You will remember that the 13 types of student writing the BAWE research has identified are often referred to as Genres or Genre Families. They are related to five Primary Purposes as explained earlier.
|1. Demonstrating Knowledge and Understanding.||
|2. Building Research Skills.||
Literature Surveys, Methodology Recounts, Research Reports
|3. Developing Powers of Independent Reasoning.||
|4. Writing for Oneself and Others.||
Event Recounts; Public Engagement
|5. Preparing for Professional Practice.||
Case Studies; Design Specifications; Problem Questions; Proposals
When you are writing it is important to know which Genre Family you need to use. The assignment briefs, questions or titles that you are given by your lecturer can help you.
In Tasks 1, 2 and 3, you will be asked to identify the Genre Families of some assignments by looking at their titles. In Task 4, you are asked to choose the correct verb in the brief, according to the Genre Family you need to write.
The purpose of these exercises is to familiarise you with the five Primary Purposes of academic writing and the 13 Genre Families associated with these purposes. This should help you to select the most appropriate Genre Family for your writing task.
Further sections of this site will help you to write these texts, but the present purpose is simply to familiarise you with these genres.