Genre and Second Language Writing

The last 20 years have seen increasing interest in the idea of genre and how it can be applied in second language writing classrooms. Because genres represent how writers typically use language to respond to recurring situations, they are a key resource for L2 writers unfamiliar with the conventions other members of the community recognize and find convincing. In the classroom, teachers are asked to identify the genres students will have to write and then make the typical structures and key features of these genres explicit to students so they can communicate effectively. In this entry I provide a brief overview of different views of genre and what they mean for teachers of L2 writing.