Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education

(2019) 4:6
Asian-Pacific Journal of Second
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-019-0069-3 and Foreign Language Education

ORIGINAL ARTICLE Open Access

The SFL genre-based approach to writing

in EFL contexts
Akiko Nagao

Correspondence: nagao@world.
ryukoku.ac.jp Abstract
Ryukoku University, 67
Tsukamoto-cho, Fukakusa This research investigates the changes in English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-8577, Japan learners’ psychological attributes in relation to awareness of the lexicogrammatical
features and generic structures of a discussion genre essay. This was achieved by
implementing a genre-based approach to text-based writing lessons during a 15-
week course. The following lesson procedure was implemented: stage (1): modeling
and deconstruction of a text, stage (2): writing of target texts, stage (3): genre
analysis of peers’ essays, and stage (4): writing of an analysis reflection. The results
indicated specific improvements in genre-based writing, particularly among low-
proficiency English learners. Results suggest that their understanding of
“interpersonal meaning” such as modal verbs improved. Improvements in the use of
modal auxiliaries were also noted, in that the word “should” did not appear in pre-
writing texts; however, the frequency improved in post-writing texts, especially in the
final paragraph, which comprised the writers’ opinions and suggestions.
Keywords: English as a foreign/ second language (EFL/ ESL), English for speakers of
other languages (ESOL), Linguistics, Teacher and learner variables

Introduction
Systematic functional linguistics (SFL) is a theoretical approach that analyzes the rela-
tionship between social contexts and linguistic aspects (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014).
The core concepts of SFL are language as functional and language as meaning-making
(Halliday, 1978). The first concept refers to language attributes: understanding a lan-
guage means understanding how people use the language in context and how it is
structured for use (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). According to the second concept,
language as meaning-making, speakers and writers have a systematic choice in a par-
ticular context (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). When writing an email message to a
friend, person A chooses particular lexicogrammatical functions, which are different
from those used when the same person writes an email message to inquire about a job.
Thus, the context of a situation is related to the meaning-making choice.
The common focused features of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning in
high school classrooms in Japan among 2134 high school teachers in 2015 were read-
ing texts aloud, practicing pronunciation, and explaining the uses of lexicogrammar
(Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute, 2016). Having learners
write sentences or essays about their opinions and summarizing textbook contents
were less focused during EFL lessons at Japanese high schools (Benesse Educational
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Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 2 of 18

Research and Development Institute, 2016). One study revealed how 140 EFL learners
at a private university in Japan considered the importance of learning English: 28% of
them considered improving listening skills to be important, while 11% of them agreed
that learning how to write texts in English was important (Yamashita, 2012). Sugiura
(2017) explores the changes of 37 Japanese university students’ understanding of their
English learning styles from when they were high school students to when they became
university students through an analysis of narrative frameworks. Many of them learned
lexicogrammar of English using textbooks provided in a teacher-dominated setting in
high school, while they tended to be taught mostly through practicing verbal communi-
cation while at university (Sugiura, 2017). Their narratives, however, said far less about
the ways that they learned how to write in English. Murakoshi (2015) reported that
writing practices and activities in classrooms tended to consist of opportunities for EFL
learners to practice writing sentences and paragraphs in order to establish linguistic
knowledge. The aim of this paper is (1) to introduce an SFL-genre-based approach to
teaching methodology that reckons with the changes in EFL learners’ awareness of tar-
get genre in particular learning contexts, and (2) to explore the idea that learning how
to write consists of more than creating a cognitive network in terms of linguistic know-
ledge as it is processed by learners’ brains. Language as functional and language as
meaning-making purposes is applicable or not within the EFL classroom contexts.

Literature review
Systematic functional linguistics and genre
In SFL theory, the relational concept of linking the context of a situation with linguistic
choices is called register. Register has three features; Field, Tenor, and Mode, which are
related to the following metafunctions (see Table 1; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014;
Martin & Rose, 2008). The Field facilitates understanding of how and when people use
particular lexicogrammatical features such as mental verbs and elements of cohesion;
these are ideational metafunctions that allow us to understand what is occurring in the
text. The Tenor facilitates understanding of how and when the writer chooses particu-
lar modalities and appraisal systems; this interpersonal metafunction helps us to under-
stand the relationship between writers and readers. Finally, the Mode facilitates analysis
and understanding of the Theme and Rheme as well as cohesive devices; this textual
metafunction allows us to understand how the text is organized.

Table 1 Context of the Situation and Linguistic Features

Layers Categories
Context Field Tenor Mode
Register variables What is going on in What is the relationship between How is the text organized,
the text? writers and readers? in spoken text or written
text?
Linguistic Ideational meaning: Interpersonal learning: politeness, Textual meaning: Theme
realization in when, how, who, modality, and evaluative terms; and Rheme as well as new
metafunction where, and what attitudes, positions, and social roles and old information.
Lexicogrammatical Vocabulary, Mood, modalities Theme; this, it, and that
features grammar, and tense
Note. Information in the table is based on Halliday and Matthiessen (2014)
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 3 of 18

