CG1: learning unit without additional feedback; CG2: no intervention). We assessed writing quality (pre-, post-, and follow-up tests: 1122 essays in English; pre- and post-tests: 588 essays in German) and genre knowledge; feedback perceptions were measured by questionnaires. ResultsANOVA results showed significant gains in English writing quality in the EGs and CG1, and the EGs made significant progress regarding genre knowledge. EG1 made large gains. Results were largely sustained. Regression analyses revealed learning progress in English in the EGs and CG1 as a significant predictor of writing quality in German at T2. There were no significant group differences in students’ perceptions of feedback. ConclusionOur results indicate that feedback based on rubrics and exemplars, which can easily be implemented in larger classes, promotes writing and genre knowledge and is perceived as helpful by students.

English research articles versus MA theses in applied linguistics: comparing the move structure and metadiscourse features in the results and discussion sections

Abstract This study compares the move structure and metadiscourse features of the results and discussion sections in English research articles and MA theses in applied linguistics. We collected 31 results and discussion sections in English research articles by expert writers and 31 MA theses in English by Chinese students. The quantitative analysis found notable differences in opening and closing moves, move frequency, move sequence, and the distribution of metadiscourse markers across moves. For example, M3S2 (comparing results with literature) and M3S3 (accounting for results) occurred more frequently in research articles. Frame markers occurred more frequently across M2 (reporting results) in MA theses. We also employed the qualitative approach to demonstrate the differences between these seemingly similar genres based on the textual analysis of data. The following possible reasons behind the differences were identified: the writing requirements, purposes, the writers’ prior learning and writing experience, English proficiency, and genre knowledge as well as the audiences. The findings not only provide insights into the interaction between move and metadiscourse, but also have implications for the learning and teaching of academic writing.

Learning from comPA(I)Ring exemplars: Enhancing genre knowledge of argumentative texts

Poor writing skills are problematic in today’s society where writing expertise is essential in personal, academic and professional contexts. Students struggle most with argumentative writing. To write a good argumentative text, students need genre knowledge on this type of text. After all, genre knowledge has been proven to be related to writing quality. Considering its relevance, in this study we investigated whether learning from (comparing) text exemplars could be an effective method to enhance genre knowledge. This study aims to investigate whether learning from (comparing) text exemplars can enhance genre knowledge. A quasi-experimental study with 77 11th grade students was carried out to test the effects of four conditions on genre knowledge of argumentative texts. Findings show that genre knowledge increases through single and analogue text examples. In addition, learning from comparing text exemplars does not seem to increase genre knowledge more than learning from single, sequential exemplars.

Discourse Rules of a Book Essay and a Case Study for the Writing Classes in a University Curriculum of Liberal Arts

This thesis explored what the genre knowledge of the book essay is and its discourse rules in the writing classes in a University curriculum of a liberal arts program. Using an example of a class design for book essay writing, it presented the cases pertaining to how the learners internalized the discourse rules and reflected them into their book essays. It put forth an extensive approach, proposing that the discourse rules fall under the premise that the academic book essay belongs to an academic essay, which is located between book journals and academic theses. Also, it presented writing rules which can allow the writers to face their tasks using not only the approach of essays, but also an insight of criticism, using both formal and informal approaches. Learners were able to select their books in a self-directed manner, for the books were related to their own majors and thus were interesting to them. Moreover, they utilized the advantages of the free style forms of writing book essays by selecting their book genre without any restrictions. Also, the program respected the learners’ choices when it came to the components on book essays according to their reading materials by providing, as extensively and diversely as possible, each component in the ‘introduction’, ‘body’ and ‘conclusion’ respectively. Through connecting the writings to presentation classes, this strengthened the learners’ competency of understanding and criticism regarding the transference of their abilities as well as the reading materials and instructions in order for them to establish their authorships. Finally, the learners were able to internalize the discourse rules and they showed that they can reflect them into their writing on their own. This thesis furthermore suggested that the more genre-restricted discourse rules be researched in a more specific way.

