This study first investigates the current level of awareness towards genres of academic writing among students at a public university in Taiwan, and then measures the effect of genre-based writing instruction on the students’ genre awareness and the quality of their writing for the argumentative text type. Eighty-six sophomores enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course were randomly divided into control and experimental groups, and completed tests on genre awareness and argumentative writing before and after the genre-based writing instruction courses. Over seven weeks, the experimental group received weekly training sessions on the relationship between text and context, rhetorical structure, and lexico-grammatical features of eight key academic text types. Through small group activities, they analyzed and practiced writing the text types. Finally, both groups were measured on their writing abilities. Results showed that although both groups displayed a low level of genre awareness, after instruction, the experimental group increased their genre awareness significantly. Furthermore, the experimental group showed significant improvement in their textual organization and coherence based on analytical scoring. Genre-based training also resulted in significant improvements in text development, structure, and cohesion. The study proved the effectiveness of academic literacy training sessions on improving academic writing at the university level.
本文首先探討當前臺灣某國立大學學生的學術英文文體類型認知水平,並衡量以文類本位寫作教學對於習得論說文體(argumentative)類型的認知與學術英文寫作品質的影響。86名修讀學術英語(EAP)課程的大二學生隨機編入成控制與實驗兩組,並在課程前、後分別予以英文文體類型認知及寫作測試。針對上下文、修辭結構及語彙文法特點間的關聯性,實驗組接受八大關鍵學術文章類型之訓練課程共七週。透過小組活動,學生們分析並練習寫作不同文體類型。最後,再針對兩組學生寫作的能力給予評鑑。結果顯示,實驗組的文體類型認知水平於七週後顯著提升。再者,實驗組在寫作組織度與連貫性方面之得分亦大幅進步。以文體類型為本的寫作教學針對文體結構、發展與內文連貫性的寫作訓練成效顯著。因此,本文驗證了以文體類型為本的讀寫訓練課程有助於提升臺灣大學生的學術英文寫作能力。