The genre approach In the 1980s the genre approach became popular along with the notion that student writers could benefit from studying different types of written texts. As Nunan (1999, 280) explains, different genres of writing “are typified by a particular structure and by grammatical forms that reflect the communicative purpose of the genre.” By investigating different genres, students can perceive the differences in structure and form and apply what they learn to their own writing. Even in the classroom, where academic writing usually predominates, writing tasks can be introduced that are based on different genres with roots in the real world, such as the genres of essays, editorials, and business letters.