The Contribution of Gene Theory to Theme-based EAP: Navigation Foreign Fiords

Abstract

In this article social constructionist genre theory is utilized to illuminate several issues of debate in theme-based EAP pedagogy, including program goals, course design, and course content. Genre theory shows us that genre mastery requires a student to become enculturated into the community and its values, and that criteria for mastery of a genre are community-determined. It is argued, then, that EAP instructors cannot hope to teach students the specific skills they will require for all their future content courses. What they can do is to give students strategies that will enable them more easily to enter and thus determine the expectations of, any community. Certain genre theorists propose that to give students strategies involves leading them through the processes of acquiring a genre in an authentic social community such as exists in content courses, and this article attempts to show that theme-based pedagogy may be failing to do this in several regards.