Challenges as complemantarities in genre-based writing instruction

Abstract Summary

Abstract :

Over the last decade, teachers in Swedish disadvantaged multilingual classrooms have increasingly been introduced to the pedagogical principles of genre-based writing instruction (GBWI), commonly in the form of SFL-informed genre pedagogy (Rose & Martin, 2012). Research knowledge about current genre-pedagogical practices is, however, mainly informed by intervention studies documenting GBWI in contexts where participants are in early stages of acquaintance with the concept of genre. There is, therefore, a need for expanded theoretical knowledge about GBWI practices beyond the initial “first shot” at genre-based pedagogy. From a teacher perspective, there is an equivalent need for a practical “next-step model” in GBWI implementation, a model considering the need for 1) differentiated genre instruction, 2) for aligning genre models with content-area curricular demands, and 3) for balancing genre-structure demands against room for students’ individual creativity.







The study presents results from a five-week case study documenting the GBWI implementation in a secondary-level History education context. Students display a wide range of content, language, and genre acquaintance, calling for different types of “pedagogical bridges”, built by the teacher, to the end goal of genre-based writing about ‘Columbus and Colonialism’. Challenges in establishing these bridges are analyzed as ‘pedagogical complementarities’ (Vithal, 2003), for instance the challenges of assessment vs creativity, equity vs differentiation, and History content vs genre, an example of the latter being when the teacher restricts the free form of the narrative genre, making it more grounded in historical facts. Practical pedagogical strategies for resolving these complementarities are identified and discussed.







Rose, D., & Martin, J. R. (2012). Learning to Write, Reading to Learn: Genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney School. London: Equinox.







Vithal, R. (2003). In search of a pedagogy of conflict and dialogue for mathematics education. Springer Science & Business Media.

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