Genre in SFL represents the systems of social processes that constitute a culture
(Martin & White, 2005). Rose (2013, p. 209) claimed that the approach of genre has
been influenced by features: “Halliday’s (1975) theory of language regarding the social
semiotic process, Bernstein’s (1990) sociological theory, and a series of large-scale ac-
tion research projects in literacy education (Martin, 1999; Rose, 2008).” Bhatia (2004)
summarized some common features of genre studies: Genre refers to language in a
stylized communicative setting in order to allow speakers and writers to express a de-
finitive set of communicative goals of a disciplinary or social institution. Genre gives us
stable structural forms, including the use of lexicogrammatical and semiotic resources
(Bhatia, 2004).
Genre was defined differently in English for specific purposes (ESP) by Swales (1990,
p. 58), who defined the key concepts in ESP as “discourse community, communicative
purpose, and genre.” Here, genre is a category of communicative events holding some
communicative purpose. In other words, genres in ESP are understood as communica-
tive tools in the social context of the discourse community, and understanding the
functions of generic structure and lexicogrammar help us to understand the communi-
cative goals (Fakhruddin & Hassan, 2015). In sum, genres in ESP are forms of commu-
nicative action.
Martin (1984, p. 25) stated that genre in SFL is “goal-oriented and has a social activity
purpose:” writers and speakers who use the genre engage in these activities as “mem-
bers of their culture.” Eggins (2004) proposed that each genre text has a different cul-
tural purpose based on its generic structure and realizational pattern. Realization of the
relationship between (1) social purposes and (2) contexts as specific linguistic interac-
tions is the key concept in SFL (Fakhruddin & Hassan, 2015). Understanding social
purposes and contexts allows us to discern the meaning of the language and specific
social actions (Fakhruddin & Hassan, 2015).
In this study, genre is defined as types of written text that help us to understand the
relationship between the text’s social purpose and structure, which influence writers’
linguistic actions.

Previous research on the SFL genre (text)-based approach of writing in EFL contexts
Most current research on the genre-based approach (GBA) and SFL have implied im-
provement in learners’ generic structural awareness rather than in their lexicogramma-
tical meaning-making choices. Chen and Su (2012) and Feez (2002) emphasized that
the use of GBA with the teaching-learning cycle (TLC) has five stages: (1) setting of the
context, (2) modeling, (3) joint construction, (4) independent construction, and (5)
comparison. The GBA and TLC were effective in terms of learners’ summarization abil-
ity, especially their organization of the narrative genre text’s structure rather than vo-
cabulary and language use (Chen & Su, 2012; Feez, 1998; Feez, 2002). Carstens (2009)
investigated the effectiveness of using GBA with SFL grammar as the theoretical frame-
work for teaching academic writing to second-year undergraduate students of Human-
ities at the University of Pretoria. Although it is challenging for many tertiary-level
learners to acquire specific knowledge and skills to write particular academic genre
texts, genre-based writing has the capability to enhance their writing abilities. However,
very little empirical research has been conducted in this area. Carstens’ (2009) study
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 4 of 18

applied a mixed methods design using genre analysis, discourse analysis, survey of writ-
ing tasks, and pre- and posttest essay ratings. The results indicated that the following
genre types were required to write academic essays: argumentation, discussion, explan-
ation, and description genre texts (Carstens, 2009). Despite limited research, studies on
EFL writing based on SFL-GBA teaching and learning have found that learners im-
proved their understanding of the logico-semantic relationship. In Srinon’s (2011)
study, learners’ use of resources to construct a logico-semantic relationship increased;
that is, the frequency of using single-clause sentences reduced, and sentences including
hypotaxis and parataxis increased.
SFL-GBA teaching usually involves the TLC, which is a systematic approach guiding
EFL learners on how to interrelate lexicogrammatical features as well as functions and
writers’ shared experiences in the context when they write. The original TLC has three
stages: deconstruction of the target genre’s written texts, joint construction, and inde-
pendent construction (Feez, 1998; Feez, 2002). Many studies on SFL-GBA writing have
reported the benefits of applying this TLC to explore the degree to which genre-based
teaching allows learners to gain genre awareness and improve writing quality when they
write argumentative essays (Tsou & Lin, 2013). However, in their study, Tsou and Lin
(2013) found that the control group learners’ understanding of genre awareness did not
improve significantly. The concept of TLC allows EFL teachers and instructors to
utilize the scaffolding strategy. Syarifah and Gunawan (2015) observed improvement in
six EFL learners’ writing performance of a discussion genre text; in particular, the social
function, schematic structure, and language features improved because of the SFL-GBA
writing lesson. Thus, their results showed that scaffolding was embedded in the TLC.
Viriya and Wasanasomsithi (2017) used the genre approach to writing lessons while
using the TLC (Feez, 2002) for a 12-week period. The target for these learners was to
produce a genre text that was informative and persuasive. However, there was little im-
provement in the learners’ awareness of the reader-writer relationship and what they
should write about. Viriya and Wasanasomsithi (2017) concluded that these learners’
discourse community was within the classroom, and therefore they knew that their
audience, that is, the reader of the text, would only be the instructor. Therefore, aware-
ness of the reader-writer relationship did not improve significantly in the post-task. In
SFL theory, the concept of Tenor indicates the degree of formality, power, and effect
that usually influence interpersonal choices in terms of linguistics systems (Halliday,
1978, p. 143). However, this idea might have been omitted in the learning classroom
context in Viriya and Wasanasomsithi’s (2017) study.
Finally, although the majority of research on GBA teaching and learning has found
that the SFL-GBA pedagogy is useful for EFL learners, most studies have demonstrated
little understanding regarding which features of the approach are useful. Many studies
have focused on learners’ generic awareness improvement but not on the changes in
teachers’ understanding of how to teach writing using SFL and GBA. Shi (2015) applied
a qualitative case study method by analyzing interviews, classroom observations, and
students’ writing data. These students’ target genre was a discussion text. The authors
found that through the workshop training, teachers’ (1) curricular knowledge, (2) sub-
ject matter content knowledge, and (3) pedagogical content knowledge about the target
genre was improved. These teachers realized that their former approach of teaching
how to write the target genre text was too general, with insufficient details about the
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 5 of 18

