Writing a For and Against Essay: Genre-Based Classroom Materials

Impresiones FL de Natalia Rondini

Lugar: Córdoba; Año: 2019 p. 123

978-987-1976-85-0

This handbook is the first of a series of genre-based materials published in close coordination between the Chairs of English Language III and IV. It is an attempt to provide students of English Language III with the necessary theoretical background and practice material for developing the writing skill. The handbook is divided into two main sections: PART A and PART B so that students can acquire generic knowledge in an organised way. PART A: Writing a For and Against Essay provides the theoretical framework to start working on this genre. PART B: The Teaching-Learning Cycle in Practice provides an introduction to Genre Theory, an explanation of the Cycle and practice activities. These activities are based on the cycle of teaching and learning: building the social context, modelling, joint construction, independent construction and linking related texts (Feez, 1998) and have been designed for English Language III students. This class completes two syllabus units during the first term: THE POWERS OF LANGUAGE AND THE THREATS TO ITS INTEGRITY and LIFE IN SOCIETY. FACING THE CHALLENGES OF CONFLICTS AND DILEMMAS, which, together with the units completed in the second term: LIFE IN SOCIETY. THE PERILS OF STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICES, THE AMAZING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE HUMAN MIND AND THE BODY and THE VALUE OF MUSIC AND PAINTING FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES provide the basis for work on the genre for and against essay. The aim of this material is for students to:?Develop content knowledge: an understanding of the topics dealt with in each of the units.?Develop context knowledge: knowledge of the social context in which the for and against essay is written and read (its purpose, audience, roles and relationships of readers and writers, and register). ?Develop genre knowledge: an understanding of the generic structure of the argumentative essay from multiple source texts and its lexico-grammatical features. We hope that this handbook can help students develop their writing skills successfully and can provide the basis for work on the genres required in the future language courses they take.Note: Most of the sample for and against essays and extracts included in this material have been selected and/or adapted from students' homework assignments and answers to term test and final exam questions.