An Empirical Study Of Process-Genre Approach In Minor Major’s Writing Class

The research on the current situation in EFL teaching shows that students are generally presenting a negative attitude and emotion to English writing. Therefore, the performance in the writing component is usually found less satisfying than that in other parts of an English examination. Owing to this, it’s becoming increasingly important to deliberate an efficient EFL writing approach which is especially compatible to Chinese students.This paper first illustrates the theoretical foundation of the Process-Genre Approach and the other three dominant teaching approaches namely; Product Approach, Process Approach and Genre Approach. It analyzes their relationships as well as each one’s strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, it then puts forward a brand new seven-step teaching procedure in order to further improve students’writing competence and their enthusiasm for writing.To achieve this, two minor major classes in the second grade of ECUST have been selected as the research subjects. One is for an experimental class and the other is for a control class. Process-Genre Approach is applied in the experimental class following a brand new seven-step procedure, and the normal Product Approach is applied in the control class. The research result shows:1. Process-Genre Approach can greatly improve students’attitude and enthusiasm in writing;2. Process-Genre Approach is more efficient than Product Approach in enhancing EFL students’ writing performance;3. Process-Genre Approach gives an outstanding performance in cultivating students’English thinking patterns.In the end, the author presents some limitations in the current research. It is hoped that this can give some suggestions and help to further research in EFL writing classes.