Applying Genre-based Approach In Teaching College English Writing

Although college English writing has been paid much attention in recent years, it doesn't produce a satisfying result. Therefore, English writing is still one of the major researches in college English teaching.The present study discusses how the genre-based approach is conducted in the teaching of college English writing. Genre-based approach effectively applies the theory of genre analysis to writing teaching. It helps learners command different communicative purposes and specific text structures in accordance with different genres and thus improves learners'writing proficiency.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One briefly introduces the present situation in college English writing and points out the significance of the study. Chapter Two is a review of relevant literature of writing and genre approach. In this part, genre is defined and the theory of genre analysis is introduced as well. The author also discusses three current schools in which genre theory is applied in language teaching. Based on genre analysis and the three schools, the author puts forward a model of six teaching procedures appropriate for college English writing. The six procedures are modeling, group discussion, imitating, drafting, revising and final drafting. Chapter Three describes the experiment and analyzes the data of the experiment in detail. The results of the data analysis are: students under genre-based class have improved more than those in the control class on the items of"collocation"and"organization"; meanwhile, students in the control class have made much more progress than those in the experimental class on the item of"grammar". Chapter Four discusses the findings and gets the implications. The major findings are as follows: genre-based approach helps learners develop their interest in English writing; genre approach enables learners to enhance their audience awareness and genre awareness; learners'overall writing quality has been greatly improved. Subsequently, the author gets the following implications:①teachers should be encouraged to play multiple roles in writing teaching;②teachers should advocate learners'cooperative learning;③more exercises should be prepared at the modeling stage;④teachers should look for more various and authentic texts of certain genres;⑤teachers are required to constantly equip themselves with comprehensive knowledge;⑥teachers should integrate genre approach with product approach. Limitations are taken into consideration in this part as well. For instance, the teacher couldn't provide various genres in class. Chapter Five is the conclusion of the whole thesis, summarizing the major findings in this present study.