Örebro University
Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences English
Written Acquisition:
Analyzing Teachers’ Perceptions of Genre Pedagogy and
Mentor Text Approach to Writing Instruction in
Upper-secondary School in Sweden.
Author: Julius Svensson Independent project essay VT 2021
Abstract
The study’s purpose is to examine teachers’ perceptions of genre pedagogy and mentor texts to teach writing in upper-secondary school. Previously many English teachers in Sweden used process pedagogy to teach writing, an approach that encourages students to create drafts and revise their texts accordingly. The study finds that even though this approach is still active in upper-secondary schools in Sweden, teachers feel that providing time for revisions is
impossible. Further, the study finds that teachers have started to provide their students with model texts that can give students a hands-on model for writing their own texts. The use of model texts in genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach will be examined in this study. The study has been conducted using interviews with teachers in upper-secondary schools in Sweden. The interviews were semi-structured and constructed using themes to simplify the analysis of the results. The results from the study show that the interviewed teachers of upper-secondary schools in Sweden believe that students benefit from being provided with models in for writing. The teachers also believe that the students are benefited from seeing the structure of the model text, which can encourage students to structure their own writing similarly. The teachers interviewed in the study perceive genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach to support students’ development as successful communicators in the English written language.
Keywords: Genre pedagogy, mentor texts approach, upper-secondary school, writing, writing
List of contents
1. Introduction... 1
2. Background... 3
2.1 Theory and concept definition...3
2.2 Research in the field...6
3. Material and Method... 8
3.1 Participants...8
3.2 Interviews...9
4. Results... 10
4.1 Interviews...10
4.2 Students’ ability to write...10
4.3 Students’ improvements in writing from models...11
4.4 Text types in writing from models...12
4.6 Lesson planning of writing from models...13
4.7 Students’ tasks with writing from models...14
4.8 Benefits with writing from models...14
4.9 Drawbacks with writing from models...15
4.10 Different approaches to written instruction...16
5. Discussion... 17
5.1 Discussion of the results from the interviews...17
5.2 Limitations of the study:...22
5.3 Suggestions for further research...23
6. Conclusion... 24 7. References... 26 8. Appendix... 28 8.1 Appendix 1 – Interview 1...28 8.2 Appendix 2 – interview 2...36 8.3 Appendix 3 – interview 3...47 8.4 Appendix 4 – Interview 4...55
1. Introduction
"The last decade or so has seen increasing attention to the notion of genre and its application in language and learning. This is largely a response to changing views of discourse and of learning to write which incorporate better understandings of how language is structured to achieve social purposes in particular contexts of use." (Hyland, 2007, p.148)
The passage quoted above is from Ken Hyland's article "Genre pedagogy: Language, Literacy, and L2 writing instruction," published in 2007. Hyland claims that genre pedagogy is on the rise because it presents genre as social action. Writing in genres involves seeing genre in terms of its social purposes. As a pedagogy, it often involves teaching genre through model texts. Elahe Ghorbancian, Manijeh Youhanaee & Zahra Amirian (2019) claim, the mentor text approach can be defined as students imitating well-written texts with a good and clear structure and
appropriate language. The topic of this study is teachers’ perceptions of genre pedagogy and mentor texts. This essay will examine teachers' perceptions of using genre pedagogy and mentor texts to help students develop their writing ability. The study will elicit the perceptions of active teachers of the English subject with semi-structured interviews. After summarizing the
pedagogical principles and teaching strategies of genre pedagogy, I will summarize teachers’ perceptions of the value of this pedagogy in the real classrooms and then compare theory with practice as understood by teachers. My objective is to see if teachers believe that the genre pedagogy and the mentor texts approach can help their students become better communicators of the English language.
Process pedagogy enables students to become better writers by seeing their writing as a progression. Tricia Hedge (2000) argues that the process pedagogy understands writing understands as a discovery. The process approach to writing can be thought of as a discovery process. Hedge claims that “it involves a number of activities: setting goals, generating ideas, organizing information, selecting appropriate language, making a draft, reading and reviewing it, then revising and editing.” (2000, p.302) Hedge writes that process pedagogy can be positive for teachers to promote students’ individuality and encourage them to revise their texts during writing sessions.
In contrast, genre pedagogy provides teachers with an opportunity to customize the teaching to benefit all students' needs. According to researcher and linguist Ken Hyland (2007), genre pedagogy benefits students by making the teaching explicit. Genre pedagogy
enables students to see what is to be learned to develop their writing skills. Hyland argues that the benefit of genre pedagogy is that it is needs-based. It ensures that the course objectives and the content agree with the students’ needs in the education of writing. Therefore, genre
pedagogy can fulfill the student's needs by providing text with models that clarify what they are supposed to learn. Gamze Almacioglu and Zuhal Okan (2018) argue that genre pedagogy can encourage students to understand the features of different text types that they can use in their writing. With students' needs in mind, the genre pedagogy can successfully teach writing in the English classroom.
Genre pedagogy enables teachers to instruct their students to write successful texts following the model text's structure. According to Ken Hyland (2003), genre pedagogy might encourage students to use a social approach to language. The characteristics of text types might differ depending on the genres' social context. Hyland argues that genre pedagogy can support teachers to find strategies that help students to acquire clear and coherent writing by explaining the different characteristics of genres. The learners' goal can be to receive knowledge of how language creates meaning in various contexts. Hyland claims that "Genres help unite the social and the cognitive because they are central to how writers understand, construct, and reproduce their social realities" (2003, p. 24). In other words, genre pedagogy can enable learners to understand how language works in a social context. Researcher John Flowerdew argues that "Genre is a social activity of a typical recognizable kind in a community, which is realized in language" (2010, p. 517). In other words, genre is helpful for students to exploring language in a social context.
Genre pedagogy provides teachers with an approach to writing instruction that gives students a framework for writing. As Ken Hyland argues "This explicitness gives teachers and learners something to aim at, making writing outcomes clear rather than relying on hit-or-miss inductive methods where learners are expected to acquire the genres, they need from simply writing or the teacher's feedback on their essays” (2008, p. 547). In other words, genre pedagogy permits students to have an identifiable target with their writing by changing the written instruction from an investigative to a guiding approach. This approach to writing can develop students’ ability to communicate in written English.
Mentor texts help teachers provide clear instruction about what they expect from their students in their writing. According to Ghorbancian, Youhanaee & Amirian (2019), the mentor text approach offers learners the possibility to witness a variety of text types that students can bring to their writing sessions. Therefore, students can analyze and learn an author's writing strategies and might experiment with them in their own writing.