generic structure. They found that genre pedagogy can provide learners with
step-by-step instructions on how to write the target text. The teachers’ content know-
ledge of the target genre text allowed them to gain subject matter content knowledge
and curriculum knowledge. These teachers believed that the modeling stage of the TLC
in particular, allowed students to gain awareness of the textual features within target
genre texts.

SFL-GBA writing research on EFL contexts in Japan

Contemporary genre research into the Japanese language has been conducted since the
1970s, focusing in particular on Japanese discourses. Therefore, the study of genre in
Japanese language using the concept of SFL as a framework is now a well-established
field of research (Thomson, de Silva Joyce, & Sano, 2017). However, EFL research on
writing using the concept of SFL in the classroom context in Japan has not yet been
fully established. The concept of SFL has recently been appreciated in EFL-based coun-
tries, and its theory and practicums have been integrated into English classes. Tatsuki
(2006) analyzed the relationship between generic structures and lexicogrammatical fea-
tures, and introduced the concept of SFL theory and practical application using genre
texts with real situations.
Cornelius and Cotsworth (2015) clearly explained possibilities for applying SFL-GBA
teaching in classroom learning contexts. Novice writers may find the conventionalities
of EFL academic writing problematic, especially for lower English proficiency learners
in the EFL classroom contexts of Japanese universities (Cornelius & Cotsworth, 2015).
Cornelius and Cotsworth found that the Australian School of Genre approach (i.e., the
TLC) can be an alternative solution that allows EFL learners to understand how the
text is composed using a holistic approach and also allows EFL teachers to teach by
explaining the target genre texts’ purpose, generic structures, and linguistic markers.
Moreover, through this GBA of learning, learners have the responsibility for the output
and their interaction (Cornelius & Cotsworth, 2015). During EFL learning in Japan,
many learners might think that the grammar function, vocabulary, and meaning of a
genre are separate aspects; however, the core concept of SFL and GBA is that “gram-
mar and vocabulary are related to the meaning of the genre and not viewed as separate
aspects” (Cornelius & Cotsworth, 2015, p. 19). It is important for EFL learners to be-
come familiar with the text’s purpose, structure, and language features by engaging in
tasks with sample texts that allow them to recognize the particular genre (Cornelius &
Cotsworth, 2015). The GBA method of learning writing benefits novice EFL learners in
Japan by ensuring the above (Cornelius & Cotsworth, 2015). In addition, EFL learners
need to be aware of the different social contexts when they engage in writing; however,
it can be challenging for EFL learners to understand these differences (Badger & White,
2000), as they affect the choice of appropriate lexicogrammar and generic structure that
are suited to the social context. For example, writing factual description texts and writ-
ing option essays use different lexicogrammatical features such as modalities. Learning
to write using the GBA can solve the above issue.
Watanabe (2016) analyzed 50 writing tasks given in university entrance examinations
in Japan. Learning of English in junior and senior high schools in Japan is highly
entrance-examination driven; in other words, learners at high schools are familiar with
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 6 of 18

how to write these particular genre texts through classroom lessons, although they do
not have sufficient exposure to other genres. Thirty EFL learners in Japan, who were in
two different proficiency groups, participated in the GBA with the SFL framework;
these learners’ understanding of tone, register, and audience awareness were improved
in the post-writing task (Yasuda, 2012).
Yasuda (2015) used SFL as the research framework to investigate the changes in EFL
learners’ generic and language features. This author identified changes in learners’ un-
derstanding of interpersonal and textual meanings through SFL-informed genre ana-
lysis tasks. Yasuda (2015) concluded that genre-specific language learning with an SFL
framework can enhance writers’ awareness of ideational, interpersonal, and textual
meanings in summary writing. One limitation of Yasuda’s (2015) study, however, was
the focus on learners with different English proficiency levels. Therefore, this study at-
tempts to examine two groups: learners with higher and lower English proficiency.

Contribution of this study

The efficacy of the approach of genre-based pedagogy (GBP) in teaching EFL academic
writing and in learners’ learning of specific genres has not been well discussed in theor-
etical and anecdotal research. Few empirical studies have been conducted to assess
whether the GBP approach benefits learners in their learning of a target genre. The use
of the GBA with the SFL framework is a relatively new method of teaching English lan-
guage writing to undergraduate university students in Japan. Therefore, this study was
conducted to answer the following research questions:

RQ 1 How does the learners’ awareness of the target genre text change in terms of
their use of generic structures and appropriate lexicogrammatical choice in the
General English for Academic Purposes writing class?

