Resumen

CHALA BEJARANO, Pedro Antonio  y  CHAPETON, Claudia Marcela. The Role of Genre-Based Activities in the Writing of Argumentative Essays in EFL. profile [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.2, pp.127-147. ISSN 1657-0790.

This article presents the findings of an action research project conducted with a group of pre-service teachers of a program in modern languages at a Colombian university. The study intended to go beyond an emphasis on linguistic and textual features in English as a foreign language argumentative essays by using a set of genre-based activities and the understanding of writing as a situated social practice. Data were gathered through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, class recordings, and students' artifacts. The results showed that genre-based activities supported the participants throughout the experience and boosted their confidence, resulting in a positive attitude towards essay writing. The study highlights the importance of dialogic interaction to provide scaffolding opportunities, of understanding writing as a process, and of the use of samples and explicit instruction to facilitate writing.

Palabras clave : Argumentative essay writing; genre-based teaching; scaffolding; situated social practice.

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