Genre theory has emerged as a result of Halliday's (1978) study on the relationship between language and its social context. The relationship between cultural environment, the purpose of our communication, and the genres we use in language form the basis of genre theory.

This theory emphasizes that language and meaning of communication are interactive, thus making it difficult to separate the two ideas. Genre may be considered as reflecting socio-linguistic interactions within society.

Research suggests that genre is a useful tool in enabling educators to categorize texts on the basis of their form and meaning, and genre may have more to do with reading comprehension success/failure than one might initially believe.