Using a Systemic Functional Genre-Based Approach to Promote a Situated View of Academic Writing Among EFL Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

This article reports partial results of a qualitative study which explored the gains and challenges encountered by two groups of English as a foreign language pre-service teachers from a public university in Medellin, Colombia, in developing a situated view of academic writing through a systemic functional genre-based instructional unit. The unit was part of a written communications course and used an approach called the teaching-learning cycle. Results from the study suggest that one of the main gains was related to pre-service teachers' emerging understanding of context, purpose, and audience. One of the main challenges concerned pre-service teachers' difficulty with shifting their former views of grammar as a fixed system of rules.

Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Responses to a Systemic Functional Linguistics Pedagogical Unit: An Experience in a Public University in Colombia

“…These findings are consistent with those of other studies such as the ones conducted by Fenwick (Zhang, 2018), and at times even resistant to their complexity (de Oliveira & Avalos, 2018;Correa & Echeverri, 2017), and the need to give them time and sustained support. They also echo results from Gebhard et al (2013) in the sense that they confirm that psts' conceptualizations of grammar not only do shift through time, as psts get engaged in the different text analysis and production activities that usually make part of these language courses, but become more functional and situated.…”

“…However, very little is being done in terms of incorporating these theories to efl tp. In fact, the only three studies reported by the literature on the use of sfl with this population are those conducted by Correa & Echeverri (2017), García et al (2014), and Nieto-Cruz (2019). Of these, the only one that reports on results obtained during a grammar course is the one by Nieto-Cruz (2019).…”

“…It could also allow them to focus on the meaning of their grammatical choices instead of on their correctness (Schleppegrell, 2004(Schleppegrell, , 2007 and better prepare them to challenge traditional discourses that are reproduced through language (Fang et al, 2006). Finally, it could better equip them with the linguistic tools they need in order to help the new generations of students (Correa & Echeverri, 2017) since these students could potentially be more aware of the power of language to construct different representations of the world (Fang et al, 2006).…”

“…However, she focuses on a very different issue: the impact of sfl instruction on psts' production of complex nominal groups in the written texts produced as part of a functional grammar course (Nieto-Cruz, 2019). The other two studies report on the reading difficulties efl psts experienced while analyzing written texts in a reading strategies course (García et al, 2014), and the gains and challenges psts experienced with sfl views in an efl writing course (Correa & Echeverri, 2017).…”

A Study on Ganre-Based Approach in Teaching Speaking to Indonesian EFL Learners

“…When it comes to the contribution of genre-based approach in EFL instruction, there have been a great number of previous studies focusing on the use of GBA in teaching the basic linguistic skills, particularly in teaching writing (Nagao, 2018;Correa & Echeverri, 2017;Burgos, 2017;Dirgeyasa, 2016;(Sabouri, et.al., 2014), reading (Adelnia & Salehi, 2016;Sadeghi, et.al., 2013), listening (Cahyono, 2017). Similar to other basic skills, some researchers such as Rifpriyandi & Sudartini (2017), Khatibi (2014), Hapsari (2017), and Rivera (2014) have also shown that the implementation of genre-based approach may positively affect the EFL students' speaking and communicating skill.…”