This research describes a case study from engineering education that explores the potential for integrating Multi-Dimensional (MD) analysis into mixed methods research so that MD analyses can address more specific educational problems. The study investigates a specific problem in civil engineering: the mismatch between students’ writing skills and the demands of writing in the workplace. An MD analysis compares a small number of registers of student and practitioner writing, applying the dimensions of variation in English from Biber (1988). Data from interviews with students, faculty, and practitioners are used to interpret the MD findings more fully, assess the importance of the findings, and refine the teaching applications. The two methods together result in a stronger study than either would alone.
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(2009) Register, genre, and style. Cambridge: CUP.
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(2002). Speaking and writing in the university: A multi-dimensional comparison. TESOL Quarterly, 36(1), 9-48.
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(2003) The authors respond: Strengths and goals of multi-dimensional analysis. (Response to M. Ghadessy). TESOL Quarterly, 37(1), 151-155.
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Cited by
Cited by 9 other publications
Conrad, Susan
2017. A Comparison of Practitioner and Student Writing in Civil Engineering. Journal of Engineering Education 106:2 ► pp. 191 ff.
Conrad, Susan
2018. The Use of Passives and Impersonal Style in Civil Engineering Writing. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 32:1 ► pp. 38 ff.
Hardy, Jack A.
2015. Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Academic Discourse. In Corpora and Discourse Studies, ► pp. 155 ff.
Jin, Bixi
2018. A Multidimensional Analysis of Research Article Discussion Sections in the Field of Chemical Engineering. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 61:3 ► pp. 242 ff.
Jin, Bixi
2021. A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Research Article Discussion Sections in an Engineering Discipline: Corpus Explorations and Scientists’ Perceptions. SAGE Open 11:4 ► pp. 215824402110504 ff.
Pan, Fan
2018. A multidimensional analysis of L1–L2 differences across three advanced levels. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 36:2 ► pp. 117 ff.
Sardinha, Tony Berber
2020. A historical characterisation of American and Brazilian cultures based on lexical representations. Corpora 15:2 ► pp. 183 ff.
Sardinha, Tony Berber, Carlos Kauffmann & Cristina Mayer Acunzo
2014. A multi-dimensional analysis of register variation in Brazilian Portuguese. Corpora 9:2 ► pp. 239 ff.
Sardinha, Tony Berber & Marcia Veirano Pinto
2017. American television and off-screen registers: a corpus-based comparison. Corpora 12:1 ► pp. 85 ff.
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