Learners can also compare their own written texts to the models to see if their writing is written clearly or correctly structured. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee, and Amirian argue that “Students need to focus on the structure, language use and other targeted elements of writing in the mentor text to compensate for their lack of experience in L2 writing processes" (2019, p. 59). In other words, students can benefit from seeing differences in the structure and language use in mentor texts which can compensate for being less experienced as L2 learners of the English language. Successful written communication does not solely come from imitation of structures, it also comes from language use in mentor texts which is beneficial for L2 learners of the English language.
Using the genre pedagogy and mentor texts will help teachers provide their students with a framework for effective communication in the English language. The students gain insight into how the author structures the text and what language is used. The students should create an understanding of the author’s structure and language use, which is important when using the same choices in their writing. The learners will then bring this knowledge into their writing, which helps them evolve into experienced writers. Therefore, the thesis statement of this essay is that teachers' perceptions of using genre pedagogy and mentor texts in students' training in written communication are that their students can develop into experienced writers and become successful communicators of the English written language.
2. Background
2.1 Theory and concept definition
Process pedagogy has encouraged students to develop their writing when discussing their text with their classmates and teachers. In a historical account of writing instruction in Sweden, Bo Lundahl (2019) notes that the process approach grew in the 1980s, when there was a shift from seeing written texts as products. Prior to this shift, teachers saw texts as products: they assigned writing tasks and corrected them perhaps with a comment. Process pedagogy, in contrast, encourages students to see their writing as a process. Students write a draft that they discuss with their classmates and teacher and then rewrite the text. This approach to teaching writing allows students to develop a sense of what corrections they can make to their texts, developing knowledge for future writing.
Teachers can support English language learners to develop their written
knowledge by drawing attention to how writing supports thinking. Hedge (2000) argues that the process approach can inspire writers to see writing as a continuous thought process. In the
1970s, there was an increased interest in writers' thought processes and their deliberate choices regarding writing. Hedge claims that discussions of revising texts during the thought process can enable teachers to participate in their students thought process.
Genre pedagogy provides students with formal and academic models to writing, which the process pedagogy cannot provide. Lundahl (2019) points out that process pedagogy has received resistance since it did not involve formal teaching in English. In contrast, Ken Hyland (2008) argues that genre pedagogy is an effective way of teaching academic writing as it includes the social aspect of texts, which might allow an understanding of how learners analyze texts and organize their writing. Genre pedagogy can make academic writing goals visible, which might help the students on their path to becoming successful communicators of academic English. An Cheng (2008) argues that students might develop their ability to
communicate in written, academic English when they are allowed to witness different genres of academic texts. Analyzing different genres can enable learners to imitate the structure of
established writer’s works.
A teacher who plans her lessons according to the genre pedagogy enables the students to acquire authentic knowledge of text types by authentic models. Hyland (2007) argues that genre pedagogy is on the rise because it presents genre as social action. Writing in genres involves seeing in terms of their social purposes. As a pedagogy, it often involves teaching genre through model texts. Hedge (2000) points out that the process pedagogy has received criticism for not contributing for students to see authentic materials in the written education: “Many teachers would argue that setting aside the time needed for feedback, and for the revision of several drafts, is unrealistic, particularly within the constraints of the school systems, and particularly where classes are large.” (2000, p. 318) Kathleen Ann Ramos (2015) argues that the genre pedagogy can provide an opportunity for students to practice writing with a clear written instruction that encourages them to see texts as part of different contexts.
According to researcher Flowerdew (2010), genre pedagogy allows students to practice their written abilities in the authentic context that the approach provides. When analyzing a text and its genre, students can witness the features of texts in a communicative context.
Genre pedagogy encourages students to analyze texts in social contexts. Ramos (2015) argues that structuring the teaching around literacy in a learning community can be essential for students as they receive the possibility to approach different cultures. Hyland (2007) claims that the understanding of characteristics of texts could provide writers the knowledge of how to communicate successfully in written language. Hyland argues that genre pedagogy "assists students to exploit the expressive potential of society's discourse structures
instead of merely being manipulated by them" (2007, p.150). Rhetorical theorist Carolyn Miller writes, "a genre becomes a complex of formal and substantive features that create a particular effect in a given situation. Genre, in this way, becomes more than a formal entity; it becomes pragmatic, fully rhetoric, a point of connection between intention and effect, an aspect of social action" (1984, p.153). According to Flowerdew, language can permit students to analyze texts and see them as "social activity of a typical recognizable kind" (2010, p. 517).
By teaching writing with genre pedagogy, teachers of English provide their students with an opportunity to structure and write according to model texts. Hyland (2007) argues that teachers that use texts written in social contexts can give learners better possibilities for written acquisition because studying writing allows learners to understand the writer's message. Hyland claims that reading and analyzing different genres can give the students’ knowledge of how to structure and write their own texts. Teachers who allow students to write texts with genres that establish a social context can facilitate learners' development of their written communicative skills.
A genre pedagogy provides written instruction in a social context, a similar benefit that mentor texts have for students' written development. Hyland (2003) argues that genres in the English classroom can compare different text types with similar characteristics. Early in the written process, teachers can discuss the written material they have provided for their students. Further, as Hyland claims, the teacher can deliberately give the students more freedom in their writing, and eventually, they might develop their knowledge to write texts individually. Ramos (2015) argues that providing learners with knowledge of writing a suitable language can open up for fewer misinterpretations and permit students to make individual choices when writing. Cynthia A. Dollins (2020) claims that teachers have had difficulties creating written instruction that can develop students’ writing. The author argues that mentor texts can provide teachers with the opportunity to give their students instruction through texts that can make the written instruction visible for them.
Model texts written by expert writers can be used as an aid for the students. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee & Amirian (2019) argues that the strategy of using mentor texts is based on the idea that texts can be used as an aid for writing instruction that can help student in all written education. Further, mentor texts can allow students to imitate the structure and stylistic choices, which they can bring to their own writing. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee & Amirian claims, "Despite the remarkable versatility, mentor texts are used as a model of what the teacher wants the students to do" (2019, p. 59). Mentor texts can be an effective method for
encouraging students to acknowledge the structures and stylistic choices they make in their own writing.
