Beyond models: SLW teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and instructional practices with mentor texts

Abstract

Mentor texts play a central role in genre-based writing instruction, where students explore rhetorical and formal features of texts used in different writing situations. However, second language writing (SLW) teachers’ knowledge of and instructional practices with mentor texts have been underexplored. Drawing on the results from a survey and one-to-one interviews with SLW instructors in two U.S. university writing programs, this study sought to investigate teachers’ pedagogical knowledge of and instructional practices with mentor texts. The findings from this study suggest that the instructors use texts for a range of pedagogical activities, but that they face significant challenges in locating, selecting, and using mentor texts. The findings also provide insight into the complex set of knowledge domains that SLW teachers draw on, as well as the tensions that can arise when doing so. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for SLW teacher education, professional development, and resource and materials development, and offers suggestions for future research.