RQ 2 How do learners understand words that have interpersonal meanings, and how
do they use modal auxiliaries in writing a discussion genre essay?

Methods
Participants
The study participants comprised 27 first-year university students who belonged to two
different classrooms: 13 EFL learners (female: n = 9, male: n = 4) in the higher English
proficiency class, which is equivalent to IELTS 5.5 (upper-intermediate level) and 14
learners (female: n = 11, male: n = 3) in the lower English proficiency group, which was
equivalent to IELTS 4.0 (pre-intermediate level). The common academic goals in their
discourse community were (1) to participate in studies abroad, a university requirement
for graduation and (2) to improve their meaning-making lexicogrammatical choices
when writing academic essays such as discussion genre essays. Their English profi-
ciency and understanding of a variety of genre texts were very limited; most partici-
pants with lower English proficiency had difficulty comprehending academic writing
papers with several paragraphs. All participants were informed of the research purpose
and asked to fill in their informed consent form at an early stage in the semester, before
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 7 of 18

they participated in this research. The research purpose and preservation of participant
anonymity were explained to them whenever they participated in tasks.

Procedures
The following theories were applied as the framework in a 15-week semester sequence
of genre-based EFL instruction. The particular concept from Halliday and Matthiessen
(2014) and Martin and Rose (2008) for theoretical framework has been applied in this
reaching. The contents of tasks and activities include submaterials for each GBA les-
sons were applied from Carstens (2009), Chen and Su (2012), NSW Department of
School Education (1989). Moreover, Feez’s (2002) TLC was also applied three times
during the 15-week lesson. The target genre text for the first cycle within 4 weeks was
an “exposition (hortatory) genre text,” that for the second cycle was an “exposition
(analytical) genre text,” and the third target genre was a “discussion genre text” during
the last cycle. The fundamental lesson procedure for the TLC was as follows: (1) mod-
eling and deconstructing a text, (2) writing the target text, (3) analyzing the genres of
peers’ essays, and (4) writing the analysis reflection sheet.
In stage (1), learners had an opportunity to analyze the structure and language fea-
tures of the modeling text. After decoding the model text, learners were asked to find a
text similar to the target genre text online and then analyze it. That is, the learners
were provided a great deal of input and time to expose themselves to the target genre
in order to allow them to see how the purpose of the genre text is conveyed through
the text organization and language features (Cornelius & Cotsworth, 2015; Hammond
et al., 1992).
In stage (2), learners completed a timed writing exercise within 50 to 60 min. In stage
(3), they analyzed the target genre essay’s generic structure and language features using
peers’ essays; questions for the analysis were taken from Shi (2015). First, a move ana-
lysis was conducted for the first, second, and third paragraphs of the discussion type
essay to assess learners’ understanding of the generic structure (see Fig. 1). Second,
learners identified the frequency of the use of personal nouns and action verbs to assess
the writers’ appropriate lexicogrammatical field choices. They then analyzed the fre-
quency of word modalities, such as modal verbs and adverbs, to evaluate the appropri-
ate tenor choices. Next, the frequency of word construct conjunctions, that is,
appropriate mode choices, was assessed. The final task was to reflect on the learners’
genre analysis results.

Data sources
In phase 1, to elicit in-depth qualitative insights to answer RQ 1, 21 learners conducted
genre analysis reflection of written texts (higher-level: n = 9, lower-level: n = 12). Six
students did not complete this task, as they were absent. In stage (4) of Feez’s (2002)
TLC, immediately after the learners completed the segment analysis of their peers’ es-
says, they completed the reflection writing task using the analysis reflecting sheet,
which took approximately 40 min; this was conducted at the end of the semester.
Learners were given open-ended reflection questions on which they needed to reflect
based on their understanding of the target genre text. The questions were based on
Nagao (2017), Shi (2015, p. 263), and Yasuda (2015). The questions for the analysis
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 8 of 18

Fig. 1 An example of a learner’s discussion genre text with genre analysis from the lower English
proficiency group during stage (3) of the TLC

sheets are follows: Q1: Please summarize the features that provided new information
and knowledge through this genre analysis of a peer’s discussion essay and Q2: Please
summarize the result of the genre analysis. Discuss why the results were different from
yours.
In Phase 2, discussion type essays that learners produced at the beginning and end of
the semester as a non-instructional and instructional writing task, respectively, were ex-
plored in order to answer RQ 2: How do learners understand words that have interper-
sonal meanings, and how do they use modal auxiliaries in writing a discussion genre
essay? The writing topics were “Does the individual have the right to privacy?” for the
pre-writing task and “Should academic achievement be a primary consideration for col-
lege admission?” for the post-writing task. Twenty-one learners participated in these
tasks (higher-level: n = 9, lower-level: n = 12).
The attribution discussion genre essay was adopted from the NSW Department of
School Education’s (1989) Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools Program and Sri-
non (2011). The function of the discussion genre essay is for writers to present infor-
mation and explain arguments from both sides (for and against; pros and cons) of the
topic and issue. Based on these evidential explanations, writers introduced their own
opinions and recommendations in the final paragraph. During the post-instructional
writing task, learners had the opportunity to consider who could be an appropriate
audience for the target genre texts. The generic (schematic) structure of the discussion
genre essay comprises four paragraphs: introduce the topic and issue, write arguments
for (or against), write arguments against (or for), and write recommendations and the
writer’s opinion. The language features of the discussion genre essay are: some
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 9 of 18

vocabulary items embedded in the (1) ideational meaning (Field) such as human and
non-human participants and mental and action verbs, (2) interpersonal meaning
(Tenor) such as modal verbs and adverbs, and (3) textual meaning (Mode) such as con-
struct conjunctions.

