Andreas Eriksson

Unpacking challenges of data commentary writing in master’s thesis projects: an insider perspective from chemical engineering

ABSTRACT Background Data commentary, in-text comments on the visual presentation of data, is acknowledged as a central aspect of academic writing in many engineering disciplines. At the same time, it is a feature that has been shown to be challenging for students. One of the genres in which data commentary plays a significant role in many engineering disciplines is the master’s thesis. Comparatively little research has been done on the process of master thesis supervision, and combining the study of data commentary and master’s thesis supervision is therefore particularly interesting. Purpose This study explores the challenges of data commentary writing through interviews with master’s students and thesis supervisors of chemical engineering. Sample and method Master’s students at a Swedish university were invited to participate in a workshop about the writing of data commentary. Nine master’s students and five supervisors were interviewed about what is difficult and important about writing data commentaries in their discipline as well as about decisions made in data commentaries written by the students. The interviews were divided into a semi-structured and a discourse-based part. Results Our results indicate that data commentary comes with a variety of challenges. Among the most difficult and important aspects are selection of content and clarity. The study also indicates a close connection between data commentary and disciplinary learning in chemical engineering, suggesting that highlighting data commentary in the teaching of master’s thesis writing will be time well spent. Conclusions In order to make the teaching and learning of data commentary effective in the context investigated, we propose that important measures are: the development of a shared metalanguage among students and supervisors, a genre approach, and collaboration between engineering and communication faculty.

Building interdisciplinary bridges : MUCH : The Malmö University-Chalmers Corpus of Academic Writing as a Process

This paper describes a corpus of writing as a process (MUCH), comprising English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student texts. The corpus will contain a large number of richly annotated papers in several versions from students of different performance levels. It will also include peer and instructor feedback, as well as tools for visualising the revision process, and for analysing the writing process and the peer and instructor feedback. MUCH will make it possible to study how texts develop and change in the course of the writing process and how feedback impacts the process.

Data commentary in science writing: Using a small, specialized corpus for formative self-assessment practices

Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment is an edited volume in John Benjamins’ Studies in Corpus Linguistics series. In the introduction to the volume, the editors specify their main objective as identifying the value of learner corpora in bringing transparency to the assessment of second/foreign language (L2) proficiency. It is also suggested that the operationalization of L2 proficiency using such internationally recognized frameworks as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) be complemented by language specific lexical and grammatical descriptors derived from the analysis of learner corpus data. The volume has been organized into two sections each containing four articles. The contributions in section one present new corpus resources, tools, and methods specifically developed for language testing and assessment (LTA) purposes. The articles in section two deal with the problem of defining proficiency based on such vague criteria as institutional status and attempt to propose data-driven approaches to the assessment of proficiency.