Toward Genre Access: A Micro-level Analytical Approach

Many genre scholars have focused on how individuals might build genre knowledge, generally understood as the enculturation processes, gradual stages, or ingredients that lead to one’s facility with a genre in context. While genre knowledge describes whether people can engage genres, it does not describe the various factors that shape how people may engage genres. By consolidating scholarship across Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), this article characterizes genre access as the power, opportunity, permission, and/or right to engage genre. Furthermore, this article integrates Network Gatekeeping Theory to develop a micro-level analytical approach for explicitly describing genre access. The author demonstrates and develops genre access as a concept and analytical approach with an illustrative example from a larger ethnographic project. Specifically, this illustrative example explores genre access for the Staff Report, a common genre in local government that proposes recommendations from individual departments to their elected City Commissioners for voted approval. Overall, the purpose of this article is (1) to consolidate and extend RGS’s exploration of the power, opportunity, permission, and/or right to engage genres; (2) to identify and name genre access as a fundamental aspect of how genres work; and (3) to provide a micro-level analytical language for researchers to tease out the various factors the shape genre access.

Approaching digital genre composing through reflective pedagogical praxis

With the development of Web 2.0 we have witnessed an ever-expanding repertoire of digital genres. This brings with it new communicative needs and invites us to reflect on possible ways of teaching digital multimodal composing in EAP courses. Using case study research and genre theory as a heuristic, this article critically discusses the implementation of a pedagogical practice that sought to raise the students' rhetorical consciousness of aspects of genre continuity, evolution and innovation, focusing on digital genres of professional and public science communication. The examination of the digital texts composed by the students shows that several factors (genre awareness, genre knowledge transfer, reliance on acquired content and formal schemata and interdiscursive performance) may play an important role when recontextualising specialised content across genres. The study findings also suggest that while rhetorical consciousness facilitates the processes of recontextualising and repurposing content to reach broad audiences, L1 transfer could negatively influence digital genre composing. In light of the findings, I advocate explicit instruction in “metageneric texts” and methodologies for raising awareness of “inter-genre-al” forms across connected genres online. This instruction could support the students’ professional development and the participatory framework for scientific research advocated by the Open Science agenda.

Researching genre knowledge across languages and contexts

Researching genre knowledge across languages and contexts

Genre Awareness in Teaching Writing: A Case Study of Public High School Teachers in Nepal

Recent research trends on Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language (EFL/ESL) have shown that conscious knowledge of the genre-based approach significantly enhances genre awareness in teaching writing in EFL/ESL contexts. This research examines how English language teachers in Nepal strengthen their understanding of genre awareness by integrating genre-based writing activities such as story writing, job application writing, journal writing, email writing, and essay writing within a high school teaching context. Based on the data generated from semi-structured interviews with four teachers and analysis of students’ written artifacts, the study indicates that teachers’ awareness of genre plays a prominent role in enhancing their self-reflection and academic writing skills. This awareness is shown to positively impact their understanding of pedagogical content knowledge and genre-specific writing conventions. However, the findings also demonstrate that the teacher participants possess unconscious familiarity with the genre, especially in terms of writing instruction and analyzing the genre-specific content in classroom teaching, since they appeared to lack awareness of the complex nature of the interactions between their belief systems, real-world classroom practices, and current educational and sociocultural needs. The study suggests that teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of genres, reflective practices based on the learning achievements of learners, and ongoing genre-based teacher training, including workshops and seminars, should be organized to enhance their conscious awareness and understanding of the intricate nature of genre-based writing instruction.

Implementing Assessment as Learning in Online EFL Writing Classes

This article describes the implementation of assessment as learning (AaL) in an online English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing course at a university in China. The authors observed that challenges from the university administration and students were found when integrating AaL into face-to-face writing classrooms, including failure to offer prompt feedback due to the packed course syllabus and large class sizes as well as students’ low engagement due to insufficient English ability, shyness, or prior learning experience. An online teaching innovation was therefore made to tackle these problems. Key steps of the online AaL-focused writing process included (1) establishment of writing goals with peers and teachers through forums on the learning management system (LMS) and live-broadcasting platforms, (2) instructional scaffolding of genre knowledge and writing strategies via videos and quizzes on the LMS before writing, (3) self-assessment, peer-assessment and teacher feedback via online document editors and online chat rooms during writing, and (4) self-reflection via online worksheets on the LMS after writing. Data including a post-course survey and student interviews showed that the online formative assessment practices facilitated the implementation of AaL strategies and improved students’ learning by offering timely focused feedback, creating personalized learning experiences, and encouraging learner engagement. Implications for applying AaL in a blended EFL writing classroom during the post-pandemic era are discussed.

