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Teaching writing to low proficiency EFL students

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 (forthcoming, Oct 2007) English Language Teaching Journal

A Genre-Based Literacy Pedagogy: Teaching

Writing to Low Proficiency EFL Students

Arthur Firkins1, Gail Forey2, and Sima Sengupta2

1
TWGH’s Mr and Mrs Kwong Sik Kwan College, Hong Kong
2
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Abstract
This paper describes a genre-based literacy pedagogy, which can be used with English
language learners. The pedagogy discussed involves a combination of two explicit
teaching methodologies, a genre-based and activity-based pedagogical approach. The
pedagogy was introduced in an English Club at a local Hong Kong school, as part of a
collaborative research project 1 . In this paper, we discuss the approach used and present
examples of the student’s work. The findings are particularly suitable for educational
contexts where the students are low proficiency English as a foreign language (EFL)
learner.

Keywords: low proficiency, genre, EFL, activity-based, writing, learning disability.

Introduction
Teaching low proficiency EFL students to write whole texts is often fraught with
difficulties (Cumming 1989). The student writer has to create a text that is both
rhetorically and linguistically appropriate. Often, the teaching of English to low
proficiency EFL students tends to be taught in a way that focuses at the sentence level
and these learners often have minimal, if any, awareness at the level of complete texts. In
order to empower students with the consciousness to recognise textual and linguistic
features that are used to construct and shape whole texts, there has been a move towards
explicit teaching of genres in many contexts. Australia has led the way by introducing
genre-based pedagogy in to the school system and other teaching environments (Christie
1999; Macken-Horarik 2001; Rothery 1996). Genre-based pedagogy views language as
an open dynamic system, where knowledge about language is taught in an explicit
manner; and genres (types of texts) are used as the starting point for modelling,
deconstructing and understanding language (Martin, 1999). In this paper, we briefly
describe the theory of genre-based pedagogy and combine this theory with a very
practical activity-based pedagogy. We discuss how these two approaches were adapted to
develop a contextually appropriate teaching plan and modified to suit the needs of EFL
students who have a Learning Disability.

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The teaching plan was developed around the introduction of two specific written genres –
procedure and information report (see Macken-Horarik 2001: 21-23). First, we outline
the activity/ genre-based approach that was applied to the teaching of writing procedural
texts. Then we evaluate the approach and discuss how it was revised to provide students
with the essential linguistic tools to scaffold their learning of information report genres.
Our aim is to demonstrate how the conceptual level of the genre approach to teaching
writing could be effectively applied within a specific context. In addition, we illustrate
how the genre approach could be supported through the incorporation of activity-based
tasks.

The genre approach has been tried and tested in a number of different contexts, including
contexts where children were identified as being disadvantaged (see Christie, 1999).
However, very few studies discuss the practical details of how the model could be
introduced by a teacher in a low proficiency EFL context. In this paper, we attempt to
show that this approach is rich enough to be modified to suit low proficiency EFL
learners.

Background: Students with Learning Disabilities (LD)

The pedagogy described was introduced to students with Learning Disabilities (LD).
Learning Disability can be seen as a problem, which affects most areas of literacy.
Students with LD typically produce writing samples that are shorter, less coherent and
less refined. They have difficulty organising text, generating ideas and applying meta-
cognitive skills (McAlister et al. 1999). These are the difficulties the students in our study
experienced and were identified by English teachers at the school in initial interviews.
Teachers frequently express similar concerns in relation to low proficiency L2 students
(Cumming 1989; Sasaki and Hirose 1996). These difficulties compel the teacher to find
ways to reshape learning environments and instructional strategies. This is a difficult task
for the English teacher, given the fundamental problems low proficiency students have
due to a lack of linguistic and rhetorical awareness.

Methodology
The study took place in a secondary college, which specialises in the education of
students 11-18 years with LD (for more details see, Firkins, 2004). The research team
comprised two English teachers from the school (one a native English speaker, who is a
co-author of this article, the other a Hong Kong, Chinese English teacher), a Research
Associate (RA) and two Assistant Professors from a nearby university (also co-authors).