Analyses
Phase 1—12 criteria from Burns, Joyce, and Gollin (1996) were applied to assess the
self-reflection content written to explore how learners used generic structure and lexi-
cogrammar in their essays (see Table 2). All 318 sentences (higher-level: n = 172,
lower-level: n = 146) of the learners’ self-reflection written texts were coded with the 12
criteria.
Phase 2—Pre- and post-timed writing: This study focuses on modal-makers based on
the SFL framework (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014), which is classified into two differ-
ent types: modality-type and modal semantics. The modality type is categorized into
verbal modality and nonverbal modality. In verbal modality, modal auxiliaries such as
can, may, and could, semi-modal verbs such as have to and ought to, and lexical verbs
such as allow and oblige are listed. This study analyzes the frequency of modal auxiliar-
ies. According to Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) and Halliday and Hasan (1989),
modal verbs have different degrees of certainty, probability, or obligation, and choosing
appropriate modal verbs is essential to realizing the interpersonal functions and ex-
pressing the social roles of writers and readers. Moreover, writers and speakers use
these modal verbs to reflect their attitudes such as judgment (e.g., You must know a lot
of things now.) and possibilities (e.g., I can participate in the meeting tomorrow.) toward
a situation or event, which are called values. These values are classified as high, median,
and low (Table 3). For example, one hypothesis is that a large number of modal

Table 2 Assessment Criteria

Categories Sub-categories Assessment Criteria
1 Generic Identifies sociocultural purpose of (1) To identify the purpose of the discussion essay
Structure genre
Identifies motivation of genre as (2) To describe the structure of the target genre: 1)
interpersonal or pragmatic Issue, 2) Argument for, 3) Argument against, and 4)
Conclusion
2 Makes appropriate (3) To explain general personal nouns
Lexicogrammar lexicogrammatical ideational
meaning choices (Field) (4) To write about the uses of abstract nouns
(5) To write about the uses of action verbs
(6) To write about the uses of “verbal verbs”
Makes appropriate interpersonal (7) To write about modalities
meaning choices (Tenor)
(8) To write about modality + adverbs
(9) To write these fixed phrases to express the writer’s
opinion/modality: It is possible that, I guess that, or It is
certain that
Makes appropriate textual meaning (10) To explain construct conjunctions and signposts
choices (Mode)
(11) To explain demonstrative pronouns such as that
and this
(12) To use appropriate thematic ties and referential
links to extend genre
Note. Table adapted from Burns et al. (1996, p. 94); Nagao (2018)
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 10 of 18

Table 3 Different Value Degrees of Modal Verbs

Values Modal verbs
High must, should, ought to, need to, has to, is to
Median will, would, shall
Low may, might, can, could
Note. The information is based on Halliday (1994, p. 362) and Tatsuki (2006, p. 76)

auxiliaries with high values—must, should, ought to, need to, has to, or is to—will pos-
sibly appear in the final paragraph of the discussion genre text for writers to express
their strong opinions. The other hypothesis is that the modal auxiliary, will, may appear
in the introduction paragraph of the discussion genre essay. EFL learners from the
15-week lesson used in this research were taught the different value degrees of modal
verbs (see Table 3) during stage (1) of the TLC for modeling and deconstructing a text.
First, the results of the statistical description were analyzed using the UAM corpus tool,
which facilitates linguistic annotation of text corpora. Second, the frequencies of modal
auxiliaries such as can, may, and could were identified for each paragraph of the
learners’ pre- and post-writing essays (Shi, 2015). Before writing the post-essay, learners
were taught the precise classification of the values of modal auxiliaries. Dates for the
collection of the essays (data) are provided in Table 4.

Results
Phase 1: genre analysis of peers’ reflection essay results
To answer RQ 1, the learners’ reflections on the results of the genre analysis, primarily
regarding the generic structure and language features of their peers’ essays were ex-
plored. From the reflection analysis sheets, 172 sentences from the higher English pro-
ficiency group and 146 sentences from the lower English proficiency group were
analyzed. The results of phase 1 are illustrated in Table 5. As for the result of the gen-
eric structure, more learners in the higher English proficiency group than in the lower
English proficiency group tended to present data analysis and discussion about their
outcomes (higher-level: n = 70, lower-level: n = 44). Similar results were observed for
the reflection on genre purpose (higher-level: n = 8, lower-level: n = 3). For instance, for
the generic structure analysis such as move analysis of the first paragraph for the dis-
cussion genre, one learner stated the following:

My partner’s structure in the introduction part was in this order: (1) describe the
current situation, (2) introduce the essay topic, (3) explain the background issue of
the topic, and then finally (4) provide some explanation that played a bridge function
for readers to understand what the second and third paragraphs would explain. On

Table 4 Data Collection Dates

Pre Post
Pre-non instructional timed writing essaya and post-instructional timed writing September, January,
essay 2017 2018
Self-reflection written texts: Analysis sheet January,
2018
Note. aThe pre-non instructional timed-writing essay task was conducted before the first TLC was introduced in
the classroom
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 11 of 18