A genre pedagogy provides teachers with teaching strategies that align with the curriculum for upper-secondary schools in Sweden. "Eleverna ska ges möjlighet att interagera i tal och skrift samt producera talat språk och olika texter, på egen hand och tillsammans med andra, och med stöd av olika hjälpmedel och medier" 'Students should be given the opportunity to interact in speech and writing, and to produce spoken language and texts of different kinds, both on their own and together with others, using different aids and media.' (2011, p. 1). Students can be exposed to different texts by genre pedagogy's ability to encourage students to analyze texts with different characteristics and features. Therefore, it can be stated that using the genre pedagogy in teaching can align with the curriculum for upper-secondary school. The subject syllabus for English stipulates that "I undervisningen ska eleverna få möta talad och skriven engelska av olika slag samt få sätta innehållet i relation till egna erfarenheter och kunskaper" 'In teaching students should meet written and spoken English of different kinds, and relate the content to their own experiences and knowledge' (2011, p.1). Teachers can satisfy this requirement by enabling their students to receive the possibility to see different kinds of texts with different features and structures using the genre pedagogy.
The mentor text approach also gives students opportunities to acquire written knowledge that aligns with the upper-secondary school curriculum in Sweden. Skolverket stipulates that "Genom undervisningen ska eleverna även ges möjlighet att utveckla språklig säkerhet i tal och skrift samt förmåga att uttrycka sig med variation och komplexitet". 'Through teaching students should also be given the opportunity to develop correctness in their use of language in speech and writing, and also the ability to express themselves with variation and complexity' (2011, p.1). When students are provided with mentor texts in their education, they encounter texts with differences in structures and writers' choices of written language, which can provide models for their own efforts to vary their writing.
2.2 Research in the field
Ramos (2015) conducted a study of the possibility for second language learners’ (L2) to develop their written ability when using genre pedagogy in teaching. The study’s results show that all participants had better results on the post-test than the pre-test. Nazanin Naderi Kalai and Kian Pishkar (2015) conducted a study of the impact of genre pedagogy and a reading to learn approach have on students writing, compared with a traditional approach to teaching
writing. The results of the study showed that the experimental groups developed their written communication more than the control group.
Almacioglu and Okan (2018) conducted a study of the possibility for second language learners (L2) to acquire a metacognitive awareness that could enable them to produce individual written texts. The result of the study shows that students developed a metacognitive awareness of the declarative type, which enabled them to understand what concepts of genre pedagogy were essential for writing academic texts. The participants of the study also acquired procedural metacognitive awareness, which meant that they could transform their knowledge of genres and analyzing texts into the ability to write their own texts. Ayesha Asgar Gill and Fauzia Janjua (2020) conducted a study of the possibility for students to develop their writing using a genre pedagogy and reading to learn approach. The results of the study showed that the participants in the experimental groups were better at writing topical themes and performed better in the post-test. The results also showed that the participants in the experimental groups became better at writing topical and interpersonal themes effectively, which means that they aligned with the rhemes. The overall results showed that using genre pedagogy with the Reading to Learn approach and educating students with a theme selection enabled students to develop their writing skills.
Leimin Shi, Amanda Baker, and Honglin Chen (2017) conducted a study of what knowledge teachers’ have mentor texts and how they could implement it in their teaching. The results of the study show that the teachers believed that the teaching of writing became more concrete and targeted. The results also show that model texts can encourage students to develop a sense of what language there are in texts. With the results from this study, it could be said that the genre pedagogy can be aligned with the mentor texts pedagogy. A student can analyze model texts, take the strengths of the structure and the author’s choices, and bring them to their writing.
Wilder Escobar Alméciga and Reid Evans (2014) conducted a study of how high-quality mentor texts and color-coding different paragraphs in a text can enable students to develop their ability to communicate in written English. The results of the study show that the discussion of good and poor examples of texts was helpful for students’ written acquisition. The results also show that seeing what content should be included in different segments of an academic text was helpful for the students. The color-coding of their texts enabled the participants to understand the structure of how an academic text should be written by
distinguishing between introduction and body paragraphs. Parastou Gholami Pasand and Esrath Bazarmaj Haghi (2013) conducted a study of what impact the mentor texts approach has on the
possibility for students to develop their knowledge in writing. The results from the study show that there was a decrease in written errors in the students writing. The results also showed improved accuracy in the students’ writing.
Ghorbancian, Youhanaee, and Amirian (2019) conducted a study that measured the effect the mentor text approach on students written acquisition. The mentor-texts approach was compared to a product and a process approach. The results of the study show that the mentor texts-based group had the highest degree of improvement when it comes to writing. The results of the study showed that the participants in the mentor texts-based groups achieved a significant improvement in their written accuracy in regard to the other groups. Therefore, the mentor texts approach could be seen as the most effective approach to written instruction of the three in the study.
My study examines if teachers perceive a genre and mentor texts pedagogy as a tool to facilitate students' acquisition in writing. The results of the studies reviewed in this section show that using these pedagogies could help students become effective communicators of the written language. The researchers indicate that traditional approaches to writing have their flaws, and that the genre and mentor texts pedagogy could be seen as a different pedagogy for writing instruction.
3. Material and Method
I wanted to examine teachers' perceptions with semi-structured interviews. I formulated neutral interview questions that were divided into different categories that covered different parts of English teaching, following guidelines set out by Zoltan Dornyei (2007). This section described the participants of the study and my thought process when I conducted the interviews.
3.1 Participants
I interviewed four teachers in this study. Teacher 1 works at a large, urban school in a
university-preparatory program. This teacher teaches English five, which is a required course in upper-secondary school in Sweden, so the group sizes tend to be large. Teacher 2 works at a small, urban school in both university-preparatory and vocational programs. This teacher teaches English six and seven, and the group size differs from small to large. Teacher 3 works at a large, urban school in a university-preparatory program. This teacher teaches English five and six, and the group sizes tends to be large. Teacher 4 also works at a large, urban school in both
university-preparatory and vocational programs. This teacher teaches English five and seven, and the group sizes can differ depending on the course.
3.2 Interviews
According to Zoltan Dornyei (2007), a semi-structured interview has the advantage of focusing on the questions and following a well-structured plan. This approach makes it easier to compare the interviews. The interviews focused on the teachers' perceptions of their students' ability to communicate in English written language.
I wanted the questions to be easily understood by the interviewees to avoid misunderstandings. I wanted the questions to be structured according to themes, thus creating clarity. Dornyei (2007) argues that when constructing the questions for the interview, the researcher could be benefited by creating questions that are easy to interpret for the interviewee, which eventually could contribute to the result of the interview being of higher quality.