Exploring Experiences of Science Education Teachers on Professional Development

Maintaining current pedagogical strategies and remaining cutting-edge with regular updates is crucial in the field of science education, where professional development is a foundation for developing effective teaching and learning. In an effort to pinpoint issues and provide solutions, this study explores the condition of professional development among science education teachers at the Faculty of Education, Tribhuvan University (TU-FOE), Nepal. The study uses a qualitative research design that includes in-depth interviews and document analysis to provide knowledge of the professional development genre. The study's findings shed light on the complications faced by science education teachers, such as a lack of resources and support, institutional policies, technological barriers, professional burnout and a lack of opportunities for collaboration. These challenges highlight the potential link between the need for creative, specialized professional development opportunities that meet the changing demands of the sector and the requirements for science education. Therefore, the TU-FOE authority minimizing these issues and launching the professional development programme for enhancing the quality of science education teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education, Tribhuvan University.

Reading (in) law: A critical appraisal of the impact of language on disciplinary novices’ cognitive reading strategies

This article adopts a critical approach to literacy and genre analysis to explore the place for multilingualism at a South African historically white university's law faculty. Drawing on data from think-aloud protocols and semi-structured interviews, it seeks to gain insight into the following: the (meta)cognitive reading strategies used by first-year English additional language (EAL) students in reading the legal judgment; the impact of language on strategy use, and lastly, students' perceptions of the value of their home languages for mediating reading challenges as surfaced in the think-aloud protocols. Drawing on Tardy et al.’s (2020) theoretical framework for researching genre knowledge, the findings demonstrate how reading strategies are utilised differently for different purposes. Participants' uses of the strategies of ‘setting a context’ and ‘rereading’ illustrate how language intersects with home and school-based discourses and the impact thereof on reading.

Role of discursive structure in the genre specification of online discourses

The paper starts with the assumption that each time people engage in discourses, they perform social actions in order to adaptively satisfy their communicative purposes and needs (cf. Verschueren–Brisard 2009; Steen 2011; Giltrow 2013). Moreover, these social actions form types in accordance with the typical co-occurrences of typical discourse situations involving typical roles, typical themes and typical communicative goals tar- geted by discourse participants (cf. Bakhtin 1986). These typical co-occurrences serve as ground for the functioning of genre knowledge and result in typical patterns of construal.
 In this paper, I present a two-pronged empirical study that reveals the role of discursive structure in the creation of the genre-specific character of online discourses. By discursive structural units, I mean discourse segments (usually larger than one sentence but smaller than the entire discourse) used by the speaker to accomplish a communicative strategy aimed at achieving a more specific communicative purpose. During the research, I used two types of data. On the one hand, I compiled a research corpus consisting of 50 online recipes and 50 online book reviews in Hungarian. On the other hand, I conducted an experiment in which one group of Hungarian native speaker informants (25 persons) had to create a recipe for a good novel, while another group of informants (25 persons) had to write a review of a given recipe. The research thus focused on the genres of recipe and (book) review. I performed corpus-based qualitative analyses on both datasets using the MAXQDA software. After carefully developing a data-driven annotation system on a smaller pilot material, I systematically identified the communicative strategic units of both the non-elicited and the elicited dataset [cf. Swales’s (1990) move structure analysis]. The research findings are as follows: (i) Discursive structure formed by the speaker’s communicative strategies is a genre-marking quality of the online discourses under study. (ii) Recipes written by laypersons and professionals do not have a different discursive structure but the identified discursive structure is very clearly manifested. (iii) Book reviews written by lay readers differ significantly from those written by professional critics in terms of discursive structure and this sharp differentiation reveals a separation between two more specific genres, i.e. amateur book review and professional critique.

