1. Hilary Nesi, h.nesi@warwick.ac.uk with Sheena Gardner
Variation in disciplinary culture: university tutors’ views on assessed writing tasks
Hilary Nesi,
with Sheena Gardner
BAAL Bristol 17/05

2. Paper Outline 1. The Larger Research Project
2. Findings from our interview data
3. Applications to BAWE
BAAL Bristol 17/05

3. Some existing corpora
The TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus “the full range of spoken and written registers used at US universities” (Biber et al. 2002).
The Lucy Corpus, used to track children’s progress from spoken fluency to written literacy.
The Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (exam scripts and general essays by British and American university and A level students).
The Cambridge Syndicate Examination corpus (A-level General Studies scripts).
The TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus . contains textbooks, course packs, university webpages and similar expert sources, but no examples of student writing.
The Lucy Corpus, (Sampson 2003) 33,000 words of young adult writing, but only 19 short extracts from 1st year UG assignments.
305,000 word Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays. The control corpus for ICLE contains examination scripts and general essays by British and American university students and British A level students. Although these were all produced as part of assessed work the grades they received are not recorded, there is little information about the context in which they were written
the Cambridge Syndicate Examination corpus. Used in studies involving the HKUST corpus, a control corpus of A-level General Studies scripts has been used. The tasks did not require subject-specific knowledge, nor were they typical of those set in university departments.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

4. The diversity of assessed genres
Ganobcsik-Williams’ survey of student writing in three disciplines (2001) :
64 varieties, including business plans, websites, scientific posters and written material to support visual work.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

5. Our Project
An investigation of genres of assessed student writing in higher education.
Comparisons across disciplines
Comparisons across years
BAAL Bristol 17/05

6. The BAWE Grid 1 2 3 4 Arts & Humanities Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
BAAL Bristol 17/05

7. The departmental grid Brookes Reading Warwick university discipline AH
English
History of Art
Music
Archaeology
Classics
Fine Art
History
Philosophy
Theatre Studies LS
Biological &
Molecular Sciences
Health
Human Biosciences
Agriculture
Food Science &
Technology
Zoology
Biological
Sciences
Medicine
Psychology PS
Computing
Planning
Urban Design
Construction
Cybernetics
Meteorology
Engineering
Mathematics
Physics SS
Anthropology
Hospitality
Publishing Studies
Business
Geography
Politics
Economics
Law
Sociology
12 target departments/schools per university – 3 in each disciplinary grouping.
The idea isn’t to exclude assignments from other areas, but to target our initial efforts on contacting people in these departments/schools.
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?)

8. The sampling grid (= 3072): AH LS PS SS 1st 64 X 3 2nd 3rd 4th
discipline
year AH LS PS SS
1st
64 X 3
2nd
3rd
4th

9. Three strands 1. The Discourse Community Genres
2. Register Analysis: Biber’s multidimensional analysis
3. SFL Genre Analysis
BAAL Bristol 17/05

10. From the discourse community
a. Department documentation
b. Tutor interviews & surveys
c. Student submission forms
BAAL Bristol 17/05

11. Current interview data
university
discipline
Brookes
Warwick AH
English
History
Theatre Studies
(& Cultural Policy Studies) LS
Anthropology
Biological Sciences
Medicine
Psychology PS
Computing
Engineering (& Warwick Manufacturing Group) SS
Hospitality &
Tourism
Sociology
Law
22 interviews
12 departments

12. Interview questions
What role does assignment writing play in your department?
What different types of written assignment do you set your students?
What are the main differences between these types?
In what ways does student writing progress?
What do you value / dislike in student writing?
BAAL Bristol 17/05

13. The variety of genres: an example from Engineering
Essays
Site investigation reports (both factual and interpretative)
Laboratory reports
Project reports
Reflective journals
Posters
Summaries of analysis + recommendations
Funding proposals
Business plans
Site investigation report informs the client about the site so that client can decide what sort of buildings to plan. Factual reports are interpreted by the client, Interpretative reports include recommendations (for which the writer may be legally accountable). Engineers must become aware of the implications of producing different kinds of report.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

14. Some other genres Appeals (Law)
Book / play reviews (History, Sociology, Theatre Studies)
Case notes (Law)
Crime fiction (Sociology)
Critical evaluations of own work (English, Computing)
Literature reviews (History)
Field studies (Sociology)
Marketing plans (Cultural Policy Studies)
Blogs (Theatre Studies)
Patient case reports (Medicine)
BAAL Bristol 17/05

15. The essay Used by all departments in sample
Perceived as ‘standard’ and ‘traditional’ – too much so for some
‘The fact that essays are still used as the only mode by the majority of English literature assessors seems to me very limiting’
(English Studies)
‘It has been the convention to use essays. I would like to break away from that’
(Psychology)
‘We are a traditional department and we still use mainly essays and we’re very conscious that we would like to, and perhaps need to, do something about that’
(Sociology)
Interviewees construct an identity for themselves (viz Goffman) – maybe want to be seen as innovators.
Professional development programmes in higher education seem to be encouraging greater diversity of genres.
The were few real criticisms of the essay, however. It was generally portrayed as a very flexible genre which encouraged the expression of the originality and critical thinking.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

