A GENRE-BASED TEACHING APPROACH TO ACADEMIC WRITING: DESCRIBING VISUALLY PRESENTED INFORMATION IN GRAPHS AND CHARTS

This study adopted a pre-test/post-test assessment of the learnerʹs writing performance to examine the effectiveness of a genre-based approach to teaching academic writing. By comparing pre/post test results it was revealed that the differences between scores was statistically significant (p < .05) and a genre based pedagogy is very useful for EFL learners in writing courses. The participants of the study were 60 male Iranian EFL students. Assessment was conducted by comparing students’ writing samples, before and after the teaching intervention. The results indicated that the teacher’s active Presentation processes at the early stage of the cycle benefited students by making them aware of the different ways texts are organized for different communicative purposes. In addition, students’ confidence level increased and the approach encouraged a positive attitude towards writing.