Initial interviews were conducted with the principal, four English teachers and a focus
group of eight parents, and writing was identified for the reasons given above as a
particular area of difficulty. The interviewees reported that students demonstrated
consistent difficulties with both the mechanics and organisation of writing. In addition
the interviewees reported that students obtained poorer results on writing tasks than their
peers from the wider community in Hong Kong. Thus, the research team decided to
focus on strategies that would enhance the student’s English language writing.

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All students were in the normal range of intelligence and met the definition of Learning
Disability provided in D.S.M. IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Students
were selected using the following criteria. Firstly, all students were diagnosed by a
professional (usually a psychologist or paediatrician) as having a Learning Disability and
were thus placed in this special school. However, it should be noted, that we were not
using a deficit model of disability and limited information was available about the exact
nature of each student’s Learning Disability was available from the school records.
Secondly, all students demonstrated consistent low performance in English and Chinese
as judged by the class teacher. Thirdly, no participating students had behaviour problems
or an intellectual disability, i.e. students with autism, dyslexia and other intellectual
disabilities were not included. Finally all participating students volunteered to take part.
Due to the limitation on the number of participating students, students were selected
through file reviews and teacher recommendations.

In total, thirty-two secondary students were selected from seventy students who
expressed an interest in taking part in the project. The students who were not accepted
were informed that they would have an opportunity to participate at a later date. There
were two groups of eleven students in the first semester and one group of ten in the
second semester. The students and the parents were provided with information (in both
English and Chinese) about the project and the consent of the teachers, students and the
parents of students involved were sought. Regular interviews with all parties, classroom
observations and close examination of documents such as teaching materials and
students’ work provide the data for this paper.

The genre-based approach

Following the decision to focus on strategies to enhance student writing, the genre-based
approach was selected as language was seen in context and was presented to the learners
as part of a complete text and not as unrelated sentences. The approach offered a teaching
methodology enabling teachers to present explicit instruction in a highly systematic and
logical manner, which were factors we believed would assist students with the cognitive
organisation of information.

A genre-based approach is based on a systemic functional theory of language developed

by Halliday (1978, 1994), and elaborated by Martin (1992), Christie (1999) and Macken-
Horarik (2001) among others. This model of teaching writing has been successful with
students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Christie 1999; Macken-Horarik 2001; Rothery
1996). The approach is based on a teaching-learning cycle where strategies such as
modelling texts and joint construction are promoted. The approach is based on “learning
through guidance and interaction” (Painter 1986, cited in Macken-Horarik 2001:26). The
learning-teaching cycle as shown in Figure 1, involves three stages:
1. Modelling a text
2. Joint construction of a text
3. Independent construction of a text

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Figure1. Teaching and learning cycle (from, Rothery, 1996:102)

Teaching can start at any one of these stages, and whichever stage is introduced first the
teacher should offer maximum assistance to the students. The aim is that there is a shift
of responsibility from teacher support to learners taking responsibility for their own
learning. In our case where students were learning a foreign language we tended to offer
greater support in the modelling of a text and joint construction. These two stages were
repeated a number of times using a range of texts and tasks incorporating activities which
modelled the target genre.

Contextual reshaping of the genre-based approach

Although the genre-based approach appears to aid students in organisational skills, we

suggest that it needs to be used in combination with other explicit teaching
methodologies as part of a holistic approach to writing instruction. To augment this
method we decided to utilize an activity-based approach where language is scaffolded in

