Explicit instruction in an EFL writing class: A process-genre perspective

The present study examined the role of explicit writing instruction in an EFL college writing class from the perspective of a process-genre approach to teaching. To evaluate the effect of explicit instruction on writing improvement, a writing rubric was used, which measured the five areas of writing development such as ‘Purpose’, ‘Organization’, ‘Elaboration’, ‘Voice’, and ‘Grammar. L2 writing proficiency was used as a unit of analysis to evaluate writing development. Specifically, the students in two proficiency groups were required to perform the set of genre-writing tasks, Narrative and Argumentative essays, under pre-test and post-test conditions. The results showed that explicit instruction under the process-genre approach helped to improve students’ writing skills, but the relative effects differed according to L2 writing proficiency. More specifically, the more proficiency group showed the improvement in the four areas of the rubric measures except for ‘Grammar.’ On the other hand, the less proficiency group experienced the improvement only in two rubric measures, or ‘Organization’ and ‘Purpose.’ This indicates the important role of L2 writing proficiency in incorporating a process-genre approach into traditional writing classrooms. This paper argues that L2 proficiency should be considered an essential part of teaching practices under the process-genre approach to writing.