Learning to Mean in Spanish Writing: A Case Study of a Genre-Based Pedagogy for Standards-Based Writing Instruction

• Published in: Foreign language annals Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 317 - 335
• Main Author: Troyan, Francis J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Alexandria Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2016; Wiley-Blackwell; American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• Subjects: assessment; Authors; Case Studies; Classrooms; Communication (Thought Transfer); Content area instruction; Content Area Writing; content-based instruction; Core curriculum; Direct Instruction; Educational Practices; Educational Strategies; Elementary Secondary Education; English Language Learners; Foreign language instruction; Foreign language learning; functional linguistics; Genre; Genre analysis; Grade 4; Guidelines; Heritage Education; L2 writing; Language instruction; Language teaching methods; Linguistics; Literacy; Literary Genres; Nouns; Pedagogy; Reading Instruction; Second Language Learning; Second language writing; Second language writing instruction; Second Languages; Spanish; Spanish as a second language instruction; Student writing; Student Writing Models; Teacher Role; Teaching Methods; Theory; Tourism; Writing Instruction; New York; United States > US; Ohio
• ISSN: 0015-718X; 1944-9720
• DOI: 10.1111/flan.12192

This case study reports the results of a genre‐based approach, which was used to explicitly teach the touristic landmark description to fourth‐grade students of Spanish as a foreign language. The instructional model and unit of instruction were informed by the pedagogies of the Sydney School of Linguistics and an instructional model for integrating the three modes of communication, as well as the literature on content‐based instruction. An analysis of the writing of a focal student, Jackie, provides evidence of the potential of the pedagogy to develop students' ability to appropriate the linguistic representation of content in ways that current frameworks do not yet consider. Thus, implications of the findings are explored related to the integration of functional linguistics, genre theory, and genre‐based pedagogy for instruction that is informed by the World‐Readiness Standards, the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Writing, and the NCSSFL‐ACTFL Can‐Do Statements for presentational writing.