THE GENRE AND THE GENRE EXPECTATIONS OF CRIT SESSIONS OF

ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS IN UTM

SITI NUR FARAHIN BINTI HAMDAN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT REPORT AND COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name : SITI NUR FARAHIN BINTI HAMDAN

Date of Birth : 21 APRIL 1988

Title : THE GENRE AND THE GENRE EXPECTATIONS OF CRIT SESSIONS OF

ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

Academic Session : 2010 - 2011

I declare that this project report is classified as:

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act

1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the

organization where research was done)*

OPEN ACCESS I agree that my project report to be published as online open

access (full text)

I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows:

1. The project report is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the

purpose of research only.

3. The Library has the right to make copies of the project report for academic

exchange.

Certified by:

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR

880421-05-5252 ASSOC. PROF. DR. SALBIAH SELIMAN

(NEW IC NO/PASSPORT) NAME OF SUPERVISOR

Date: 13 May 2011 Date: 13 May 2011

PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/07)

NOTES: * If the thesis is CONFIDENTAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from

the organization with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

“I hereby declare that I have read this project report and in my

opinion this project report is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the

award of the degree of Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)”

Signature : ………………………….........

Name of Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salbiah Seliman

Date : 13 May 2011

THE GENRE AND THE GENRE EXPECTATIONS OF CRIT SESSIONS OF

ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

SITI NUR FARAHIN BINTI HAMDAN

A project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

MAY 2011

ii

I declare that this project report entitled “THE GENRE AND THE GENRE

EXPECTATIONS OF CRIT SESSIONS OF ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS IN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA” is the result of my own research except as

cited in the references. The project report has not been accepted for any degree and is

not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature : ....................................................

Name : Siti Nur Farahin Binti hamdan

Date : 13 May 2011

iii

Al-Mighty Allah S.W.T.

Parents,

Hamdan Rohani and Anidah Abas

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, First and foremost, all praises be to Allah S.W.T., the

Almighty, the Benevolent for His blessing and guidance in giving me the inspiration

to embark upon and in instilling me the strength to complete my final year project.

The process to complete the project was long and thorny and I would like to

express my deepest gratitude to my project supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salbiah

Seliman who had taken me through the difficult times. I would like to thank her for

her invaluable guidance and advice to assist me to successfully complete the project.

I would also like to extend the credit to my parents, Hamdan Rohani and

Anidah Abas for their unconditional love and support for me to complete the project.

I would also like to express my appreciation to all 4-SPL students 2010/2011 for

their encouragement and valuable opinions for this project.

All your contribution and support in completing this research project are

appreciated. Thank you so much.

v

ABSTRACT

This study aims to establish the genre and the genre expectations of Crit

sessions amongst architecture students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The

objectives of this study are to determine whether Crit sessions are a genre, to identify

the architecture discourse community’s beliefs on the criteria that constitute a good

Crit session and to discover if the genre of Crit sessions meets the expectations of

that discourse community. Data were collected by recording three Crit sessions

during the first semester of 2010/2011. The panels and the students who participated

in the Crit sessions were interviewed to identify the discourse community’s beliefs

on the criteria of a good Crit session. To increase the validity of the data,

questionnaires were also distributed to the students. The recorded Crit and interview

sessions were transcribed and the mean of the data gained from the questionnaires

were calculated. From the analysis, it was found that the structure of Crit sessions did

have the features that qualify them as a genre. It was also found that there were

discrepancies in the architecture discourse community’s beliefs on the criteria of a

good Crit session. Furthermore, comparisons were made between the Genre of Crit

sessions and the beliefs of the discourse community to determine whether the Genre

of Crit sessions meets the expectations of the discourse community. It can be

generalised that the genre of the students’ Crit sessions did not meet the expectations

of the lecturers.

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ABSTRAK

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan genre dan genre jangkaan sesi Krit

pelajar arkitek di UTM. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan samada sesi

Krit merupakan satu genre, untuk mengenal pasti persepsi komuniti “discourse”

Arkitek mengenai kriteria sesi Krit yang baik, dan untuk mengkaji sekiranya genre

sesi Krit yang dijalankan memenuhi jangkaan komuniti “discourse” tersebut.

Dapatan kajian dikumpul melalui rakaman tiga sesi Krit semasa sesi akademik

semester pertama 2010/2011. Para panel dan pelajar yang terlibat di dalam sesi Krit

tersebut ditemubual untuk mengenal pasti persepsi komuniti “discourse” Arkitek

mengenai kriteria-kriteria sesi Krit yang baik. Soal-selidik juga diedarkan kepada

pelajar-pelajar untuk meningkatkan kesahan dapatan kajian. Analisis dilakukan

berdasarkan nilai purata dapatan kajian daripada soal-selidik dan transkripsi sesi Krit

dan sesi temubual yang telah dirakam. Didapati bahawa struktur sesi Krit

mempunyai ciri-ciri yang melayakkannya untuk diklasifikasikan sebagai satu genre.