Before the interview could be conducted, the interviewee needed to understand what they were getting themselves into and their ethical rights. This was important for me to be able to transcribe the interviews. In my study, to transcribe the interviews, I needed to record them. Dornyei claims, "There is a general agreement in the literature that if we want to use the content of a semi-structured or unstructured interview as a research data, we need to record it – taking notes is simply not enough as we are unlikely to be able to catch all the details of the nuances of personal meaning; furthermore, note-taking also disrupts the interviewing process." (2007, p. 139) Therefore, I decided to record and transcribe the interviews.
I chose interviews because they are a better research tool than a survey. I wanted to create a relationship with the interviewee. This relationship could help me get closer to the recipient and receive in-depth answers. Dornyei (2007) claims that benefits of interviews are that difficult key concepts could be explained. By using a questionnaire, there could be
challenges in providing the participants with a neutral, correct definition of the concept. It could be easier to provide the participants with correct definitions and ask neutral questions during an interview. Dornyei (2007) points out that it can be difficult for the interviewer to remain neutral during an interview. Therefore, during the interview, the interviewer needs to keep in mind not to lead the participants to answers, allowing them to speak of their experiences freely.
4. Results
4.1 InterviewsThis section summarized participating teachers’ perceptions of their students’ ability to communicate in written English, what improvements students can make when the teachers choose a writing from models pedagogy, which text types that can be used in writing from models, teachers’ thoughts on using authentic material as models, lesson planning. The lesson planning is important for showing how teachers use model texts in their lessons. This results section will also summarize teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of writing from models pedagogy, and their other approaches used by teachers to teach writing. The four participants will be described as T1 (teacher 1), T2 (teacher 2), T3 (teacher 3), and T4 (teacher 4).
4.2 Students’ ability to write
The teachers identify a number of problems of their students writing ability, although they give different accounts about the nature of those problems. T1 observes “[My students] use a lot of repetitions, they are not used to write anything, normally they don’t write anything, just communicate orally. And they cannot distinguish their register, they cannot tell the difference between formal and informal language.” T1’s perceptions on his/her students’ ability to communicate can be compared with T3’s thoughts. T3 describes his/her students’
communicative ability as follows: “I think they’re very good at writing informal style, but we need to work a lot with the formal language. We’re still struggling with that actually.” T4 has a different view on his/her students’ ability communicate effectively in written English when he/she say, “First of all, I guess not many, many, young, young English learners have a habit of writing daily, even, not even adults.” T4 argues that it is important to encourage their students to practice writing when he/she say: “So, I, I encourage my students to, to write something once a week at least, in English.” T2 has a different opinion on his/her students’ written ability than the other participants of the interview when he/she say, “I think of course it depends. [My students’ written ability is] individual in some cases, but most of the time I think [my students] are very good.” T2 strengthens this claim by saying, “You have those who just love to play the electric guitar and don’t care very much about studying, and you have those who are really, really into studying and so on. So, most of them are performing in a very good way, with some few exceptions then.” This paragraph shows that teachers have different perceptions of their students writing.
4.3 Students’ improvements in writing from models
The teachers’ perceptions of the strength from writing from models is that their students develop their writing when seeing how assignments and texts have been written before. As T2 puts it, “….I actually, brought forward two examples of my former class which were really good. I asked them for permission, of course, the students first and then I showed those
examples to the students I have now, and I actually found that when they saw what are a really, really good text based on that concept was, they performed better actually.” T1 claims that “And something that we do, we have a look from texts from other students, that Skolverket in Sweden publish in their website, so we can see, for example, three different texts with three different levels, A, C and E, and we can see for example which are the typical mistakes that they commit in the E level for example and why the C level is better and why the A level is even better. So, they know more or less what they have to do to get a higher grade.” T3 is not specifically discussing the use of students’ texts, although the teacher promotes the use of sample texts: “We have sample text in the book, and I will always try to show them a sample text before they start writing.” T4 has a similar thought as T3 when he/she says, “We have, yeah, we use different model texts. For example, for English five it’s this descriptive essay, what does it, what is it, and how does it look like…”
The teachers believe that their students will develop their structure of writing texts when being provided with a model text. T3 describes, “Yeah, formality, at least it gets
improved, but also in terms of structure. We tried to work a lot with a five-paragraph structure, teach them how to do, do the paragraphing properly.” T4’s thoughts of the importance of structure is similar to T3, although only in English 7, when he/she says, “Oh, every year I used for English 7, every year I have been teaching in seven, all the years since I started teaching, so I showed [my students] how it looks like a model text ehm, and the text is divided clearly in different parts like, introduction, investigation question, body, conclusion, and then you know the reference list so I show how it looks and what we need to pay attention to and what we are going to learn from this assignment.” T1 says that, “[My students] get from me, the theoretical part of the text, this kind of text build with this, this, and this, you are going to use it there, and there, and there, and then an example and when then we can practice.” It could be said that T2 shifts the focus from learning structures of different texts to learners acquiring strategies for writing, working with writing from models. It shows when T2 claims, “Well, [my students] actually learn strategies for writing. For, for writing improvement, I would say they learn that
they don’t have to be so limited that they usually are, that there are strategies to become better and everybody can get better by using those strategies.”
The participants of the interviews suggest that their students develop their knowledge in writing when being provided with a model text, although one teacher is more focused on their structural development. T1 claims, “… a good model always gives you good inspiration, a good guide, and then you can write a better text.” T2 says something similar as T1 when he/she says, “According to models that the stricter frames to have, the more creative you become within the frames.” T2 continues and claims, “Actually it’s, and sometimes my
colleagues are a little bit envious because they, they see how fantastic stories I get to me from the students. And very often you get well they write about their personal things, they, because it’s a way of, well of life, and, and you really get to know the students.” It could be interpreted as T3 does not have the same view on writing in models as T1 and T2 when he/she says, “I mean, we work a lot with structure so, I generally, if we use the coursebook text, they, the authors of the course book, have already helped us with it. Yeah right, this is the introduction, this is the body paragraph one and so on.” T4 says something similar as T3 when he/she gives an example of an investigative essay to provide examples of how they worked with model texts, “We’re going to write an investigative essay, and so I used a model text or examples to show them how and investigative goes and how it looks and what, what kind of structure.” These paragraphs show that the teachers suggest that the writing from models brings many strengths to the writing teaching in school.
