1. Spreading the Word: The challenge of the corpus as an agent of change
Hilary Nesi
Coventry University, UK

2. A talk about connecting theory and practice

3. The original research questions of the BAWE corpus
What are the characteristics of
proficient student writing produced for degree programmes in British universities?
How can this writing be categorised in terms of genres and sub-genres?
What are the characteristics of genres produced at different stages of university study?
What are the characteristics of genres produced in different disciplines, and for different degree programmes?

4. Its aim:
to develop descriptors for all the genres of British university student assignment – identifying assignment types according to their social purposes.

5. 6,506,995 words 2,896 texts 2,761 assignments
1,953 written by L1 speakers of English
1,251 “distinction” and 1,402 “merit”
1000+ modules & 300 degree courses
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Arts & Humanities
200
Life Science
Physical Science
Social Science

6. 30+ disciplines represented
Arts & Humanities
Archaeology, Applied Linguistics, Classics, Comparative American Studies, English, History, Philosophy
Life Sciences
Agriculture, Biological Sciences, Food Sciences, Health, Psychology, Medical Science
Physical Sciences
Architecture, Chemistry, Computer Science, Cybernetics & Electronics, Engineering, Mathematics, Meteorology, Physics, Planning
Social Sciences
Anthropology, Business, Economics, HLTM (Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management), Law, Politics, Publishing, Sociology
Aimed to cover all JACS codes
A 60-page pdf document on JACS can be found via the UCAS website:
CodeDisciplinary GroupingJACS letters
AH Arts & Humanities Q, R, T, V, W, (X?)
ML Medicine & Life Sciences A, B, C, D
PS Physical Sciences & Engineering F, G, H, J, K
SS Social Studies L, M, N, P, (X?)

7. Contextual and Textual Information
Files marked for
writer (age,L1,gender,schooling, course)
module (title, department, disc. group)
assignment (title, level, date, grade >60)
number of words, s-units, p-units, tables, figures, block quotes, formulae, lists, abstract, w/s, s/p, …
and genre family

8. The Genre Families Case Study Critique Design Specification
Empathy Writing
Essay
Exercise
Explanation
Literature Survey
Methodology Recount
Narrative Recount
Problem Question
Proposal
Research Report

9. Also tagged for 67 linguistic features
Tense and aspect markers
Prepositional phrases, adjectives and adverbs
Place and time adverbials
Lexical specificity (type token ratio, mean word length)
Pronouns and pro-verbs
Downtoners, hedges, amplifiers, emphatics etc.
Modals
Questions
Specialized verb classes such as 'public', 'private' and 'suasive' verbs
Nominal forms
Reduced forms and dispreferred structures such as split infinitives
Passives
Coordination
Stative forms
Negation
Subordination features

10. Plenty of data here! For comparisons across: Disciplines
Disciplinary groupings
Levels
Genre families
And possibly between:
Writers with different L1s

11. Some findings: across levels
Level Average 1 2 3 4
Words per assignment
1782
2323
2637
2903
Sentences per assignment 75 95
108
122
Words per sentence
24.8
25.6
25.5
24.6
Involved
Narrative
Elaborated
Persuasive
Abstract / Impersonal 1
-12.8
-2.7
5.1
-1.4
5.9 2
-13.9
-2.8
5.6
-1.5
6.2 3
-14.8
-3.0
5.7
6.4 4
-17.3
-3.2
-2.0
5.4

14. Across levels, L1-English students show
Increase in nouns; slight decrease in verbs
Increase in the use of phrasal post- modifiers of nouns
Strong increase in the use of phrasal pre- modifiers of nouns
Decrease in the use of complement clauses, finite relative clauses

15. Some findings: across genres

16. Some findings: across genres

22. BUT....where’s the connection?

23. Recent publications on the BAWE website

25. An ESRC-funded follow-on project
March April 2013
Intended to apply findings from ‘An Investigation of Genres of Assessed Writing in British Higher Education’
For the British Council Learn English website

26. Beneficiaries
student writers who are not yet fully familiar with departmental writing conventions.
tutors - the materials will be suitable for use in class, in one-to-one writing tutorials, or on a self-access basis, according to local requirements.
subject lecturers, by providing insights into the specific language features that characterise writing in their disciplines.

27. Project objectives
To raise teachers' and learners' awareness of the types of writing produced by students in specific disciplines
To create motivating and attractive academic writing materials
To improve the quality of student writing, especially the writing produced by users of English as a second or a foreign language.

29. The exercises on the Learn English site

30. The five purposes of student writing

31. Demonstrating knowledge & understanding

32. Building Research Skills

33. Developing powers of independent reasoning

34. Writing for oneself and others

35. Preparing for professional practice

36. Genre families Disciplines Problem Question Exercise Narrative Recount
Archaeology, Applied Linguistics, Classics, American Studies, English, History, Philosophy
Agriculture, Biological Sciences, Food Sciences, Health, Psychology, Medicine
Architecture, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronics, Engineering, Mathematics, Meteorology, Physics, Planning
Anthropology, Business, Economics, HLTM , Law, Politics, Publishing, Sociology
Genre families
Disciplines
Problem
Question
Exercise
Narrative
Recount
Explanation
Proposal
Essay
Design
Specification
Critique
Methodology
Recount
Empathy
Writing
Research
Report
Literature
Survey
Case Study

39. The British Council site

43. Word Tree http://wordtree.coventry.ac.uk/?BAWE
The Wordtree
Word Tree

46. From Case Study clusters to the Sketch Engine

47. Some examples Methodology Recount
(the) aim of this experiment/report is/was
Case Study
it is important / recommended / suggested / vital that

52. The Writing for a Purpose team
Hilary Nesi and Sheena Gardner - from the original ESRC project
Andy Gillett – materials developer
Tim Kelly – video and multimedia
Alex Woolner – consultant from Coventry Serious Games Institute
Elly Hutchins – art work
Martin Peacock and Melissa Cudmore – British Council
Adam Kightley – British Council website
Stakeholders – representing EAP practitioners in universities and language schools
A wider group of EAP practitioners – to pilot materials

53. The end - thanks for listening!