Register variation in student and adult speech and writing

Abstract

The brief comparison of student and adult language using multi-dimensional analysis has revealed several areas of interesting similarities and differences. This chapter explains the uses of corpus-based approach and multi-dimensional analysis which provides a platform for exploring student language. Just as these methods are useful for investigating register variation in adults, they also provide a powerful tool for exploring student language. It uses a corpus of fifth-grade student language representing many of the registers used by school-aged children, to begin to explore issues of register variation in elementary student language. Adults use a greater variety of linguistic resources and combine those resources in different ways; they thus have multiple options for accomplishing a purpose, while students accomplish the same purposes with a more limited set of resources. As more corpora of student language become available, there are many exciting areas that can be pursued through multi-dimensional analysis.