4.4 Text types in writing from models
The teachers in the interviews have a similar thought process of what text types to use in their writing teaching. T1 claims, “Well, let’s see if I remember, the first one is argumentative, informative, formal letters, job application, news article, then it’s a review, and the last one is creative writing.” T3 has a similar though as T1 when he/she says, “Yeah, argumentative essay, definitely in English 5, writing letters or e-mails.” And “News article based, mm yeah what else? In English six, they have a written discussion, because of the national test in English six.” T4 describes, “Argumentative essay, discussion essay, those two types are used quite a lot” and explains this choice with, “Ehhm, it’s a certainly according to the curriculum, because students are, yeah, they are going to learn how to evaluate critically and use their own thoughts to analysis, analyze.” T2 has a similar idea as T4 when he/she claims, “I, I advise them to write easier text types, I say, why not writing a blog or diary? And now we are into an argumentative essay.”. This paragraph explains what text types the interviewed teachers use in their writing.
4.5 Authentic materials in writing from models
The interviewed teachers suggest that using authentic model texts benefits the students, although some teachers feel that the manipulated material can be authentic as well. T2 says, “I would say it using authentic articles and so on. We, we, I have a subscription on the time magazine for example, and we used a lot of articles from there and very often I think one good thing about it is that [my students] get good self confidence in their, well in their concept of their own English skills.” T4 takes a similar approach to authentic material when he/she claims, “Well, I used to show, you know, online scientific articles and we can have a look at this text, how, how, how they write in a way. For example, text from national geography is very good, good examples to show students.” T4 describes that “So, I think it’s important [the texts] are related to life.” T1 takes a different approach to authentic material when he/she argues, “The more authentic the better, but I have nothing against manipulated texts, I think they are very good, and if the purpose is to learn, why not? Nothing wrong with manipulated texts:” T3 has a similar approach to authentic material as T1 when he/she describes, “Well [the texts are] real, I mean, that’s how that shows how the language really is used. I mean, schoolbook material can sometimes to be adapted to a certain style that the authors prefer. I mean, in English we don’t really have that problem, I think, even the textbooks are generally authentic.”
4.6 Lesson planning of writing from models
The teachers interviewed have different experiences on how to plan a lesson of writing from models, although they agree on starting the lesson with a model text as written instruction. T1 says, “We can introduce genre, for example we say, we are going through the five paragraph essay, give the introduction, for example the content, you have to write a good introduction, and then there are several paragraphs, divide these paragraphs according to the ideas that you are going to talk about, and then at the end there is a conclusion, you use for example the S.E.X.Y. structure that can give you a statement, and then you develop the statement, and then at the end you say why this is important.” T4 has a similar idea as T1 when he/she claims, “Yeah for projects, I like projects, and I used to let them watch, how to say in, a video or listen to a song for inspiration as start and, and then I ask them relevant questions. What do you think about it? What kind of issue does the video bring to you? And then we start from that issue and introduce the whole concepts so I would like you to investigate from this issue and then lead to a written assignment.” T3 explains their view on lesson plans when saying, “So, I let them start with a text, so ehm something that they supposed to read and then after that sometimes we work with
the text, so they get the vocabulary, and get a feeling for it.” T2 continues on the path that T3 does when he/she claims, “For example, we have read a book and we have a specific aim, what we will do after we have read the book, we will work with a written task.” This passage
explains the teachers’ perceptions on how to plan a lesson according to a writing from models pedagogy.
4.7 Students’ tasks with writing from models
The teachers interviewed agree that tasks in a lesson of writing from models could begin with the students reading a text and afterward writing their own. T3 explains, “Something that [my students] suppose to read, and after that we work with the text.” T3 continues and says, “And then I guess it’s pretty common that I, I let [my students] write this kind of text themselves. Simple, but, I guess that is the way I generally do it.” T1 claims, “If we are talking for example essays, a task could be for example to write, create a good mind-map, and then task number two could be, to write a text, or write for example on introduction, a very interesting looking
introduction, for that essay.” T2 describes that, “We start with making the book interesting, and getting them into reading which will give them a very good basis.” T2 continues and says, “To really make them aware from the beginning that they should not, not just read the book, they should, should prepare their writing along with the reading, so they know that you will end the project with this writing task.” T4 claims, “I will show them a model text, then it looks like this an investigate essay, I’ll give them an, you know directions you are going to first research the background, and then you describe two different claims, and lastly you are going to tell an, tell, tell us your opinion.” This paragraph explains what tasks the teachers interviewed provide their students with.
4.8 Benefits with writing from models
The interviewed teachers have a similar experience that both the students that are in need of a challenge and in need of help can be benefited from being provided with a model text. T1 claims, “For example, if we see structures, a student for example could write something like “I think the novel was good, and I think the movie is very interesting.” Okay, this is very basic, imagine that you see a sample text where you see the structure, not only is the movie great but also very interesting to young students, so this not only but also if you get in a text, you get the inspiration to use the same structure, the same structure again in your text, with different words, So, this is a sample structure when you see them in a text, then you read them, you understand
them, you want to use them again in your own text.” T3 has a similar idea as T1 when he/she says, “Yeah, like especially, for students who have a hard time, it’s, it’s good to have, a sample text that they can, I mean, they’re not allowed to just take a text and change a few words.” He/she continue and says, “Yeah, if it is done in a good way, it can really help them, for practice it’s great, of course.” T4 has a similar view as T3 and T1, although focusing more on the goals with the education when he/she claims, “Well, I think the biggest difference as I mentioned, model texts always, a frame for students to follow and they always have a very clear goal for them to achieve because it shows I want to write in this way.” T2 has a similar thought as the other participants when he/she describes, “In this case it is really positive because I think they widen the perspective by seeing what others have written, and also the stronger students they, they can see, this is the model, but they might not do the same with it, but they still got inspiration.”