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a manner where the students physically modelled the genres through a range of different
activities. The types of scaffolding used involved:-
• developing contextual and metacogonative awareness (schema building), i.e.
drawing on the student’s existing background knowledge
• using authentic texts as a model, a number of which would be familiar to students
in their daily lives (although perhaps familiar to them in their first language)
• introducing and reiterating a metadiscourse i.e. providing students with a
language they could use to talk about language
• linking texts (intertextuality) by explicitly discussing similarities found in a genre,
e.g. the types of lexico-grammatical features which were commonly found in
procedural texts
In our study, modelling involved students in role plays and physical activities where the
genre was produced in a physical environment. This was relatively easy for procedural
genres and again did not prove difficult for information report genres. This
complemented the focus of the Hong Kong secondary curriculum, which promotes a
task-based mastery of learning (Hong Kong Department of Education 2002). We focused
on the procedural genre and planned activities that were linked around a particular topic,
Halloween. Halloween was familiar to the students and was topical for the time of year.
The topic was explored through a number of related activities, each repeating the genre
through a text and providing opportunities to reiterate, develop and practice vocabulary,
metadiscoural and lexico-grammatical features. In addition, we also kept the language of
instruction tight and consistent, utilizing an approach associated with direct instruction
(Engelman and Carnine 1982). The instruction involved a high degree of redundancy, we
repeated relevant vocabulary, reviewed generic structure of the text and reinforced
lexico-grammatical patterns in each session. The emphasis of instruction was on “doing”
i.e. understanding the texts within the context of the topic through experiencing the
language by physically being involved in activities. So the students, through the different
learning experiences were “living the text”. Macken-Horarik argues that students
frequently fail as “many students are thrown back onto their own resources too early and
thus fail to produce texts that are both contextually adequate and educationally valued”
(2001:27).

Planning a party

How to make a mask

Theme
Halloween recipes
Halloween

How to make
Halloween
decorations Figure 2: Procedural text
How to make cool around the topic Halloween
aid

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Twelve 35 minute sessions were held, concentrating on one activity per session related to
writing procedural texts. All sessions were logically linked to previous sessions,
providing a high level of reiteration to maximize the students’ opportunities to practice
particular skills. Links were provided through the consistent use and reiteration of
instructional and metadiscoursal language. Macken-Horarik (2001: 22) presents the
generic structure of procedural texts as {Goal ^ Step 1 –n ^ (results)}; results are an
optional element (indicated by use of brackets) and ‘^’ represents followed by. In each
lesson we modelled the genre and presented the stages of a procedural text with reference
to the “goal”, “steps” and “materials”. For example in making a Halloween mask, the
“goal” was to make a mask to wear to a Halloween party, the steps were the “steps”
involved and the “materials” were the tools and resources needed to make the mask.
These terms became familiar to the students in both English and Cantonese. In the task,
the students were asked to identify and thus became familiar with the usage and terms of
some lexico-grammatical features, such as imperatives. The students recognised that
imperatives were a key feature in procedural texts. As activities were presented in similar
ways, and there was a reiteration of linguistic choices, students were also able to
generalize from one activity to the next. The range of procedural texts used for the
activities are illustrated in Figure 2.
The entry point into each teaching session was via a particular activity, which had at its
core a procedural text. The instructional sequence utilised for each activity is illustrated
in Figure 3.

Establishing background Introducing topic, genre and key

knowledge vocabulary and brainstorming about
topic

Activity based modeling of genre,

Action e.g. getting students to make a
mask.

Post activity – joint construction

through verbal reiteration of activity
Discussion incorporating metadiscourse of
genre.

Writing started with joint

construction led to independent
construction, where they wrote
Writing about one of the activities.

In discussions, they compared and

Generalising
Figure 3. The instructional sequence
transferred knowledge from one
procedural text to another. Thus,
showing an appreciation of the
generic conventions of procedural
texts.
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The learning-teaching cycle applied (see, Figure 1) are outlined below with reference to
one instructional sequence.
• Modelling a text: A model text was selected and an overall plan for the activities
was developed. The students engaged in the activity of deconstructing and
modelling the text to appreciate how the text achieved its functions. We situated
each activity by getting students to recognise how the text functions in real life, i.e.
the social purposes of the text were related to the context. For example, in the
procedural text of making a mask, sessions one and two concentrated on making a
Halloween mask i.e. the students participated in physically constructing a mask
by following the procedure, as shown in Figure 4. Students modelled the text by
firstly discussing vocabulary, through the action of making the mask. Thus, the
students were able to understand how the procedural text functions in context.

