Abstrac

Abstract


This study explores senior high school teachers’ adoption and teaching practice of the genre-based approach for teaching writing skills as a part of Indonesia’s new curriculum initiative.

The participants in this case study are a small group of senior high school English teachers. The data were collected from interviews, which investigated the above issues. The data was analysed using the coding procedure, employing a content analysis approach.
The result of this research demonstrates that despite the genre based approach being introduced three years ago, many teachers still do not fully understand the application and aims of this approach. There is still a mismatch between the conceptual theory of the genre based approach for teaching writing skills and these teachers’ teaching practice in the classroom.
Taking into account the findings of this research, it is suggested that the Indonesian government invest in training more appropriate to the task of training teachers in the genre based approach. This training should be available equally to all teachers of English, and should focus not only on the theory of the approach, but also on the practical applications in the classroom. It should include follow up support for teachers and programs to ensure there continued application of the approach in the classroom.
Although this research deals exclusively with the introduction of the genre based approach to English teachers, the implications of this research could also be important to the introduction of other curriculum initiatives.