genre^1 n
a type of discourse that occurs in a particular setting, that has distinctive
and recognizable patterns and norms of organization and structure, and
that has particular and distinctive communicative functions. For example:
business reports, news broadcasts, speeches, letters, advertisements, etc. In
constructing texts, the writer must employ certain features conventionally
associated with texts from the genre in which he or she is writing. In read-
ing a text the reader similarly anticipates certain features of the text based
on genre expectations.
genre^2 n
a category of literary writing, such as tragedy, fiction, comedy, etc.
genre analysis n
the study of how language is used in a particular context, such as business
correspondence, legal writing, staff meetings, etc. Genres differ in that each
has a different goal and employs different patterns of structure and organi-
zation to achieve its goals. In the study of written texts genre analysis stud-
ies how writers conventionally sequence material to achieve particular
purposes. This includes the identification of particular types of schema and
how they are realized linguistically.
genre approach n
alsogenre-based approach
an approach to the teaching of writing, particularly L1 writing, which bases
a writing curriculum on the different types of text structures or genres chil-
dren encounter in school and which are crucial to school success. Genre-
based approaches are particularly strong in Australia as a result of the work
of functional linguists such as Halliday and Martin. Examples of genres
encountered in school work are Observation and Comment, Recount,
Narrative, and Report. A report, for example, has the structure of a general
classificatory statement, a description, and a final comment. Proponents
of a genre approach argue that control over specific types of writing are
necessary for full participation in social processes.
In adult second language teaching a genre-based approach starts from a
recognition of the discourse community in which the learners will be func-
tioning, e.g. a hotel, factory or hospital. Discourses from the target speech
community are studied in terms of the text types and text roles that charac-
terize them.
see also text-based syllabus design
genre-scheme n
another term for scheme
genre-scheme