Systemic Functional Linguistic Genre Pedagogy (Sfl Gp) in a Tertiary Efl Writing Context in Indonesia

Abstract

This article reports on the results of a study aiming to investigate whether systemic functional linguistic genre pedagogy (SFL GP) can help students develop their writing ability in English and the students' opinions about the teaching program using SFL GP. The study was conducted in one semester with 19 student teachers taking a writing course on argumentative texts, in the English Department at a state university in West Java, Indonesia. The texts in focus were Exposition, Discussion and Response to Literary Works, but in the interests of space, the article will centre around Exposition. The study used a qualitative case study research design with data collected from participant observations for 16 meetings, analysis of students' texts collected over the program, and questionnaires distributed at the conclusion of the program. The results indicate that despite some aspects that still need improvement, SFL GP can generally help students develop their writing ability. Observation data show students' writing skill improvement supported by students' texts which depicts good control of the schematic structure and linguistic features of the texts in focus. Finally, questionnaire data reveal students' consciousness of improved writing skill and positive responses to each activity in the program. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that SFL GP be implemented in other contexts in Indonesia and other countries.

A Joint Construction Practice in an Academic Writing Course in an Indonesian University Context

“…Grammatical mistakes and improper lexical choices were identified but they did not interfere with the purpose of the text. This finding is in line with several previous research on a genre-based approach in teaching academic writing and CT to tertiary EFL students in Indonesia (Emilia, 2005;Emilia & Hamied, 2015). Moreover, the finding also shows that explicit teaching and group discussion were not in maximum performance.…”

“…It describes the language used in interaction with the reader realized by mood system (Thompson, 2014). The text mainly uses declarative mood in elaborating arguments of the issue under discussion (see Emilia & Hamied, 2015). Then, the text employed epistemic modality and deontic modality.…”

Text-Based Learning (Tbl) to Activate Adult Efl Learners in Learning English: A Narrative Inquiry

“…Teaching writing using comic strips through Process-Genre Based Approach (PGBA), for example, is proved to be able to successfully improve students' ability in writing if the stories used are appropriate with the EFL learners and the teacher's guidance during the writing process is sufficient (Megawati & Anugerahwati, 2012). Student teachers' writing ability in English can be developed by using Systemic Functional Linguistic Genre Pedagogy (SFL GP) (Emilia & Hamied, 2015).…”

“…Teaching writing using comic strips through Process-Genre Based Approach (PGBA), for example, is proved to be able to successfully improve students' ability in writing if the stories used are appropriate with the EFL learners and the teacher's guidance during the writing process is sufficient (Megawati & Anugerahwati, 2012). Student teachers' writing ability in English can be developed by using Systemic Functional Linguistic Genre Pedagogy (SFL GP) (Emilia & Hamied, 2015).There is also a study demonstrating the successful learners of Senior High School in their writing skill that was identified by having used more learning strategies than the ones who are not successful (Mistar et.al.,2014). However, those research reports which demonstrate successful stories of EFL instruction only occurs in some certain contexts of teaching and learning English.…”

An Examination of Written Genres in English Language Textbooks in Japan

“…Since Jim Martin and his colleagues (see e.g., Martin, 1980;Martin & Rothery, 1981;Rothery, 1980) investigated genres of texts for students in kindergarten, primary, and secondary schools in Australia from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) (see e.g., Halliday, 1994), many researchers have explored genres in academic settings (e.g., Christie & Derewianka, 2008;Humphrey et al, 2012;Martin & Rose, 2008;Woodward-Kron, 2002). Many previous studies show that the synergy of genre and L2 writing instruction contributes to an improvement in the English writing proficiency of L2 learners (see e.g., Bunch & Willett, 2013;de Oliveira & Lan, 2014;Emilia & Hamied, 2015;Harman, 2013). In the Japanese context, for example, Yasuda (2011) reports that a genre-based writing course in a Japanese university enhanced the learners' awareness of genre variations and improved their English writing proficiency.…”