Variation in disciplinary culture:
university tutors’ views on assessed
writing tasks
Hilary Nesi,
h.nesi@warwick.ac.uk
with Sheena Gardner
BAAL
Bristol 17/05
Paper Outline
• 1. The Larger Research Project
• 2. Findings from our interview data
• 3. Applications to BAWE
BAAL
Bristol 17/05
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 (Alevel General Studies scripts).
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Bristol 17/05
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.
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Bristol 17/05
Our Project
An investigation of genres of assessed
student writing in higher education.
• Comparisons across disciplines
• Comparisons across years
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Bristol 17/05
The BAWE Grid
1
2
Arts & Humanities
Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
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Bristol 17/05
3
4
The departmental grid
university
discipline
Brookes
Reading
Warwick
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
The sampling grid (= 3072):
discipline
year
AH
LS
PS
SS
1st
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
2nd
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
3rd
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
4th
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
64 X 3
Three strands
• 1. The Discourse Community Genres
• 2. Register Analysis: Biber’s
multidimensional analysis
• 3. SFL Genre Analysis
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Bristol 17/05
From the discourse community
a. Department documentation
b. Tutor interviews & surveys
c. Student submission forms
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Bristol 17/05
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
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?
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Bristol 17/05
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
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Bristol 17/05
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
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)
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Bristol 17/05
Essays have a very basic structure
• Introduction, body, conclusion (Biological
Sciences)
• Introduction, logical sequence of
argument, conclusion (Medicine)
• Argument, counter-argument, conclusion
(Hospitality & Tourism)
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Bristol 17/05
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)
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Bristol 17/05
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’
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Bristol 17/05
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)
BAAL
Bristol 17/05
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)
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Bristol 17/05
Disciplinary variation
• Preparing the professional for the
workplace
• Preparing the ‘professional academic’
• Rejecting ‘grim vocationalism’
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Bristol 17/05
Assignments modelled on professional nonacademic 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’)
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Bristol 17/05
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’
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Bristol 17/05
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
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Bristol 17/05
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
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Bristol 17/05