Figure 4. Student’s masks

• Joint Construction: The students jointly constructed a procedural text and revised
vocabulary and language patterns. The teacher led discussions of how the mask
was made and remodelled the written procedural genre, by asking students to
recall and discuss each step. In doing this we developed with the students a
metalanguage to describe the process, familiarity with intertextuality and lexico-
grammatical features of the genre. Both modelling and joint construction were
repeated before independent construction was introduced.
• Independent Construction: On completion of several activities, we asked students
to independently construct a procedural written text attempting to ensure that the
three elements “goal”, “steps” and “materials” are understood. The students wrote
their own instructions on how to make a mask, an example of a student text is
shown in Figure 5.

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 (forthcoming, Oct 2007) English Language Teaching Journal

Figure 5. Student worksheet

During the making a mask the students were able to physically, verbally and cognitively
experience the genre and the procedural written text was used as a model text, which was
deconstructed and jointly constructed by students with the teacher’s assistance. This
discussion of language both in the deconstruction and joint construction lead later in to
the independent construction of procedural texts. In the subsequent sessions, students
focused on different activities such as making Halloween decorations, planning a
Halloween party, following recipes for Halloween party food, making a drink and making
directions for the party, all tasks and activities again were focusing on procedural genres.
For each activity the modelling and joint construction were repeated.

Revising the approach: Focusing on the information report genre

An evaluation of the first semester indicated that students were able to understand and
produce the key generic stages of procedural texts. However, the students expressed and
experienced problems with vocabulary. We continued with a genre approach in the
second semester and this time focused on the information report genre. Information

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report genres are key educational genre across the curriculum (Macken-Horarik 2001).
The generic stages of an information report text are {General statement^ Description of
Aspects^ Description of Activities}, (Macken-Horarik 2001:21). Information report
genres are found in a variety of texts across the curriculum and are relevant for locating
information on a topic. As a key part of information report genres is description, activities
related to vocabulary building tasks were incorporated into the instruction. Figure 6
below shows how the first and second levels were modified.

Establishing background Introducing key vocabulary and

knowledge generic stages

Activity based modeling of genre,

Action by describing different stages and
activities related to a particular
genre, e.g. getting students to
identify smells from real objects.

Figure 6. The Macro sequence for Descriptive texts

When introducing the information report genre, we addressed the student’s difficulties
identified in the first phase. In working with procedural texts we found that although the
students were able to grasp the generic structure of the text and eventually produce a text
following the generic pattern, they were frustrated by the limitations posed by available
vocabulary. In the information report genre we built up vocabulary along side the activity
approach, using vocabulary cards containing words to describe particular areas of
description. Our topic centred on describing sensing, touching, smelling and hearing. The
first part of instruction concentrated on building vocabulary, through a direct
manipulation of an object. For example, smelling involved students smelling a range of
real life examples and selecting vocabulary, which described the smell. Tasting involved
the sampling of different foods, touching involved the touching of a range of objects with
different texture. Directly after each session, student wrote a sentence to describe each
experience. In systematically addressing the area of vocabulary, we were able to quickly
move to joint and independent construction of a text.

These smaller activities were integrated into a larger information report writing activity.
An actual pizza was ordered so that the students could utilise each of the senses,
including the sound of people eating. For example, students wrote a text to describe their
favourite pizza, utilising both the new vocabulary and generic structure of an information
report. Thus the activity-based genre approach was further enriched with explicit teaching
of vocabulary through the clustering of smaller concrete activities.

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What did the students learn?

There were a number of positive learning experiences noted in the study related to texts,
genres, lexico-grammatical features, metadiscourse and the overall enjoyment expressed
in the learning experience. The activity-based genre approach appears to have merit in
explicitly providing students with the cognitive awareness that language is part of a
complete text that occurs within an identifiable context. At a text level, students were
able to move beyond the sentence and understand that texts are related to real world
contexts. Students were able to identify and, discuss the generic stages of both procedural
{Goal^ Steps 1-n^ (results)} and information report texts {General statement^
Description of Aspects^ Description of Activities} and to construct these texts. These are
key cognitive skills, which aid the planning, and organisation of a text, an identified
difficulty experienced by students with L.D.

