A Genre–based Study of Case Response Writing on an MBA Programme

What Is Good Academic Writing?

“…Examples of research findings that emphasize variation rather than conformity within genres include those of Biber, who notes that the degree of variation challenges our assumptions of what a genre typically contains (Biber 2002). Belcher and Hirvela (2005), looking at the qualitative dissertation, find that it is a 'fuzzy genre' , and, more recently, Nathan's (2016) study establishes 'substantial variability' between the three different categories of thirty-six business-related case reports, noting that it would benefit tutors to be aware of such variation. We agree with Johns that 'genre as a research topic is nowhere near exhausted' (Johns 2013: 21).…”

“…Another question we ask ourselves is how much genre-based studies really tell us about what constitutes 'good' student writing. Nesi and Gardner are careful to limit their analysis to merit and distinction level work, as are , who uses twenty distinction-level essays to look at the role of descriptive writing in critical analysis, and Nathan (2016), who conducts a genre analysis of thirty-six business-related case reports marked as 60 per cent or above. However, such studies select top mark assignments using two assumptions; firstly that a high mark correlates with 'correct' or 'good' use of features of the genre, and secondly that this correlation is causal.…”