Teaching Grammar and Writing - Week 13 - Genre in ESL/EFL Composition Instruction

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 13 of the course Teaching Grammar and Writing for the Master's in English Teaching at ULACIT in term IC 2023. In this class we will look back at a the topic of genre that we saw at the end of our focus on grammar instruction and explore three historical approaches to analyzing genre and their implications for writing instruction. We'll also hear your reflections on the creation of the Grammar Syllabus Proposal and Grammar Activities Portfolio assignments.

Today's Goals:

• Describe three historical approaches to the study of genre by categorizing research questions from each camp.
• Explore the pedagogical implications for writing instruction from the three main genre research areas.
• Reflect on the experience of developing your grammar syllabus proposal and activities portfolio.

Guiding Questions:

• How can different research stances help provide a broader picture of the concept of genre?
• What pedagogical implications do findings from genre research have for writing teachers?
• What challenges did I face and insights did I gain through the creation of my two major grammar assignments?

Task 1: Reading Response - Genre and ESL/EFL Composition Instruction

Let's take a moment to discuss these questions related to your assigned reading for this week.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Task 2: Reflecting on your Grammar Syllabus Proposal

Let's take the final minutes of our lesson to discuss your two major grammar assignments, the syllabus proposal and the activity portfolio design.

Grammar Syllabus Proposal

• Overall: What were your initial thoughts about the assignment?
• Strategies: What strategies did you use to make decisions about the CEFR content, vocab and grammar structures, and suggested tasks? Why did you organize the final product the way you did?
• Challenges: What challenges did you face while completing this assignment?
• Insights: What insights did you gain through this process? What are your takeaways?
• Alternatives: This is just one way to develop a curriculum. What alternatives or variations might also be viable strategies to develop a curriculum with a grammar component?

Grammar Activity Portfolio

• Overall: What were your initial thoughts about the assignment?
• Challenges: What challenges did you face while completing this assignment?
• Insights: How did your participation of this assignment contribute to your growing understanding of the teaching and learning of grammar?