Furthermore, at the end of the twenty-four sessions students were able to identify certain
lexico-grammatical features and patterns within the two genres. For example, in
deconstructing the procedural texts students discussed processes (e.g. stir, pour), temporal
conjunctions (e.g. first, then), tense, modality (e.g. should, could) and the nouns required
of each text and the mood (imperative, declarative and interrogative).

An evaluation of the approach

We have demonstrated above how the genre approach was made applicable for a group of
EFL students with Learning Disability and we believe that such an approach could be
innovatively modified for other classes. However, in applying the approach within any
new context, there is a need to reshape it to the needs of students and the educational
situation. During the study, one limitation which was identified was time. We found that
the students needed more time to practice language skills and establish vocabulary. Given
more time and more teaching sessions, we felt that the students would have developed the
flexibility to independently construct a variety of procedural and information report texts.

We endeavoured to combine the genre approach with other explicit methodologies, in

assisting students to organise their writing. We then combined these basic principles with
the current educational philosophy within our context by planning an activity-based
approach of “living” and creating the text rather that merely writing sentences. We found
that students engaged with each text in the context of the activity, making it both
motivating and relevant.

We also had to take into account our specific micro context. Although the genre approach
provides an explicit teaching methodology suitable for students with LD or students with
low English proficiency, we believe it is more successful if it is supported by other
methodologies. For students with LD it needs to be paired with teaching methodologies
utilized within special education (Wheldall and Glynn 1989). Two key instructional
strategies typical of special education, 1) modelling, demonstrating, prompting and
praising and 2) instructional language, typical of direct instructional approaches are, we
believe, effective with students struggling to write in L2.

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However, we realised that direct instructional approaches involve more than the use of
carefully structured and tightly sequenced teaching materials presented in standardized
formats (Wheldall and Glynn, 1989:143). There also needs to be a continued emphasis on
developing the sub-skills of writing and the building of field knowledge and vocabulary,
so the students have the resources to construct and deconstruct the text. These building
blocks, we had expected would be naturally occurring as we went through each activity
as well as explained and discussed at each step. But in retrospect we realised that the
approach needed to be further enhanced with focused work on building the schemata
essential to “live” the text type in focus. In addition, as it was possible to look at the
approach in great detail with a range of data available from classroom videos as well as
all the work produced by students, we realised that the use of ‘code-switching’ (the
teacher would switch to Cantonese to explain difficult terms and instructions) was a
particularly useful strategy to efficiently explain concepts which students displayed
difficulty in grasping (Celik, 2003). On these occasions, students requested clarification
by framing their questions in Cantonese and directing it to the bi-lingual teacher, who
responded in both Chinese and English. Code-switching between English and Cantonese
was used in a positive manner to reinforce the instructions for activities and to bridge
difficult concepts. This method of bridging concepts through code-switching was used as
a resource throughout the project.

Finally and most importantly, the approach was seen to be positive by all the English
teachers and has been included as part of the writing programme in the general English
curriculum, making it possible to develop the above ideas and results.

Conclusion

This paper has described an activity-based genre-approach to teaching writing to students

with Learning Disabilities, an approach we found to be suitable to deal with low English
proficiency that is typically found in this population. The genre approach, paired with a
sequenced and well-structured teaching methodology, within a motivating theme of
activities, can be an effective way to teach writing to students. The approach clearly
assists students to organize their writing and understand the nature of a text within an
activity based context with texts that can be deconstructed and reconstructed using
concrete examples.

Teaching low proficiency as well as LD students to write by developing rhetorical

awareness will remain a significant challenge within ESL and EFL contexts. We need to
build what could be described as “hybrid pedagogies”, drawing from the relevant
research in both English language teaching and special education and marrying
approaches together to provide teachers with a battery of strategies to utilize in the
classroom. In this paper we demonstrate how we combined, modified and applied a
positive learning environment, for students who are generally stereotyped as
underachievers. We hope teachers who read this paper would be encouraged to do the
same.
This project was funded by a Departmental Research Grant (G-T800) from the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University

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