The interviewed teachers agree that the students are benefited from receiving hands-on examples of how to use grammatical rules and writing strategies when being provided with a model text. T3 says, “Uh, you know, sometimes I put a lot of effort into writing
individual comments, but the students who need them the most, I mean very common that they don’t understand it, it’s easier for them to, get an example, this is how it should be done rather than, you know, grammatical terms such as subject verb agreement and things like that they don’t really understand.” T2 has a similar idea as T3 when he/she claims, “One aspect is the use of cohesive devices or linking words because when they see how they are used in the context, they also get inspiration to be braver and use them themselves, which actually improves the quality very much.” T1 has a similar approach which can be witnessed when he/she describes, “Well the main benefit from the model could be that you can see these connectors, linking words that make the whole text fit together, then you can see a very strict structure, like we divide paragraphs into ideas.” T4 has a different approach when he/she says, “Well, I think the best thing is that the students will be aware of, using formal language when you are going to write, when the model text, then they should realize that this is not, you know, not the informal language we are going to use daily, not like spoken language.” These paragraphs show that the interviewed teachers see many benefits with the writing from models pedagogy.
4.9 Drawbacks with writing from models
Some of the interviewed teachers agreed on that the drawback of with writing from models was that the students copy instead of imitating the model text, although one teacher thought of the limitations of model text as a drawback. T1 claims, “That a student for example instead they
just copy, and just write exactly the same thing, the idea is that you don’t have to write exactly the same word or using the same structure, you have to be creative, you have to be yourself, that’s the main problem that instead of imitating, and be inspired, they just copy.” T2 has a similar idea as T1 when he/she says, “Yes, it could actually, sometimes, because sometimes, they come from an environment where copying and pasting have been allowed and yes, we had some cases last year with getting really sad for being caught, having copied too much, so I think it’s important to really inform them about that, that it’s totally wrong and it can never be
accepted and so on.” T3 both has a similar and different approach to copying which is clear when he/she describes, “I mean they, they can’t go on copying all this eternity, so I mean this must lead to them being able to write from scratch as well.” And he/she continues, “I guess it could be boring if you do it all the time, variety is always crucial.” T4 has another different approach to the other participants when he/she says, “Well, I think the only drawback in terms of writing development is limited property, creativity I would say because you from the beginning students will get a structure like this, like frame. We need to write it this way and from this way so probably, it will limit their creativity.” This paragraph describes what drawbacks writing from models have according to the interviewed teachers.
4.10 Different approaches to written instruction
The teacher had different approaches to written instruction when not using writing from models, although they all chose ways that enable their students to write independently. T3 claims, “Um, I mean, I think I, I tried to make it individual, so when [my students] write a text and I correct it, pinpoint things that, they need to work with, and I try to give them like links to exercises where they can practice this.” T3 discusses the differences between the approaches when he/she says, “I think you need a mix [of written instruction], to be honest, I mean when you have a class of thirty students, I guess that you mainly need to rely on this model way of working because you don’t have that much time to be individual.” T1 has a similar idea as T3 when he/she describes, “A strategy that could be connected with correcting, everytime for example when I get a text, I mark in a different way, I make some comments like, spelling, grammar, vocab, variation, and I give back the text to the students and they have to correct these mistakes, write again and then send back to me.” T1 continues and says, “I think they have to consider, that writing is not something that is finished, it is something that always is improving, getting better, not even me, not even a teacher writes perfectly, you have to practice a lot, write a lot, before, you have to read a lot.” T2 takes a different approach when he/she says, “Yeah, in a way everything but, but I think since I always include writing in what we are doing. It’s very much comes back to the
models actually.” Although, T2 discusses another approach to written instruction when he/she says, “Well, sometimes, [my students] are actually, because it in a way, it sometimes, it could maybe give them a freer approach to what they write, then when you don’t look at a model first and, because sometimes you just want them to, to act and right spontaneously then.” T4 takes another different approach from the other participants when he/she argues, “Well, good
question, I have never thought of if I use any strategies, I am, I’m not sure, but one thing I want to try is you know STEM, The STEM, a strategy which is quite popular in the UK and for many years, where they connect language learning and science together.” This paragraph describes what other types of written instruction the interviewed teachers can use in their teaching.
5. Discussion
5.1 Discussion of the results from the interviews
According to the results of the interviews, the teachers’ perceptions of writings from models which is a part of the genre pedagogy, and the mentor texts approach show that they believe that this approach cause a significant improvement on students’ writing in upper-secondary school. The thesis statement of this study is that teachers' perceptions on using a writing from models pedagogy has a positive effect on their students writing ability. In short, results from the interviews shows that these four teachers believe that the structure of a model text provides students with the benefits to structure their writing accordingly.
The strengths that model texts provide enable students to develop a sense of the structure in texts and therefore, produce creative written English. The results of the interviews show that the teachers interviewed believe that providing students with a model text can assist students to develop their written ability. The teachers can use the text as a compliment for written instruction to give their students the knowledge of how to structure their texts, with an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The teachers also perceive the possibility to provide their students with well-written examples of an essay, which can be written by both established authors and former students. Although the interviewed teachers were divided on the issue of limitations of creativity when using a model text. Some of the interviewed teachers believed that when students are provided a model text, they can develop their writing inside a frame. The teachers in the study agreed that writing from models can limit their students’ possibility to explore other written approaches than the one in the model. However, two of the teachers interviewed expressed an importance for their students’ development in the frame of model texts. This approach can allow student to develop their written ability further.
The interview results show that the teachers believe that having a model text can assist students who have difficulties writing to develop their writing abilities. The teachers agree that when these students are given a frame for writing, they will more effectively develop their writing abilities. The interviewed teachers perceive that their students can benefit from
understanding why and how authors use different structures. The teachers agree that one of the benefits of the writing from models pedagogy include challenging both students who are further advanced and students that have difficulties in writing. The participants explain that even if their students are already further developed to write according to the model, they can find other challenges from the model texts. More specifically, the teachers believe that students benefit from seeing how the author of the model text can use grammatical terms as subject-verb agreement or cohesive devices. The participants claim that seeing models of how to use linking words enables the students to see how the author makes the whole text fit together.
Constructing a lesson using writing from models allows the teachers to provide their students with clear instruction and effective writing tasks. The study participants had differences in their perceptions of how a lesson could be planned using the writing from models pedagogy. Some of the teachers claimed that they preferred to use the model texts for written instruction, and others preferred to instruct the students individually and encourage them to write after the oral instructions. One of the teachers explains that they can use videos or songs to introduce a subject and involve the students in a written session about the presented subject. The interviewed teachers tend to agree on how tasks can be planned to use the writing from models pedagogy. The study participants had in common that they thought the task should begin with the students reading the model text. After reading and receiving a sense of the structure of the texts, the students will then use this text as a model for their writing session. Some teachers also provided the idea that the students could benefit from creating a mind-map of the model and their own text before writing their individual text.
