TY - CHAP
T1 - A Multi-Dimensional analysis of essay writing
T2 - What linguistic features tell us about situational parameters and the effects of language functions on judgments of quality
AU - Crossley, Scott A.
AU - Allen, Laura K.
AU - McNamara, Danielle S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES R305A080589 and IES R305G20018–02). Ideas expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IES.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - This study applied the Multi-Dimensional analysis used by Biber (1988) to examine the functional parameters of essays. Co-occurrence patterns were identified within an essay corpus (n = 1529) using linguistic indices provided by Coh-Metrix. These patterns were used to identify essay groups that shared features based upon situational parameters. Results revealed that the linguistic features reliably co-occurred according to the parameters. Namely, four dimensions were interpreted and associated with essay quality, prompt, and grade level. Confirmatory analyses revealed that the dimensions reliably distinguished among the parameters. Results provide insight into the situational parameters that affect writing, and the extent to which essays vary among and between themselves. The results have important implications for composition pedagogy, writing assessment, and writing theory.
AB - This study applied the Multi-Dimensional analysis used by Biber (1988) to examine the functional parameters of essays. Co-occurrence patterns were identified within an essay corpus (n = 1529) using linguistic indices provided by Coh-Metrix. These patterns were used to identify essay groups that shared features based upon situational parameters. Results revealed that the linguistic features reliably co-occurred according to the parameters. Namely, four dimensions were interpreted and associated with essay quality, prompt, and grade level. Confirmatory analyses revealed that the dimensions reliably distinguished among the parameters. Results provide insight into the situational parameters that affect writing, and the extent to which essays vary among and between themselves. The results have important implications for composition pedagogy, writing assessment, and writing theory.
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U2 - 10.1075/scl.60.07cro
DO - 10.1075/scl.60.07cro
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:84989258151
T3 - Studies in Corpus Linguistics
SP - 197
EP - 237
BT - Multi-Dimensional Analysis, 25 years on. A tribute to Douglas Biber
A2 - Sardinha, Tony Berber
A2 - Pinto, Marcia Veirano
PB - John Benjamins Publishing Company
ER -