Describes the debate among Australian English teachers concerning "genre-based" approaches to writing development. Notes that applying lessons learned from the Australian debate without an awareness of the assumptions driving the debate may well lead to educators in other countries needlessly covering unnecessary and largely infertile…

Suggests the challenge that genre theory presents to educators in the United Kingdom is whether to avoid it because others have reported the dangers or whether to grapple with it and discover what insights might be found. Argues that genre theory is not a method of teaching writing alone: it relates to each language activity. (RS)