Multimodal Genre Systems in EAP Writing Pedagogy: Reflecting on a Needs Analysis

Abstract

This article reports on a genre-based needs analysis for a graduate course in English for academic purposes (EAP) at a large public U.S. university. In particular, it describes the theoretical reconceptualizations of genre analysis that the data provoked. Using ethnographic methods, an investigation of academic genres in several classrooms in three academic disciplines (civil and environmental engineering, architecture, and music) found three complexities that challenged the original premises of the needs analysis: (a) that academic genres existed in genre sets and systems that involved process and pedagogical genres as well as genres of disciplinary or academic presentation; (b) that genres were routinely multimodal in process and form; and (c) that the discursive character of particular texts was routinely quite hybrid. This article discusses and illustrates each of these findings and argues for understanding them as dimensions of multimodal genre systems.

Embedding Digital Literacies in English Language Teaching: Students' Digital Video Projects as Multimodal Ensembles

“…Broadening the curriculum to focus on multimodality would cater to the needs of second or foreign language learners, who are increasingly involved in the consumption and production of multimodal texts such as web pages. More particularly, engaging with multimodal representations of science in the academic context has the potential to encourage reflection on the use of image and other modes as an essential part of scientific communication, a highly multimodal activity (Molle & Prior, ; Tardy, ).…”

Dissertation grant proposals as “writing games”: An exploratory study of two L2 graduate students' experiences

“…Relevant to this study is the latter approach focusing on writers' interactions with the same genre across contexts influenced by individual goals, values, and attitudes (e.g., Myers, 1985Myers, , 1990Strickland, 2008;Tardy, 2003Tardy, , 2011. From this perspective, the genre of grant proposals becomes fluid, complex, and multimodal (Molle & Prior, 2008). Different approaches, such as case studies and ethnographies, have been used to study genres by drawing connections among the textual, social, and political dimensions of writing.…”

A Cross-Cultural Study of Some Selected Ghanaian and Foreign Recipes

“…In this sense, genres connote more than typical forms of utterances; they are recurrent, situated, and social actions that constantly evolve in response to situated contexts (Miller, 1984). Genres that have been investigated using from the American tradition of genre include scientific research reports (Bazerman, 1988), documents produced by tax accountants (Devitt, 1991), texts produced at a central bank in Canada (Smart, 1993), student and professional writing in finance (Freedman, Adam, & Smart, 1994), and writing assignments at university (Molle & Prior, 2008).…”