Table 5 Frequency Analysis Results of Learners’ Reflection Sheets of the Genre Analysis of Peers’
Essays
Criteria Higher- Lower-
level level
1 Generic (1) To identify the purpose of the discussion essay 8 3
structure
(2) To describe the structure of the target genre: 1) Issue, 2) Argument for, 3) Argument 70 44
against, and 4) Conclusion
Total 78 (46%) 47
(32%)
2 (3) To explain general personal nouns 2 0
Lexicogrammar
(4) To write about the uses of abstract nouns 0 0
(5) To write about the uses of action verbs 0 0
(6) To write about the uses of “verbal verbs” 0 0
Total 2 (1%) 0 (0%)
(7) To write about modalities 35 23
(8) To write about modality + adverbs 12 23
(9) To write these fixed phrases to express the writer’s opinion/modality: It is possible 3 0
that, I guess that, or It is certain that
Total 50 (29%) 46
(31%)
(10) To explain construct conjunctions and signposts 14 30
(11) To explain demonstrative pronouns such as that and this 0 0
(12) To use appropriate thematic ties and referential links to extend genre 0 0
Total 14 (8%) 30
(21%)
Other features 28 (16%) 23
(16%)
Sum 172 146
Note. Numbers indicate frequency. The criteria are adapted from Burns et al. (1996) and Nagao (2018). The 12 criteria are
the same as those given in Table 2

the other hand, the first paragraph of the introduction part of my essay had the following
structure: (1) describe the background information, (2) describe the current situation, (3)
introduce the essay topic, and (4) provide some statistical data. Overall, through this
move analysis of the first paragraph, I realized that the last sentence of the paragraph
with the bridge function made it easier for me to understand the essay. (extracted from
the reflection sheet of Student no. 6 from the higher English proficiency group)

In terms of the generic structure analysis, some learners analyzed the second, third,
and final paragraphs. An example is given as follows:

In my partner’s essay, the content of the second, third, and concluding paragraphs was in
the order of (1) argument against, (2) argument for, and (3) argument against. I wrote the
same pattern. This pattern is good for readers because readers can compare the
arguments given in the second and third paragraphs and then read the content of the final
paragraph; in this case, the “argument against” is emphasized. So, I think this pattern of
writing can be effective for readers to remember what the writer wanted to say. (extracted
from the reflection sheet from Student no. 2 in the lower English proficiency group)

Regarding the results of the lexicogrammatical features for making appropriate idea-
tional meaning (Field), a few learners in the higher English proficiency group analyzed
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 12 of 18

the use of personal pronouns, while learners in the lower English proficiency group did
not mention the process (verbs). Vocabulary items related to interpersonal meaning
were analyzed by a large number of learners in both the higher- and lower-level groups.
Learners clearly showed understanding of how to write modalities such as will, can,
should, and need to, as well as how to write adverbs such as typically, absolutely, and
definitely in their reflection analysis sheets (higher-level: n = 50, lower-level: n = 46).
Appropriate lexicogrammatical features of textual meaning, especially the use of “con-
struct conjunctions” and “signposts,” received attention from EFL learners in the lower
English proficiency group (higher-level: n = 14, lower-level: n = 30). For example, Stu-
dent no. 9 in the lower English proficiency group wrote in an analysis comment, “I
think that these signposts, such as In fact and Besides, are persuasive for readers.”

Phase 2: pre non-instructional timed writing and post instructional timed writing tasks
In phase 1, in both the higher and lower English proficiency groups, the data analysis
result suggests that many learners illustrated their understanding in their reflection
sheets of how to use vocabulary items related to the interpersonal meaning of the tar-
get text, especially the use of modal verbs, will, can, should, and need to. In phase 2,
the answer to RQ 2 was explored.
In this phase, pre-instructed essays and post-instructed essays were analyzed. The
total number of words in the text was counted (higher-level: n = 1433, lower-level: n =
1017), the total number of sentences (higher-level: n = 105, lower-level: n = 88), and the
frequency of the nine modal auxiliaries in each paragraph of learners’ pre- and
post-discussion genre texts (see Table 6).
The results show that the frequency of the modal auxiliary, shall, did not change
from the pre-writing texts to post-writing texts in either the higher- or lower-level
groups. That is to say, no learner used the word shall in either their pre- or
post-writing essays. The frequency of the use of must was 2 in the pre-writing texts
and 0 in the post-writing texts. The results of these modal auxiliaries, can, will, and
should, showed a significant change from pre- to post-writing. The total frequency
(both classes) of can in the first and second paragraphs was large in the pre-writing
texts, and most appearances of can were in the second and third paragraphs of the
post-writing texts. The results show that the frequency of the modal auxiliary will
changed dramatically between the pre- and post-writing texts. The frequency was 1 in
the first paragraph in the pre-writing texts, but 9 for the post-writing texts in total. A
similar change was found in the second paragraph. Finally, the frequency of the modal
auxiliary should also changed dramatically, especially in the final paragraph; in the final
paragraphs, the frequency was 12 for the post-writing texts but only 3 for the
pre-writing texts, and even then, it was only found among higher proficiency learners.
No learners in the lower level wrote should in the pre-writing; its use frequency was 1
in the first paragraph, 3 in the second paragraph, 1 in the third paragraph, and 8 in the
final paragraph in post-writing texts. To sum up, the post-test results for
lower-proficiency learners showed a dramatic increase in the use of the words should
and will, which did not appear at all in their pre-writing texts; will was used frequently
in the first paragraph of the post-tests, which denotes intention, while should appeared
often in the final paragraph.
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 13 of 18

