Genre-Based Approach to Enhancing Secondary Students' English Writing Ability in Science Subjects

Recent years have witnessed increasing attention toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in Hong Kong where many secondary-level schools adopt English medium instruction (EMI). However, it is questionable whether Hong Kong students can effectively integrate and apply their knowledge and skills through English in STEM writing. To address this research gap, this study conducts a genre-based approach to investigate and motivate Hong Kong secondary students’ English writing ability in science-related subjects through the intervention of workshops and surveys. Specifically, this research project designed a genre-based STEM curriculum with teaching manuals, student handouts, and in-class PowerPoints, and organised a 12-week writing workshop, inviting approximately 600 participants from Grade 7 to 9 from nine governmental secondary schools in Hong Kong to complete a pre-workshop survey and a post-workshop survey to explore participants’ changes in the self-evaluations of their science writing knowledge and strategies after the workshops. The results of pre-workshop and post-workshop surveys evidenced significantly positive changes in participants’ English writing knowledge and skills in the context of science. Therefore, this study concludes that the genre-based learning approach can effectively facilitate secondary students’ acquisition and development in scientific writing. In addition, students’ and teachers’ sense of achievement and confidence can also be increased through the genre-based learning process. Pedagogical implications on the strategies of science writing are also provided in this study for STEM educators and students.