Genre across the curriculum

This article uses systemic functional linguistics, particularly ideas about the relationship of language to its context, to examine the selections and functions of different sets of genres found in different curriculum areas in junior secondary education. Contrasting sets of genres taken from current textbooks in what are called technical and humanities subjects are analysed to determine which genres are favoured and to discover why they are favoured. It is concluded that the selections of genres used in different curriculum areas are functional and serve to point students in different directions: either from action to reflection or from reflection to action. It is further argued that explicit knowledge about how different curriculum areas use different genres is likely to facilitate learning and teaching.