Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-7-2026
Journal / Book Title
Applied Corpus Linguistics
Abstract
While research on academic writing has long recognised the importance of text types, genres, and registers, consistent and principled text classification has proven problematic. Existing taxonomies are often difficult to apply to new corpora, and key terms (including the labels text type, genre, and register themselves) are inconsistently defined. Taxonomies have also been criticised for failing to capture the diversity and dynamism of academic writing and for encouraging formulaic writing. Building on Biber, Egbert, and Keller (2020), this paper develops a complementary approach that may provide a more nuanced and dynamic representation by viewing text variation as continuous and multidimensional, rather than categorical. We create a detailed set of situational parameters to describe variation in student writing and apply them to a balanced sample of assignments from the British Written Academic English corpus. Using factor analysis, we identify four key dimensions of variation that capture a focus on: (1) original quantitative research, (2) library research, (3) personal stories, and (4) professional advice. These dimensions are proposed as a flexible heuristic for understanding how student texts vary within and across traditional categories. By mapping assignments on our dimensions, we empirically characterize previously identified text categories, highlighting their core features, overlaps, and disciplinary differences. We also show how individual texts can be positioned in relation to these dimensions and genres. We argue that this multidimensional approach offers a coherent and adaptable framework for analysing variation in academic writing, with important implications for both writing research and the teaching of academic writing.
DOI
10.1016/j.acorp.2026.100235
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Durrant, Philip; Goulart, Larissa; and Hasund, Ingrid Kristine, "Moving beyond genre: Mapping student writing in a multidimensional situational space" (2026). Department of Linguistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 65.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/linguistics-facpubs/65
Rights
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Published Citation
Durrant, Philip, et al. “Moving beyond Genre: Mapping Student Writing in a Multidimensional Situational Space.” Applied Corpus Linguistics, vol. 6, no. 3, Dec. 2026, p. 100235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acorp.2026.100235.