2) Instances of the application of the genre-based approach.

The Genre-based approach was pioneered in Australia (White et al., 2015, p. 258) and its progress can now be documented into the field of English as a Foreign Language teaching systems in other countries. In the Australian context Derewianka (1992, p. 1), describes the type of language underpinning the syllabus as “functional” which “recognises the relationship between text and context”. This described the English K-6 Syllabus in 1992 but is still relevant to the Australian Curriculum brought in in 2014, which has been “strongly influenced by [SFL] precepts” (White et al., 2015, p. 258). Listed genres for Stage 4 and 5, in the secondary context, are “Fiction, Poetry, Film, Nonfiction, Drama” (Board of Studies, 2012, p. 25-26) as well as “spoken texts, print texts, visual texts, media, multimedia and digital texts” and other more specific text types such as “picture books and graphic novels” (p. 26). One fundamental Objective that applies from Early Stage 1 through the end of Stage 6 is “B. use language to shape and make meaning according to purpose, audience and context” (BOSTES, 2012, p. 15). This objective requires students to compose texts which adhere to the textual conventions of specific genres and to consider the context in which they read and write. Riley and Reedy (2000 in Deng, Chen and Zhang, 2014, p. 28) recognise that “the relationship between purpose, audience, and linguistic choice involved in the formation of any text… constitutes the centre of genre-based pedagogy”.

Kongpetch (2003) and Payaprom (2012), assess the applications of a genre-based approach in the Thai EFL context. Both studies note the dominance of a more traditional, structural approach to teaching English and recognise the need to enhance students’ experience of interacting with and experiencing texts that they will encounter in academic or other real world contexts. A downfall of the focus on structural grammar for Kongpetch (2003, p. x) is the focus on increasing students’ spoken proficiency at the expense of composing complex written texts. Payaprom (2012, p. viii) however, describes a vision for the genre-based approach to help students “develop an analytical appreciation of texts” which is required for achievement both in Thailand and other western contexts of education and industry.

Deng, Chen and Zhang (2014) examine the genre based approach in the EFL context in China. They note the breadth of literature describing the “acquisition of textual competence” (p. 1) but the significant gap in research around “generic competence” (p. 1). Their research targets a “process genre approach” (p. 10) which encourages students to focus on “purpose and form of one genre as they undergo the recursive processes of prewriting, drafting, revision, and editing” (p. 10). Yi (in Ling, Ho, Meyer, Varaprasad and Young, 2003, p. xiv) highlights the importance of English competency for administrative and academic achievement in Singapore and China and that many students educated within a structural grammar framework in school EFL programs are “strong in grammar but very weak in … writing continuous prose”. The approaches outlined in this research from an intensive English centre in Singapore resemble a genre based approach in encouraging students to use learning diaries, emails and children’s literature to improve their competency in spoken and written English.