How Does College Writing Change Over Time? Examining Written Linguistic Patterns in Academic Writing Across Levels and Genres

As students transition from the first year to the senior year, we expect their writing to develop and mature. But if so, in what ways? What does new college students writing look like lexically and grammatically compared to more advanced academic writing? Which patterns appear most influenced by level, and which ones by genre? This session will explore some corpus-based answers to these questions and will offer some implications for both teaching and assessing writing.