Table 6 Frequency Analysis of the Modal Auxiliaries of the Pre-and Post-Genre Essays
Paragraph can might
Pre Post Pre Post
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Higher Total 6 10 6 0 3 12 7 4 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 0
Mean 0.7 1.1 0.7 0 0.3 1.3 0.8 0.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0
Lower Total 7 7 1 0 4 7 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean 0.6 0.6 0.1 0 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paragraph may should
Pre Post Pre Post
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Higher Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 2 3 3 3 0 4
Mean 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.3 0.3 0 0.4
Lower Total 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 8
Mean 0.1 0 0 0 0.1 0.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.7
Paragraph shall would
Pre Post Pre Post
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Higher Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Mean 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1
Lower Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Mean 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0
Paragraph will must
Pre Post Pre Post
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Higher Total 1 2 0 1 4 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean 0 0 0 0 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lower Total 0 0 0 0 5 6 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean 0 0 0 0 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.3 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paragraph could
Pre Post
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Higher Total 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0
Mean 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 0.2 0
Lower Total 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Mean 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.1 0

To sum up the frequency of the modal verb will in pre-writing tasks, the result shows
that n = 1 in the first paragraph, n = 2 in the second paragraph, and n = 1 in the conclu-
sion of essays from the higher-level group; will was not used in any essay from the
lower English proficiency group.
Learners in the higher-level group wrote sentences including the modal verb will in
their pre-writing texts. The following is an example from the second paragraph: “[s]
ome people think they have the right to privacy because they have to be protected by
it. If someone uses their information for crime, their privacy will disappear” (extracted
from Student no. 1). The use of will in the above sentence can be interpreted as
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 14 of 18

indicating probability. Student No. 6 writes as follows in the first paragraph: “If it had
not been for individual privacy many people can know our privacy and it will cause
problems”; this use of will reflects the writer’s opinion of probability. Finally, the first
paragraph of Student no. 8 states, “[t] his essay will discuss both views.” This will can
be interpreted as an obligation; the writer is supposed to introduce both views on the
topic in the discussion genre essay.
Learners in the higher-level group wrote sentences including the modal verb will in
their post-writing texts (n = 4 in the first paragraph, n = 4 in the second paragraph, n =
2 in the third paragraph, and n = 6 in the final paragraph). The common feature of the
use of will in the first paragraph is that the writers used it to denote “obligation,” which
was the same result as in the pre-writing texts. In paragraph 2 of the post-writing texts,
will appeared with the meanings of probability (n = 2) and obligation (n = 1). For ex-
ample, Student no. 4 stated the following: “According to [newspaper’s name] (2013),
they decided that the National Center Test for University Admissions will be banned in
the next few years and the new system will be adopted.” This meaning of will possibly
has a different meaning. Will denoting probability also appeared in both the third (n =
2) and fourth paragraphs (n = 5).
The total frequency of can in the first and second paragraphs was large in the
pre-writing texts (first paragraph: n = 13, second paragraph: n = 17), while most appear-
ances of can were in the second and third paragraphs in the post-writing texts. The fre-
quency of must was n = 2 in the pre-writing texts but n = 0 in the post-writing texts,
and only among the lower English proficiency group.

Discussion
Most EFL learners in Japan are told to memorize the literal meanings of vocabulary
items without being taught their functional meanings. Thus, many English learners are
taught that the word can denotes possibility, and to memorize the phrase be able to as
it has the same meaning as can; this can be a typical way to teach. However, teaching
writing based on SFL-GBA can provide EFL learners with the opportunity to learn that
the word can has the meaning of possibility and also has a degree of value. Thus, when
the writer wants to express and control his or her opinions or judgments, s/he can use
the word can appropriately to create meaning between the writer and readers without
making the first person I explicit (Halliday, 2001). The word must carries the highest
probability among other modal verbs, as identified by Halliday (1985). Wang (2014)
interpreted that the modal verb will shows the willingness of the writers and is also
subjective and implicit.
In phase 1, in-depth, qualitative reflection sheets for genre analysis of peers’ essays
were used to analyze the students’ meaning-making choices, demonstrating how much
they understood the target genre text. In terms of understanding the generic structure
and genre purpose, more learners with higher, rather than lower, English proficiency
tended to show better understanding.
Regarding understanding of the lexicogrammar, lower English proficiency learners
showed improvement in understanding some vocabulary items related to interpersonal
meaning (Table 5; higher level group = 29%, lower-level group = 31%). Improvement in
the understanding of modal auxiliaries (interpersonal meaning) in the target genre to
examine their improvement of awareness was the focus. Interpersonal meanings are
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 15 of 18

expressed by modality (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014), and there are links between the
language systems and vocabulary choices made by the writer (Eggins, 2004). Choosing
an appropriate modal auxiliary in discussion genre texts is related to writers’ level of fa-
miliarity with their audience and their attitudes and judgments (Eggins, 2004). These
features were found in the learners’ reflection sheets. According to Student no. 9 of the
higher-level group:

The genre analysis comparison data showed that, in my partner’s essay, her opinion
was against the topic and there was little supporting evidence. Therefore, it was hard
for me to understand her (as the writer) opinion. My suggestion is to add some
auxiliary verbs such as “can, must, should” in this final paragraph in order to show
her strong opinion so that I (as the reader) can understand her opinion clearly.

