English Teaching

ELT365 · Day 201 — Genre Awareness: What the Text Type Demands

📚60-Day ELT Masterclass — This post is part of an ongoing series. View full index →

Idea — Different genres carry different expectations for structure, register, and purpose. Teaching learners to read genre before writing it reduces the “wrong shape” problem in exam and professional writing.

Example — A formal complaint letter and an informal email about the same problem use different openings, vocabulary, and tone — same facts, different genre conventions entirely.

Try — Collect three texts of the same genre (e.g. three formal emails). Ask learners to find three features they all share. Those features define the genre.

Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification.