The Study of Genre

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Student Number: 24681288 Ticket no. 551892 02380592206 sosh@southampton.ac.uk Course: MA English language teaching: Online Module: 3 Permissible Word Range: 4000 Length of Submitted Work: 4088 (without appendix) Academic Integrity: I hereby declare that the contents of this assignment are entirely my own work, that all quotation or paraphrase of secondary work in any form (e.g. from books, articles, materials, worksheets, the internet) has been duly acknowledged. Signature (type your name here): Francisco Gerardo Hernandez Flores Date:20/06/2011 Task 1 Introduction The study of genre is one of ESP’s most important tools, one that, when properly taught can open many doors to students in their future field of work. During the past two decades, authors have produced many texts and articles about genre contributing with useful definitions, notions, and ideas for the study of genre in the classroom. This paper intends to draw on this wealth of knowledge to provide a guide for the application of the study of genre in the classroom. More specifically, this essay will explore the term “Genre” along with some key notions, it will discuss the importance of understanding and mastering genres in the classroom and it will showcase some general advice on the study of genre along with some specific methodologies and activities. Understanding Genre Many authors (Basturkmen, 2006) (Hyland, 2006) (Paltridge, Genre, text type, and the language learning classroom, 1996) agree that Swales’(1990) work on genre is essential. Swales offers this definition: “A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre.”(Swales, 1990:58). This definition, both brief and
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