Document Type : research paper

Authors

University of Tehran

Abstract

The last decade has seen an increasing attention given to the notion of genre-based instruction, its application and efficacy in language teaching and learning. Regarding the benefits of genre-based instruction in second language acquisition, there have been ongoing debates in pedagogical treatments associated with genre-based instruction in various educational contexts. The purpose of the current study was to examine how three genre-based instruction treatments affected medical students’ use of key features of the medical case report. A group of 150 subjects were selected from EFL medical students in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Both male and female students were invited to this study. These students did not previously receive any genre-based instruction before the study. The participants were assigned to the “Experimental Group One”, “Experimental Group Two” and “Control” groups. The scores from the students’ pre -and post -essays were used to find out whether the students improved their writing from the pre- to post- tests. The groups were taught for one academic semester which consisted of 15 weeks. The analysis of pre- and post-essays showed that there was a significant difference in the writing qualities of explicit and implicit genre-based instruction groups. The students in the experimental groups actually outperformed on most genre move categories assessed in the posttests. Researchers and educators could benefit from an experimental study of the development of genre awareness through models with explicit and implicit writing instruction.

Keywords

Abbuhl, R. (2011). Using models in writing instruction: A comparison with            native and nonnative speakers of English. SAGE Journals, 1(3), 1-    12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244011426295
Anthony, L. (2000). Implementing genre analysis in a foreign language       classroom. TESOL Matters, 10(3), 18-20.   https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/71632
Bawarshi, A., & Reiff, M. (2010). Genre, an introduction to history and      theory, research          and pedagogy. Parlor Press.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. Routledge.
DeKeyser, R. (1995). Learning second language grammar rules: An experiment with a miniature linguistic system. Studies in Second          Language Acquisition, 17(3), 379-410.
          https://www.jstor.org/stable/44488491
Devitt, Amy J. (2006). First-year composition and antecedent genres. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago.         Conference Presentation.
Dorniye, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford            University Press.
Doughty, C., & Williams, J. (1998). Pedagogical choices in focus on form. In         C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second   
         language acquisition (pp. 197-261). Cambridge            University Press.
Ellis, R. (1993). The structure syllabus and second language acquisition.
                                                                                                            TESOL Quarterly, 27(1), 91-113.  https://doi.org/10.2307/3586953
Florek, A., & Dellavalle, R. (2016). Case reports in medical education: a     platform for training   medical students, residents, and fellows in         scientific writing and critical thinking. Journal of Medical Case Reports. 10(86).http://doi.10.1186/s13256-016-0851-5
Freedman, A. (1993). Show and tell? The role of explicit teaching in the     learning of new genres. Research in the Teaching of English, 27,       222-251. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40171225
Hammond, J., & Derewianka, B. (2001). Genre. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching of English to speakers of          other languages (pp. 186-193). Cambridge University Press.
Helan, R. (2012). Analysis of published medical case reports: Genre-based study.   (Unpublished dissertation), Masaryk University, Brno.
Hung, H., Chen, P. C., & Tsai, J. J. (2012). Rhetorical structure and linguistic
features of case presentations in case reports in Taiwanese and international medical journals. Journal of English for Academic Purposes11(3), 220-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.04.004
Hyland, K. (2007). Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing
instruction. Journal        of Second Language Writing, 16(3), 148-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2007.07.005
Hyland, K. (2008). Genre and academic writing in the disciplines. Language          Teaching: Surveys and Studies, 41(4), 543-562. http:// doi:10.1017/S0261444808005235     
Hyon, S. (2002). Genre and ESL reading: A classroom study. In A. M. Johns         (Ed.), Genre in            the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp. 121-141).            Lawrence Erlbaum.
Khodabandeh, F., Jafarigohar, M., Soleimani, H., & Hemmati, F. (2013). The impact of explicit, implicit, and no-formal genre-based instruction on argumentative essay writing. The Linguistics Journal, 7(1), 134-166. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.417.8938&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=134
Lingard, L, & Haber, R. (2002). Learning medical talk: How the apprenticeship complicates current explicit/tacit debates in genre             instruction. In R. Coe, L. Lingard, & T. Teslenko (Eds.),  The rhetoric and ideology of genre: Strategies for            stability and change (pp. 155-170).Hampton Print.
Macken-Horarik, M. (2002). Something to shoot for: A systematic functional         approach to teaching genre in secondary school science. In A. M.   Johns (Ed.), Genres in the classroom:            applying theory and research into practice (pp. 17-42). John Wiley & Sons.
Gass, S., Mackey, A., & RossFeldman, L. (2005). Taskbased interactions in classroom and laboratory settings. Language learning55(4), 575-611.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0023-8333.2005.00318.x
Nissen, T., & Wynn, R. (2014). The clinical case report: a review of its merits and limitations. BMC Research Notes7(1), 1-7. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/7/264
Paltridge, B., & Starfield, S.. (2014). The handbook of English for specific purposes. John Wiley & Sons.
Robinson, P. (1996). Learning simple and complex second language rules   under implicit, incidental, rule-search, and instructed conditions.         Studies in Second Language   Acquisition,18(2),27-67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44487858
Seliger, H., & Shohamy, E. (1989). Second language research methods.      Oxford University Press.
Skillen, J., & Trivett, N. (2001). Explicit teaching and assessment of genre conventions in university education: An example from     biology. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 5, 113-        118. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?lookup=0&q=Skillen,+J.,+%26+Trivett,+N.+(2001)
Soliday, M. (2005). Mapping genres in a science in society course. Genre Across the Curriculum, 12(23). 65-82. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46nx0j.6
Stolarek, E. A. (1994). Prose modeling: Panacea or poppycock? Eric Publication.
Swales, J.M. (1990) Genre analysis: English in academic and research       settings. Cambridge University Press.
Yasuda, S. (2011). Genre-based tasks in foreign language writing:   Developing writers’ genre       awareness, linguistic knowledge, and          writing competence. Journal of Second Language     Writing18 (3). 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2011.03.001