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Speaking and writing skills are particularly important for learners to learn English language. In Hong Kong, genre-based language teaching is used to educate students from P1 to S6 the different natures of genre, and it helps students for acquiring the speaking and writing skills in English. The purpose of the text will be taught throughout Key Stages 1-4 (KS1 – KS4) in Hong Kong (Curriculum Development Council, 2017). On a contrary, the People’s Republic of China has a different curriculum for English language teaching and it is in its quality education period, which from 2001 onwards, English is offered from Grade 3 (relevant to primary three in Hong Kong) to the end of the senior high school (Gu, 2012). The curriculum opens to less subjective interpretation and includes with cultural understandings, language knowledge, affective attitudes, learning strategies, and linguistic skills (Wang, 2007). The teaching of genre in an educational contexts with implications of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) will be discussed in the following. Genre-based language teaching enables students to expose themselves in texts and discourses, and gradually beneficial their written and spoken interactions (Paltridge, 2006). It also provides the students insights of the cultural and social purposes the specific genre serves (Gee, 1996). It is different from the other models as it is an acquisition of rules for exploiting them for a professional purpose (Bhatia, 1999). It gathers language, contexts, and content together, which allows teaching to offer a systematic explanations of writing and communicative skills (Martin, 1997) and it is systematic, explicit, needs-based, supportive, critical, consciousness-raising, and empowering (Hyland, 2004). Regarding concerns of genre-based language teaching, it should not be used alone but along with other models which serve the purpose of an exposure of resources for students to adopt, as it produces resources for students to express and communicate (Paltridge, 2006). The roles of the teachers are particularly important, they have to know methods for bringing up the students’ ideas into the specific genres (Swales, 2000). Some teachers might not understand that it determines the schematic structure with culture and functions instead of being random (Painter, 2001). Moreover, genres are sometimes unpredictable, teachers therefore should select the positive and appropriate components for teaching purposes (Devitt, 1997). Creativity is grained but not constrained in genre-based language teaching. It is built on top of the generic patterns that are already with the learners. Also, everybody learns any language skills for a new purpose adopts new genres, and it will extend the language usage skills (Painter, 2001). When teaching expository texts to EFL learners through reading-writing integration, it is better for the students to expose in a wide range of texts that are carefully selected by the teachers, in order to motivate students in writing by expressing their personal experiences and cultural knowledge of their own. The genre-based language teaching is particularly suitable for beginner and intermediate and is good for increasing the complexity and linguistic demands of the students, as the sample texts give them insights and a framework of the genres (Paltridge, 2006). In conclusion, to develop genre competence for ESL/EFL learners, real-life activities and texts of genres should be brought up by the teachers arising the cultural and social skills along with the communicative, writing, speaking, reading skills and creativity. It is particularly important for students to be motivated during the learning process which genre-base language teaching helps. References Bhatia, V. K. (1999). Integrating products, processes, and participants in professional writing. In C.N. Candlin & K. Hyland (Eds.), Writing: Texts, processes and practices (pp. 21-29). London: Longman. Curriculum Development Council. (2017). English language education: Key learning area curriculum guide (primary 1 – secondary 6). Hong Kong: Government Logistics Department. Retrieved https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/Curriculum Document/ELE KLACG_2017.pdf Devitt, A. (1997). Genre as language standard. In W. Bishop & H. Ostrom (Eds.), Genre and Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. Gee, J. P. (1996). Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses. London: Taylor and Francis. Gu. (2012). English Curriculum and Assessment for Basic Education in China. Multilingual Education. Retrieved https://www.academia.edu/27718874/English_Curriculum_and_Assessment_for_Basic_Education_in_China Hyland, K. (2004). Genre and second language writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Martin, J.R. (1997). Analysing genre: functional parameters. In F. Christie and J.R. Martin, Genre and Institutions: Social Processess in the Workplace and School. Continuum Studies in Language and Education, 3-39. Painter, C. (2001). Understanding genre and register: Implications for language teaching. In A. Burns & C. Coffin (Eds.), Analysing English in a global context (pp. 167-180). London: Routledge. Paltridge, B. (2006). Discourse analysis. London: Continuum. Swales, J. (2000). Languages for specific purposes. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 20, 59-76. Wang, Q. (2007). The national curriculum changes and their effects on English language teaching in the People’s Republic of China. J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp. 87 – 105). New York: Springer.