Rhythmic Complexity of Graduate Students’ Written Assignments: An Analysis of Their Thematic Choices

The majority of the work on academic writing has focused on methods to analyse students' views of and attitudes towards writing. However, research on students' perceptions of the impact of their choices on the clarity and quality of their texts remains scant. This study used a content analysis approach to analyse graduate students’ written assignments across academic genres to understand their thematic choices, and the choices’ rhythmic effects and communicative functions. Further, it employed a grounded theory approach to examine students’ perception of the effect of their thematic choices on their assignments’ rhythmic complexity. Inspired by Martin and Rose’s (2007) semantic approach to Systematic Functional Linguistics, the study analysed 108 written assignments and conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 students. According to the findings, the assignments commonly included topical and unmarked themes, and students used different types of themes to control the rhythmic complexity and structure of the texts. Additionally, students used different thematic structures to achieve different communicative objectives, which in turn motivated them to use complex thematic patterns. Finally, students' perceptions were affected by their writing proficiency, academic and genre knowledge, linguistic background, stylistic preferences, and learning experiences.

Teaching Thai University Students How to Write Research Abstracts and Research Reports: The Case for Science Using CLIL

This study examines the effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) implementation in science subjects and reports on the challenges that content teachers encountered during CLIL instruction. In addition, the study attempts to investigate students’ perceived knowledge of and satisfaction towards the implementation of CLIL. To accomplish these goals, relevant CLIL instructional materials were developed by the researchers and subject content teachers. Content teachers received training in English to apply the designed material and implement the CLIL instruction prior to CLIL classes. A convenience sample of 24 university students participated in this study. They were required to write research abstracts and reports in English according to the knowledge of genre and move-based structure. The data collection was conducted using a mixed qualitative and quantitative method. Student abstracts written in English were also analysed qualitatively to investigate the use of linguistic features, structural elements, and vocabulary. Additionally, six subject content teachers and six students were interviewed about their perceptions of and challenges from CLIL implementation. Student questionnaires about their attitudes towards CLIL implementation were then used to collect quantitative data. Over the seven weeks of CLIL lessons, the interview results revealed that close collaboration between content and language teachers prior to CLIL implementation was necessary to affirm the steps and procedures to be applied in the classroom. Some of the content teachers conveyed the importance of advancing students’ language-related knowledge in expressing scientific ideas in English. Most students also expressed their satisfaction towards CLIL instruction as it facilitates the learning process, helping them improve their writing and reading skills as well as their ability to use academic vocabulary. The findings of this study advance our understanding of how to implement CLIL lessons, including the importance of CLIL-related training, creating instructional materials, and language integration of content and language learning in science at the university level.

Building Expertise with Technical Information in Support of Computational Literacies

This developing research project aims to both widen and deepen future library and information science professionals’ participation in computational literacies through a genre-based approach. Computational literacies include the knowledge of computational tools and methods, and how these are changing the ways in which librarians and archivists work. To develop and apply computational literacies, MLIS students must interact with technical information communicated through genres, such as documentation, instructions, manuals, reports, and specifications. Knowledge of technical genres is a crucial, but understudied, aspect of computational literacies. The project will consider to whom, why, and when technical genres enable or constrain students’ transitions from newcomers to emerging professionals. The project will investigate students’ experiences within technical MLIS courses, and their motivations for developing computational literacies. Technical courses require students to code with a computer programming language (e.g., JavaScript or Python). A goal of the project is to explore the challenges that students of different ages, gender identities, races, and curricular backgrounds encounter in technical courses, and to provide implications for the design of differentiated instruction. Findings will offer theoretical contributions regarding the relationship between genre and computational literacies, in addition to practical contributions to the design of curricula. Intended outputs of the project aim to better support students’ development of computational literacies. In turn, MLIS graduates will be able to engage in the lifelong learning required to respond to ongoing technical change involving the representation, management, and retrieval of information, and consider the ethical implications of new and emerging technologies.

Genre-related episodes: A tutorial for L2 writing teachers

Within second language writing studies, genre scholars continue to advance theoretical frameworks, research methods, and recommendations for the teaching of both genre-specific knowledge and broader awareness of genres. One recent advancement in genre research methods is that of genre-related episodes (GREs), an analytical tool which can be used to observe students’ emerging genre knowledge through the analysis of students’ dialogue and negotiation around a target genre. The uses of GREs for research purposes have been discussed in a few recent publications, but GREs can also be employed to inform genre-based writing instruction. This methods tutorial aims to provide guidance, a discussion of important considerations, and an example of how GREs can be applied to teaching. This tutorial will be useful for second language writing practitioners, in particular, and may be of interest to genre researchers interested in the teaching-research nexus; it may also be of interest to genre scholars, writing researchers, and more generally to applied linguistics researchers interested in classroom-based research and action research.