ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how children learn about language through writing. The language that children learn to read and write in school may not always be the same language of their aural repertoire. Written texts in English have uniquely defining features that differ from other written language systems, for example, Arabic and Chinese characters. Genre analysis has a long-standing tradition in English as a Foreign Language (EFL), especially in English for Special Purposes (ESP). EFL teaching has been interested in genre as a tool for analysing and teaching the spoken and written language required of EFL users, especially in academic and professional settings, thus the emphasis in the area of ESP. The chapter suggests that a genre based approach to teaching literacy provides a compromise between the product–process divide. Writing linguistically appropriate texts is central to school success and educational knowledge.