Using authentic materials in writing from models pedagogy benefits the student’s confidence in their writing although, the manipulated texts provide the possibility for a good model written acquisition. The interviews can be represented by the following quotation from T1: “The more authentic, the better, but I have nothing against manipulated texts, I think they are very good, and if the purpose is to learn, why not? Nothing wrong with manipulated texts.” The citation show that the teachers interviewed believe that authentic models is beneficial for their students. The results also show that the study participants believe that the course
books/manipulated texts are created to be authentic and can be helpful as a model for the students’ writing.
The students can limit their development in writing by the constraint of the model text. Learners can also be limited by copying the model text instead of imitating it. The results of the interviews with the participants show that the teachers interviewed are afraid that some of their students do not use the model text for the right reasons. The teachers feel that some of their students use the model texts to copy and do not acquire a developed ability to communicate successfully in the written language. Although the teachers agree that all students do not necessarily copy the model text with the intention to cheat, the students do not understand how to imitate effectively. The teachers have different views on the drawback of being restricted from the model text the teachers provide. Some teachers believe that one drawback of the writing from models is that students can become restricted. The interviewed teachers were afraid that being restrained to a model can limit students’ ability to write successfully. Being provided with a model text can give the students a frame for their writing. This approach can enable the students to develop their writing ability.
Different approaches to writing instruction can be too time-consuming, although with the benefit of enable students to write independently. The interviews show that the teachers tend to use process pedagogy when they are not providing their students with a model text. The study participants believe that their students practice their writing when creating a draft and discuss possible revisions with their teachers. The teachers in the study feel that writing is seen as a process, meaning that writing is not concluded after the first draft. The teachers believe that seeing writing as a process is helpful for the students’ written acquisition. However, the
interviewed teachers provide the information that they feel that the process pedagogy can be very time consuming and that it is hard to find time for it in upper-secondary school. The interviewed teachers are welcoming the use of writing from models pedagogy because of the ability to assist more students simultaneously. Some teachers can also encourage their students to write without models because it enables them to express themselves more freely in their writing. All teachers believe that the process pedagogy and writing independently can be mixed with the writing from models pedagogy.
The interviewed teachers’ perceptions of strength with the writing from models pedagogy agree with the research in genre pedagogy. The results from the interview show that the teachers believe that their students can benefit from writing according to a model text, and they can develop their writing inside this frame. Some of the teachers believe that their students can be neglected to plan their writing when using model texts. Hyland (2003) recommends that in the early parts of the written process, teachers can discuss the model text they have provided for their students. The author explains that after the students feel secure with writing according
to a model text, they can explore written texts individually. The interviews also show that the teachers believe that they can provide their students with examples of successfully written texts from established authors. The interviewed teachers feel that being provided with a successfully written model text can develop students writing accordingly. Ramos (2015) points out that the students can develop their ability to commit fewer mistakes in their writing by being provided with the knowledge of a suitable language. Further, being provided with a suitable language can also enable students to make individual choices when writing.
The research of genre pedagogy aligns with the teachers’ perceptions of benefits with writing from models approach. The results from the interviews show that the interviewed teachers believe that a writing from models pedagogy can benefit both the further and less advanced students to develop a further knowledge of their writing ability. The teachers believe that their students can benefit from being provided with a frame from the model text, as they can more effectively develop their written abilities. Hyland (2007) argues that students can benefit from understanding the characteristics of different texts as it can enable learners to develop knowledge for how to communicate successfully in the written language. The result from the interviews also specifically points out that a model text can allow further advanced writers to learn how to apply the subject-verb agreement correctly in their writing or using cohesive devices as linking words. The use of these grammatical functions enables students to see how the text fits together. Ramos (2015) points out that genre pedagogy can permit students to see texts as part of different contexts, and the learners can then practice with clear written instruction.
The use of authentic material can be associated with the answers from the interviewed teachers and the research of genre pedagogy. The interview results show that the teachers believe that their students benefit from being provided with authentic material in their education. Although, the participants believe that the course book/manipulated texts that can be found in textbooks are constructed to be authentic. The teachers believe it is important to find authentic texts on the internet, but they consider that the ones in the textbooks can be seen as effective models. Flowerdew (2010) argues that genre pedagogy can allow students to practice their written abilities in the authentic context that the approach provides. Hyland (2007) claims that teachers that use texts written in social contexts can give learners better possibilities for written acquisition because studying writing can allow learners to understand the writer’s message. Some of the interviewees believe that their students benefit from using authentic materials because it can strengthen their confidence. The students’ confidence can be raised when they can feel that they understand the authentic material provided. Hyland (2007) writes
that teachers allow their students to write texts with genres that establish a social context can facilitate learners’ development of their written communicative skills.
The teachers’ perceptions on how to construct a lesson align with the research of genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach. The interviews show that the teachers all had in common that they prefer their lessons to be introduced by a model text. After providing the students with a model text as written instruction, the students will analyze this text and then write a similar text independently. Almacioglu and Okan (2018) argue that the mentor texts approach can benefit the students’ ability to create texts and become developed writers of the English language. The interviews show that the teachers prefer to instruct their students with a model text before they write one on their own. Dollins (2020) claims that teachers have previously had difficulties creating written instruction that can develop students’ writing. The author writes that mentor texts can allow teachers to give their students instruction through texts that can make the written instruction more visible for them.
The strengths of writing from models align with the teachers’ perceptions and research of mentor texts approach. Results from interviews show that the teachers believe that a model text can help their students to become developed communicators of the written language. The teachers explain that they see the model text as a frame, and the students can thrive within this frame. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee, and Amirian (2019) argue that mentor texts can be used as a tool for students in the teaching of writing. The authors claim that mentor texts can enable students to imitate the author’s structure and choices in a text. The interviews also show that the teachers feel that it is helpful to provide their students with examples from previous exercises as model texts. The teachers feel that having this example as a model can help them understand how they should structure their texts. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee, and Amirian claim that mentor texts can be an appreciated method for encouraging students to acknowledge the structures and stylistic choices found in texts. The authors explain that when the students have received this knowledge, they can use it in their own writing.