16. Essays have a very basic structure
Introduction, body, conclusion (Biological Sciences)
Introduction, logical sequence of argument, conclusion (Medicine)
Argument, counter-argument, conclusion (Hospitality & Tourism)
Descriptions of essay structure at a very high level of generality – allow for considerable variation
BAAL Bristol 17/05

17. Essays have few structural constraints
The structure of essays is less prescribed (Theatre Studies)
Essays have more flexibility than practical reports, and may address only a subset of the classic RA (Psychology)
More open-ended, less structured investigation (Hospitality)
Greater scope than other assignment types in terms of what they’re writing about (Engineering)
An essay is generally more ‘rangy’, with a freer structure (Law)
BAAL Bristol 17/05

18. Essays involve critical thinking
‘An essay has got to be an argument of some sort ... not simply reportage or narrative’ (Theatre Studies)
‘A chance to show .. that you can think deeply about a subject’ (Anthropology)
Give more scope for originality (Psychology)
‘The traditional Law essay would probably take the form of a critical discussion’
BAAL Bristol 17/05

19. Progression is marked by an increasingly original and critical response
Aim to transform A level students who write ‘mini-encyclopaedia articles’. Good students ‘develop a genuine personal voice’ (Theatre Studies)
Students become ‘more critical in the final stages’ (Hospitality & Tourism)
Masters level students are expected to write ‘a good critical document’ (Warwick Manufacturing)
First year writing should be accurate, concise, explicit, but by the third year ‘originality should be added to the mixture’ (Psychology)
8 out of 12 departments mentioned the importance of personal and/or critical response to the subject in the final year or at Masters level. (not History, and Anthropology – but Sociology ‘critique is crucial’, Medicine not so easy to note progression, but personal response encouraged)
Comments about evaluation, critical thinking, were as common in the Sciences as in the Arts – eg,
Computing students were expected to become more critical of their own work in the final year
Biology students were supposed to develop ‘increasing critical faculty’
Psychology students should be more critical of research and ‘develop independence of thought’ by year three.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

20. Reflective writing is encouraged
Students are asked to produce original work and then evaluate it (Computing, English Studies, Theatre Studies)
Students are asked to write reflectively about their experiences during group work (Engineering, Hospitality & Tourism)
Students are asked to write reflectively about the educational value of a practical task (Anthropology)
Students are asked to reflect on past personal experiences (Medicine)
Assessed reflective writing tasks seemed to be quite focused – students were asked to write about a specific piece of work they had produced (in terms of their educational experience, the quality of the work) or they were asked to draw on their own past experiences in discussion.
Interviewee reported that Medical students’ had difficulty with an essay genre that required them to draw on their own experiences (Health and Community) – part of the problem here seemed to be that students were not used to discussing, they liked to express scientific certainties.
In Cultural Policy Studies one student wrote a novel in Spanish and then wrote a reflective report on the process.
Engineering uses reflective journals or blogs for PDP (personal development planning), but these are not assessed.
BAAL Bristol 17/05

21. Disciplinary variation
Preparing the professional for the
workplace
Preparing the ‘professional academic’
Rejecting ‘grim vocationalism’
BAAL Bristol 17/05

22. Assignments modelled on professional non-academic writing tasks:
Some interviewees referred to students’ future needs, eg:
Engineering reports (the legal implications of making recommendations)
Demonstration and analysis of computer coding (‘preparing students for real life’)
Case notes and appeals (‘common forms of legal writing’)
Business plans, marketing plans, funding proposals (but applied subjects such as Hospitality & Tourism also use writing tasks as a means ‘to get students focused on theory’)
Applied subjects tended to prepare students for the genres of writing they would encounter in the professions. Interviewees could often provide a very clear account of generic structure and purpose.
Hospitality & Tourism interviewees also regarded written tasks as a means of getting students to think about theory, rather than practice. Perhaps in the very applied subjects students will already be tuned in to the world of work, and will need more support preparing academic genres?
BAAL Bristol 17/05

23. Assignments modelled on professional academic writing tasks:
Psychology aims to cultivate the writing style of the research article published in a respected learned journal.
‘the great bulk of written work is in the form of essays modelled on the classic psychology RA’
BAAL Bristol 17/05

24. Assignments aimed at educating the individual:
‘education is a value in itself, and it’s part of a person’s development of selfhood …… it depresses me when students view it as a kind of grim vocationalism’
Theatre Studies
All applied subjects set some tasks that mirrored real-life professional writing
Most ‘pure’ subjects seemed concerned with the general educational development of their students but did not relate this to any particular professional activity
BAAL Bristol 17/05

25. What do tutors value in student writing?
Coherent structure 11 / 21
Originality / Creativity 11 / 21
Succinct expression 7 / 21
Adherence to academic conventions 5 / 21
Engagement / Enthusiasm 5 / 21
Application / Relevance 5 / 21
Understanding / Insight 5 / 21
Originality / creativity in Computing, Hospitality, History, English, Theatre Studies, Psychology, Engineering
BAAL Bristol 17/05