Sharpling, Gerard (2010) When BAWE meets WELT: the use of a corpus of student writing to develop items for a proficiency test in grammar and English usage. Journal of Writing Research, Vol.2 (No.2). pp. 175-189. ISSN 2030-1006.
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Abstract
This article reports on the use of the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus as a source for developing test items for the Grammar and English Usage section of the Warwick English Language (WELT) test in 2007. A key feature of this newly designed multiple choice grammar test was its use of student-generated writing. The extracts used for the re-designed test were derived directly from the BAWE corpus, as opposed to text books, published sources or indeed, simulated extracts of academic writing devised by test developers, which had been the case previously. The rationale for using the BAWE corpus for language test design is outlined, with a particular focus on the attributes of the students’ writing within the corpus, and the inclusion of both first and second language writing. The challenges involved in developing grammar test items based on BAWE corpus data are also presented. While the procedures set out in the paper were undertaken within a specifically British higher education setting, it is hoped that the research will be of interest to test developers and/or researchers in writing skills in other academic settings worldwide.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | L Education > LB Theory and practice of education P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > PE English |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Writing Research |
| Publisher: | Universiteit Antwerpen |
| ISSN: | 2030-1006 |
| Official Date: | August 2010 |
| Dates: | Date Event August 2010 Published |
| Volume: | Vol.2 |
| Number: | No.2 |
| Number of Pages: | 15 |
| Page Range: | pp. 175-189 |
| Status: | Not Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons open licence) |
| Funder: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) |
| Grant number: | RES-000-23-0800 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/48130/ |
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