Finally, in phase 2, to examine learners’ proficiency improvement, frequency analysis

of the modal auxiliaries in the pre- and post-genre essays was conducted. The results
showed that the frequency of the modal auxiliaries can, will, and should changed sig-
nificantly from pre- to post-writing. The modal verb will is explained as being closely
related to the human activity of communication; in particular, will can denote “prob-
ability, usuality, obligation, or inclination” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014, p. 186, p.
691). Moreover, the results imply that use of this verb was associated with different
meanings. However, it could not be confirmed whether learners used these different
meanings of will intentionally.
The total frequency (for both classes) of can in the first and second paragraphs was
large in the pre-writing texts, while most appearances of can occurred in the second
and third paragraphs in the post-writing texts.
The most remarkable result was the frequency of the modal auxiliary should, particu-
larly in the final paragraph of the lower English proficiency group. In the conclusion
paragraph of the discussion genre text, no EFL writer in the lower English proficiency
group chose to write should in the pre-writing task; however, should appeared several
times in the post-writing texts (n = 8).
In phase 1, between the higher and lower English proficiency groups, the data ana-
lysis result suggests that many of the learners illustrated their understanding in their re-
flection sheets of how to use vocabulary items related to the interpersonal meaning of
the target text, particularly the use of the modal verbs will, can, should, and need.
The results in phase 2 show that the frequency of use of the modal auxiliary shall in
both classes did not change from the pre-writing to post-writing texts; none of the
learners wrote the word in either their pre- or post-writing essays. This may be because
they did not need to use it or they did not know how to use it, even though they had
previously been taught its meaning.
Although no learner in either group used must in the post-writing, must includes a
variety of meanings: It reflects the writer’s certainty and can denote always, required, or
determined. One interpretation of the fact that must, which has a high value, was used
less often is that the writer’s purpose was possibly not to show the degeneration of the
writer’s status and power or the writer’s uncertainty; rather, the writer may have tried
to present their demands and take responsibility (Wang, 2014). This can be considered
the learners’ understanding of the purpose of the “discussion genre essay,” which is to
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 16 of 18

present different points of view (especially from both sides: pros and cons and advan-
tages and disadvantages) in order to make an informed decision.
Improving their L2 writing skills can be challenging for EFL learners, because, first,
they tend to have difficulties generalizing and organizing ideas using appropriate lexico-
grammatical functions and, second, they tend to have little ability to implement such
choices into intelligible text (Rajagopalan & Jie, 2016).
One limitation of this study is the small number of participants; therefore, these re-
sults are merely tendencies, and it cannot be concluded that all EFL lower English pro-
ficiency learners improved their understanding of generic structure and
lexicogrammatical features. However, the SFL-GBA method allowed EFL learners to in-
crease their awareness of text-type in terms of language and text features. This under-
standing may link with the aspect of how to turn ideas into intelligible text (the
discussion genre text). Similarly, the other limitation of this research is that it was not
possible to provide a deterministic evaluation of how much the learners precisely
understood the different degrees of modal verbs’ values and managed to reflect their
interpersonal meaning when they chose to use these modal verbs in the post-writing
tasks. To solve the above issue, follow-up interviews with the target learners will be ne-
cessary in future research.

Conclusion
This study has investigated the changes in Japanese EFL learners’ awareness of language
features and generic structures of “discussion genre texts” through the genre-based ap-
proach to text-based writing lessons during a 15-week course. This paper has described
an SFL activity-based GBA for teaching writing to EFL learners with higher and lower
English proficiencies. It found that the GBA paired with a sequenced and
well-structured teaching methodology can be an effective teaching methodology in
writing lessons. This approach included macro and micro scaffolding to assist learners
to organize their writing and understand the nature of the target text in the classroom
learning context. The results suggested that teaching EFL learners to write by develop-
ing their rhetorical awareness was a challenge in this particular classroom setting.

Abbreviations
EFL: English as a Foreign/ Second Language; ESL: English as a Second Language; ESOL: English for Speakers of Other
Languages; ESP: English for specific purposes; GBA: Genre-based approach; SFL: Systematic functional linguistics;
TLC: Teaching-learning cycle

Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Peter Mickan (The University of Adelaide). His thoughtful comments and feedback on
SFL GBA lesson plans significantly improved the manuscript.
I would like to thank reviewers and editors for their valuable feedback.

Funding
This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) Grant Number JP16K16891 from the Japan Soci-
ety for the Promotion of Science.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on
reasonable request.

Declarations
Ethics approval, consent to participate, and consent for publication were received from app participants and
committee members for this study.
Nagao Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2019) 4:6 Page 17 of 18

Authors’ contributions
AN designed study, performed the research, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. The author read and approved
the final manuscript.

Competing interests
The author declares that she has no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Received: 30 August 2018 Accepted: 15 April 2019

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