The mentor texts approach aligns with the teachers’ perceptions on benefits of writing from models. The interviews show that the teachers believe that their students benefit from using a model text in their writing sessions. The participants describe that their students are especially benefited from being provided with a frame in which they can excel their written abilities. Although, the teacher acknowledges that their students may be restrained by the frame the model text provides. The significant improvement the students get is of importance for the teachers. Ghorbancian, Youhanaee, and Amirian claims, “Despite the remarkable versatility, mentor texts are used as a model of what the teacher wants the students to do.” (2019, p.59)
The teachers’ perceptions on benefits and drawbacks with a process pedagogy aligns with the previous knowledge of the presented pedagogical approach. The results of the interviews show that the teachers tend to use the process pedagogy as a complement for the writing from models pedagogy. The teachers’ perceptions of the process pedagogy are that they will benefit from seeing their writing as a process because they can revise their writing multiple times. The participants agree that the students can develop their written ability by revising their own texts. Hedge (2000) argues that the process approach to writing can enable students to see writing as a consistent thought process. The author writes that the teachers can benefit from providing the students with strategies for writing that they can use to revise their texts. The interviews also show that the teachers believe that the process pedagogy can be
time-consuming. Therefore, using the process pedagogy in writing might not always be possible to accomplish in upper-secondary schools in Sweden. Hedge claims, “Many teachers would argue that setting aside the time needed for feedback, and for the revision of several drafts, is
unrealistic, particularly within the constraints of the school systems, and particularly where classes are large.” (2000, p. 318)
5.2 Limitations of the study:
One of the study’s limitations is that there were difficulties in finding teachers who could participate in the interviews due to the current pandemic and the time limit of the study. Due to the current pandemic, Covid-19, teachers on the field have been working hard. Therefore, their time to participate in studies has been limited during the past year. I wanted to conduct
interviews with more teachers from upper-secondary schools in Sweden. Due to the lack of time for interviews and the pressured situation teachers are in today, I had to settle for four teachers to participate in the interview.
With four teachers who could participate in my study, the participants cannot represent the perceptions of all upper-secondary teachers in Sweden. The results of the study show that the interviewed teachers in the study believe that providing their students with model texts can benefit their students’ writing ability. As a researcher, I would like to conclude that the writing from models pedagogy through genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach is common for all upper-secondary school teachers. With only four teachers that participated in the
interviews, the connections to the entirety of teachers in Sweden cannot be drawn. With more time and resources for the study, more teachers from upper-secondary schools in Sweden can be interviewed. However, it is important to explain that to interview the amount of
5.3 Suggestions for further research
As a suggestion for further research, it could be worth examining teachers’ experiences and perceptions’ on using models from English classics. My study has been examining teachers’ perceptions of genre pedagogy and the mentor texts approach through the writing from models pedagogy. The interview results show that the teachers see the writing from models pedagogy as a tool for the students to develop a sense of how to structure their texts effectively. They can learn how to write according to the structure of introduction, body one, body two, body three, and conclusion from the model texts. Although, one research area that I feel would be
interesting to examine is the teachers’ perceptions on using works from established writers of English classics. What are the teachers’ perceptions of what developments their students receive from these models? Are these developments different from using model texts? Can the students produce even further developed written texts? This would be a step further from my research and therefore interesting to examine further.
Style pedagogy is an approach to written acquisition that the interviewed teachers were not acquainted with and it would be interesting to further educate teachers in this approach and then examine their perceptions of its use in upper-secondary school. From the beginning, this study was made to examine teachers’ perceptions of style and genre pedagogy. Before the interviews, however, I noticed that style pedagogy is not an approach that teachers in upper-secondary school today are familiar with. With more resources and time, research of teachers’ perceptions of using style pedagogy for written acquisition can be manageable. The need of increased for resources and time would be that it could be beneficial to conduct workshops where the teachers receive knowledge of the style pedagogy. Afterward, the teachers can try this pedagogy in their classrooms. I believe that researching an author’s stylistic choices would be significant for future research.
6. Conclusion
According to theory and research in the field, genre pedagogy and mentor texts encourage students to imitate a model that will provide a frame for effective communication. Analyzing the model text will enable students to create an individual idea of how the author structures and use the language in the text. The students can accordingly use a similar structure and language use in their own writing, which in return can help them become experienced writers. This study has shown that teachers agree with theory and research in the field. The teachers interviewed in
this study perceive genre pedagogy and mentor texts has an effective way to promote writing development and communicative ability in the context of L2 language learning.
The interviewed teachers’ perceptions of genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach is that it can enable learners to develop their ability to communicate in the English written language. The discussion section of this essay shows that the both the teachers
interviewed, and the prior literature and research of genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach align. Teachers and the literature align that imitating a model text’s structure can simplify students attempts to structure their own texts. The results show that the interviewed teachers tend to use argumentative texts as written tasks for their students. The interviewed teachers show a tendency to focus on models with a clear introduction, several body paragraphs and a conclusion. The teachers interviewed and the literature and research of genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach show that model texts can help the students to understand how to structure their texts accordingly. The students can also develop an understanding of what characterizes the different paragraphs.
The teachers interviewed perceptions on benefits with the writing from models pedagogy align with the literature and research of genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach. The teachers and research show that the genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach allow learner to develop their writing skills. The discussion section shows that both the teachers interviewed and the research claim that students can develop their written ability when being provided with a model text. The interviewed teachers argue that the use of model texts can be beneficial for both further developed and struggling students. The teachers interviewed also claim that the further advanced students can analyze the model texts even further, which the teachers mean can enable them to imitate more advanced choices an author makes in their writing. Further, the teachers argue that the struggling students will feel secure and get hands-on instruction on how to structure their texts.
The interviewed teachers believe that their students’ written progression will benefit from a well-written and clearly structured model text. The teachers interviewed and the research from genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach align when arguing that a structured text can benefit students because they need to understand the structure of texts to develop their writing. The interviewed teachers believe that using this method can help their novice and advanced students to understand the texts’ characteristics. The teachers interviewed suggest that when student receive the opportunity to understand the characteristics of different texts, the students can develop a sense of what they should write in different contexts. The interviewed teachers argue that their students can then develop their writing to become successful.
The interviewed teachers will not neglect their students the opportunity to
advance their writing ability by providing a frame to write in, and the model text will rather give them a frame to succeed in. The results from the study show that the teachers were fond of providing their students with a model text, although they were worried that it would limit their writing development. My opinion is that teachers in the English subject should not be afraid to provide their student with a frame, even if it can limit their potential to written independently. Both my suggestion and the interviewed teachers argue that the students can receive a further developed knowledge of how to structure their texts and use the language. The interviewed teachers suggest that the student can communicate successfully in the English written language.
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