Genre Theory And Reading Comprehension

Over the past two decades, the concept of genre has been the focus of studies in a number of fields concerning L1 and L2 teaching. It has become a popular framework for analyzing the form and function of nonliterary discourse, such as the research article, as well as a tool for developing educational practices in fields such as rhetoric, composition studies, professional writing, linguistics, and English for specific purpose (ESP). Since the birth of genre theory, many linguists and researchers have tried to employ them in teaching practice, based on which genre-based teaching approach came into being and has become very popular in North America and Australia. Genre-based teaching approach is based on genre analysis, which applies the theory of genre and genre analysis to the classroom, and develops teaching activities revolving around the schematic structure of a text. In recent years some linguists and teachers have begun to apply genre-based teaching approach to the teaching of English as a foreign language and have achieved sound results. However, their study mainly directs into the field of writing, and the study of its application to reading comprehension is very limited, which is the major concern of this thesis.This paper intends to study genre theory and its applications to reading comprehension, which includes the following five chapters:Chapter One is a general introduction made about the present study.