Introducing BAWE
www.coventry.ac.uk/bawe
The BAWE corpus

For the project ‘An Investigation of Genres
of Assessed Writing in British Higher
Education’ 2004-2007
The BAWE project was designed to
develop descriptors for all the genres of
university student assignment – so that
academics, students, writing tutors and
other stakeholders could identify
assignment types according to their social
purposes.
A neglected area….
a.
b.
Most research into written academic
discourse concentrates on:
Professional writing (textbooks, research
articles, popular science etc.)
EAP learner writing (general academic texts
produced for IELTS practice etc.)
‘Pedagogy by osmosis’


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In contrast to general academic essays (e.g.
for IELTS preparation) assignment genres are
rarely taught explicitly.
Students are expected to acquire genre
knowledge through years of schooling.
Task prompts assume genre knowledge.
Tutors ‘just know’ the linguistic features of
the genre, but can’t explain them.
Extra confusion because
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Different departments adopt different
nomenclature for assignment types, even
within the same discipline
Names for assignment types may be
interchangeable, or they may may mark
important generic distinctions (e.g. ‘essay’,
‘report’)
Yet the ability to differentiate between argumentative and non-argumentative
writing (between Essays, Critiques, Explanations) is absolutely crucial to
academic success.
Corpus features
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6,506,995 words
2,858 texts
2,761 assignments
1,953 written by L1 speakers of English
1,251 “distinction” and 1,402 “merit” grade
from 1000+ modules & 300 degree courses
BAWE holdings: texts
Year of Study
Discipline Group
Arts and Humanities
Social Sciences
Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
1
2
3
4
255
216
188
181
229
198
206
154
160
170
120
156
80
207
205
133
2858 texts: 6.5 million words
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
TOTAL
Arts & Human. Texts
Words
255
468K
229
584K
160
428K
80
234K
724
1,714,118
Life Sciences
Texts
Words
188
299K
206
408K
120
264K
205
441K
719
1,412,391
Physical Science Texts
Words
181
301K
154
314K
156
426K
133
340K
624
1,381,356
Social Sciences
Texts
Words
216
371K
198
476K
170
448K
207
704K
791
1,999,130
TOTAL
Texts
Words
840
1,440,185
787
1,781,686
606
1,565,991
625
1,719,133
2858
6,506,995
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
Contextual and Textual Information
Each corpus file includes information on the
 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, listlikes,
abstract, w/s, s/p, …
 and genre family
How did we identify genre families?
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Referring to course documentation, and
interviews with academic staff and students.
Reading the 2858 texts again and again,
skimming first sentences and noting statements
of purpose.
Identifying any structural components, e.g.
headings and sub-headings.
Matching assignments with similar purposes
and structures.
The Genre Families
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Case Study
Critique
Design Specification
Empathy Writing
Essay
Exercise
Explanation
Literature Survey
Methodology Recount
Narrative Recount
Problem Question
Proposal
Research Report
With 5 broad social functions:
Function
Genre families
Demonstrating knowledge and
understanding
Exercises
Explanations
Developing powers of independent
reasoning
Critique
Essay
Building research skills
Literature Survey, Methodology Recount,
Research Report
Preparing for professional practice
Case Study, Design Specification,
Problem Question, Proposal
Writing for oneself and others
Narrative Recount, Empathy Writing
How are assignment tasks chosen?
Tutors have some choice, but….
 academia rewards innovation.
 the framework for HE qualifications (QAA)
specifies the skills that graduates must be able
to demonstrate.
 Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies
(PSRBs) specify the requirements for specific
professions.
So, for example
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“typically holders of an honours degree will be able to ….
initiate and carry out projects’
(QAA 2008)
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‘a graduate will have …skills necessary for employment
requiring: …decision-making in complex and unpredictable
contexts…’
(QAA 2001)
Assignment genres vary in complexity
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Some develop lower level skills

Some are a culmination of earlier work
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Students produce a greater variety of
genres at higher levels of study
Explanation distribution across levels
(n = 214)
Explanation
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
Methodology recount
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
Case Study distribution across levels
(n = 194)
Case study
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
Proposal distribution across levels
(n = 76)
Proposal
35
30
25
20
15
Proposal
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
Essay distribution across levels
(n = 1,238)
Essay
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
2
3
4
Graph by J Holmes
Distribution of Genre Families
76
40
61
case study
194
critique
75
322
design specification
362
empathy writing
35
93
essay
35
exercise
explanation
214
literature survey
methodology recount
114
narrative recount
problem question
1238
proposal
research report
Arts and Humanities
090
2
718 10
9
14
48
1
4
case study
critique
design specif ication
empathy w riting
essay
exercise
explanation
literature survey
methodology recount
narrative recount
problem question
602
proposal
research report
Social Sciences
19
16
32
29 14
case study
66
critique
10
design specif ication
114
23
18
empathy w riting
3
3
essay
exercise
explanation
literature survey
methodology recount
narrative recount
problem question
444
proposal
research report
Life Sciences
26
2
case study
22
91
critique
25
design specification
empathy w riting
84
158
essay
2
19
exercise
explanation
literature survey
methodology recount
14
127
117
33
narrative recount
problem question
proposal
research report
Physical Sciences
19
6
case study
16
37
critique
21
76
design specification
empathy w riting
essay
exercise
170
87
explanation
literature survey
9
4
65
65
49
methodology recount
narrative recount
problem question
proposal
research report
Guess the genre family
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Nutrition pregnancy advice
Stem cells; their origin, properties and medical potential
A review of the genetic control of plant morphology
Diseases of coral reefs
Mega events - do they economically and socially benefit their host city?
A-Z Cloth management report on the costs and quantities of yarn
produced
Introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy in Poland - evaluation of
changes
Flagship Species Fund small grants programme application
Determination of Protein Concentration in Milk samples
Realism, Liberalism and Marxism: An Unnecessary Antagonism
E-Commerce website solution for UK football ticket retailer
SoccerBooker.com
NB All real titles of assignments in the BAWE corpus
Writing for a purpose:
‘materials to improve the quality of disciplinespecific student work’
ES/J010995/1, March 2012-February 2013
Objectives
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•
•
raise teachers' and learners' awareness of the
types of writing produced in specific disciplines
and at specific levels of university study
create motivating and attractive online academic
writing materials
improve the quality of student writing,
especially the writing produced by users of
English as a second or a foreign language
Participants
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Researchers from the original ESRC project
A materials developer
A video and multimedia consultant
A consultant from Coventry Serious Games Institute
Representatives from the British Council
Stakeholders representing study skills, writing skills and
EAP practitioners in universities and language schools
A wider group of users – to pilot materials
End product
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About 50 hours of free access materials on the
British Council website
Launch in March 2013
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With your help!
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www.coventry.ac.uk/bawe
http://beta.thewordtree.net
(on Google Chrome)