Genre-based Writing Instruction for the Development of Academic Writing Skills in Upper Secondary Education

Initial Findings from the ElWisS Project

Abstract

The promotion of academic writing skills in secondary education has gained increasing attention in writing pedagogy, but has so far received only limited empirical attention, especially with regard to long-term development and the effectiveness of different instructional approaches. To address this research gap, the FWF-funded ElWisS project (2024-2028) investigates the development of academic writing skills in upper secondary education through a longitudinal intervention study. The effectiveness of two genre-based treatment groups (Explicit Genre Teaching [EGT] vs. Genre Awareness Approach [GAA]) is contrasted with a comparison group that receives only criteria-based text feedback (Implicit Genre Acquisition [IGA]). The study follows a sample of 240 students across six measurement occasions (Grades 9–12). The study’s main dependent variables are academic text quality and academic writing motivation. Initial findings after two measurement occasions (t1–t2) show improvements in academic text quality across all groups. Additionally, for the criterion introduction, which was the focus of the first intervention phase, an advantage of EGT over GAA and IGA emerges. With regard to academic writing motivation, self-efficacy remains stable, whereas writing enjoyment as well as mastery and performance goals show slight declines.