CALCE DE PLAZOS MONEDA NACIONAL Y EXTRANJERA Cifras en Miles de Colones
POSICION NETA EN MONEDA EXTRANJERA Cifras en Miles de Dólares
Johns (2002) has proposed, and analysed thoroughly, two frameworks or approaches. These approaches, which can be used in teaching genre in secondary school, are the contextual framework and the general framework. This means that learners have to be explicitly inducted into genres of power so that they can be well equipped and skilled for future. Johns maintains that these two frameworks have been proved to be of great assistance, especially to those learners that have a non-English speaking background.
2.3.1 The contextual framework for teaching literacy across the curriculum
The general assumption of the contextual framework according to Johns (2002) is that there is a principled and a mutually determining relationship between language use and its social environment. This view takes us back to the reconceptualized meaning of genre, as it also referred to the social context of genre, and this implies that there is a connection between the social context or the environment and the text meaning or language use. It is because of the above phenomenon that Halliday and Hasan (1985), as quoted by Johns (2002), term this relationship as “the context of situation”. Johns further emphasizes the importance of the three contextual variables of register, that is, the field, tenor, and mode as determiners of the text meaning and its context.
Johns postulates that the contextual framework introduces a schematic structure, which forms guidance in the teaching of written genres across the secondary curriculum. Some of the stages or elements presented in this structure are obligatory while other stages are optional:
2.3.1.1 The recount
The social purpose: The recount retells events for the purpose of informing or entertaining. The social location: Personal letters, and History
Description of stages: Orientation, Record of events, Re-orientation (optional)
2.3.1.2 The explanation
in a process.
Social location: Textbooks, nature and environmental sources Description of stages:
General statement (information about the phenomena to be explained) Implication sequence (steps and logical sequence of the phenomena)
2.3.1.3 The exposition
The social purpose: Argues and gives reasons for a particular point of view on an issue. Social location: School essays, History, English, Political debates
Description of stages:
Thesis (proposes a view point on a topic)
Position/Preview (position or argument is stated) Arguments (elaboration and assertion of argument) Reiteration (conclusion)
2.3.1.4 The discussion
The social purpose: Discusses an issue and provides more than one point of view. Social location: Essays, panel discussions, research summaries
Description of stages:
Issues (information about issues)
Argument for and against (similarities, differences or advantages and disadvantages) Conclusion (final position on the issue)
2.3.1.5 The Narrative
Social purpose: Entertains, instructs via reflection on experience. It also deals with individual problems by resolving them for better or worse.
Social location: Literature-languages
Description of stages, this description reflects Labov’s framework of narrative analysis: Orientation (information about character’s situation)
Complication (introduction of character’s problems to solve)
Evaluation (highlights the significance of the events for characters) Resolution (the sorting out of problems)
Coda (optional)
The above framework of various genres can also be supplemented with the model explanation framework, which has three stages:
General statement (Information about the phenomenon) Implication sequence (Logic sequence of steps)
State (Conclusion)
Johns emphasizes that all these stages enable the teachers to be explicit about the semantic requirements and demands of any writing tasks given.
2.3.2 The general framework for teaching literacy across curriculum
The general framework posited by Johns has four variables or stages and is referred to as “critical aspects of context”. Each stage of the text is said to be achieving towards the overall social purpose of the participants.
The first stage is genre (why?): At this stage different genres are used in order to get things done through the language use.
The second stage is the field (What?): It reflects the social activity or what is going on in the society.
The third stage is the tenor (Who?): It refers to the participants in the communication activity/event.
The fourth stage is the mode (How?): It refers to the way the language is used, that is, whether it is used orally or in a written.
By following the above variables teachers or assessors will be able to assess the products of the learner's learning by controlling the structure of the genre, their knowledge of the field of study, the adoption of the appropriate tenor, and their command of the language in both the written and oral form.
Johns claims that the other proposed framework of teaching genre is a three-fold teaching learning cycle. The basic assumption of this approach is that language is learnt through guidance and interaction. There is no right way of teaching-learning activities and as a result it is recommended that teachers have to provide their utmost assistance to the learners at their early stages and gradually shift responsibility.
Modelling: the teacher provides learners at this stage with models, context, social purpose, and distinctive features of the text.
Joint Negotiation: at this stage the teacher and the learners work jointly in the composition the text and its structure.
Independent Construction of Text: at this stage learners are working on their own using process as such drafting, conferencing, editing, and publishing.
In conclusion the above discussion of genre frameworks and the work of one researcher, Margaret, has explored approaches to the teaching of genre. In her case study Margaret presented her piloting research from the point of view of the planning, teaching, reflection, and assessment strategies. She emphasized the four stages of the general framework, the genre, the field, tenor, and the mode. She clearly stated the objectives that she wanted to achieve, namely after she has taught the explanatory genre that the students should be able to:
Use the explanation genre effectively.
Explain the key terms related to the explanatory genre.
These objectives indicate the importance of the role of the teacher in guiding and in equipping the learners with analytic and critical skills acquired in the process of the application of the genre approach.