Selain itu, juga didapati bahawa terdapat perbezaan persepsi dalam kalangan

komuniti “discourse” Arkitek mengenai kriteria sesi Krit yang baik. Seterusnya,

perbandingan dilakukan antara genre sesi Krit dan persepsi komuniti “discourse”

Arkitek mengenai kriteria sesi Krit yang baik untuk menentukan samada genre sesi

krit tersebut memenuhi jangkaan komuniti “discourse” arkitek. Secara amnya, genre

sesi krit pelajar tidak memenuhi jangkaan pensyarah.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES ix

LIST FO FIGURES x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi

LIST OF APPENDICES xii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Statement of Problem 3

1.3 Purpose of the Study 4

1.4 Research Objectives 4

1.5 Research Questions 5

1.6 Significance of the Study 5

1.7 Scope of the Study 6

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 What are Crit Sessions? 7

2.2 Definitions of Genre 9

2.2.1 Genre as Typified Rhetorical

Action 10

2.2.2 Genre as a Staged, Goal-oriented

Social Process 11

2.2.3 Genre as Conventionalised

Communicative Events 13

2.3 The Three Genre Orientations: Common

Ground 14

2.4 Possible Frameworks to Describe the

Genre of Crit Sessions 16

2.4.1 Move Analysis Approach 16

2.4.2 The Structure of EOPs by

Seliman (1995a) 18

2.5 The Discourse Community Members‟

Beliefs on What Constitute Good

OPs 20

2.6 Previous Studies on the Genre of

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Different Types of Oral Presentation 24

2.7 Conclusion 26

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Participants 27

3.2 Research Instruments 28

3.2.1 Transcribed Crit Sessions 28

3.2.2 Interview Responses 28

3.2.3 Questionnaires 28

3.3 Research procedures 29

3.3.1 Preliminary Study 29

3.3.2 Preparation of Intruments 29

3.3.3 Pilot Study 30

3.3.4 Data Collection 31

3.3.5 Data Analysis 31

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 The Genre of Crit Sessions 33

4.1.1 Emphasis on Conventions 34

4.1.2 Community Ownership 50

4.1.3 Genre Knowledge 51

4.1.4 Dynamism 52

4.1.5 Propensity for Innovation 52

4.2 The DC‟s Beliefs on the Criteria of a

“Good” or a “Bad” Crit Session 53

4.2.1 The Lecturers‟ Beliefs 54

4.2.2 The Students‟ Beliefs 61

4.3 The Genre Expectations of Crit Session 68

4.3.1 The Invariant Expectations of the DC 69

4.3.2 The Variant Expectations of the Lecturers 72

4.3.3 The Variant Expectations of the Students 76

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusions 79

5.2 Recommendations 81

5.2.1 Recommendations Based on Findings 81

5.2.2 Recommendations for Future Research 83

REFERENCES 84

APPENDICES 88

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

4.1 The Structure of Crit Sessions 35

4.2 Moves Utilised by All Presenters 37

4.3 The Main Moves Utilised in the Body of Crit Sessions 42

4.4 The Moves Utilised by Two of the Presenters 45

4.5 The Moves Used by One Presenter 47

4.6 The Common Beliefs Shared by All Panels 54

4.7 The Beliefs Shared by Two of the Panels 56

4.8 The Unconventional Beliefs of the Panels 59

4.9 The Common Beliefs Shared by The Students 61

4.10 The Beliefs Shared by Two of the Students 65

4.11 Criteria of a “Good” Crit Sessions: A Summary 68

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE

4.1 Examples of Introduction 38

4.2 Examples of Giving Hints or Suggestions 39

4.3 Examples of Saying „Thank You‟ 40

4.4 Examples of Initiation for Discussing with Panels 41

4.5 Examples of Explaining the Significance of the

Topic 46

4.6 Examples of Presenting the Precedent Study 46

4.7 Examples of Describing the Client 47

4.8 Examples of Describing the Architectural Approach

Used 48

4.9 Examples of Proposing a New Method to Improve

the Current Solution 49

4.10 The Panel‟s Perception on the Students‟ Progress 55

4.11 The Panel‟s Expectation on the Complexity

Level of the Design 58

4.12 The Variant and The Invariant of the DC‟s

Genre Expectations 69

4.13 Demonstration of Effort by the Students 70

4.14 Misspelling and Mispronunciation by the Students 71

4.15 The Students‟ Understanding and the

Complexity of the Design 74

4.16 Suggestions from the Panels 76

4.17 Constructive Criticism by the Panel 77

xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CP - Conference Presentation

CARS - Create-a-research-space

DC - Discourse Community

EFL - English as a Foreign Language

ESP - English for Specific Purposes

EOP - Engineering Oral Presentation

EOPs - Engineering Oral Presentations

FAB - Fakulti Alam Bina

IMRD - Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion

OP - Oral Presentation

OPs - Oral Presentations

PSM - Projek Sarjana Muda

SWOT - Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threat

UTM - Universiti teknologi Malaysia

xii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Interview Questions A: Lecturers/evaluators 88

B Interview Questions B: Students 89

C Questionnaire: Students 90

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Undoubtedly, today‟s impact of globalization has caused the increasing

demands of local graduates to develop good communication skills. The ability to

communicate effectively is one of the important requirements for graduates to

become more competitive in the job market. As stated by Murnae and Levy (1996),

in line with the technological advancement, skills required in the workplace have

changed significantly for the past two decades. Although technical skills are

undeniably important, employers have increasingly acknowledged the necessity of

non-technical skills and soft-skills.

In order to succeed in a career, there is a need for graduates to communicate

what they know. Technical knowledge alone is not enough as employees need to

have good communication skills to interact with others to exchange information with

intended audience. It is important for them to acquire essential skills in

communication as to enable them to express their ideas. A survey done by Oliver

2

(1955) indicates that the factor considered most important by employers is the way in

which a job applicant speaks and handles himself. This factor is predominant over

other factors such as education, extracurricular activities, grades, etc.

As for students of higher learning institutions, they need to present their ideas

and works through OPs. The university requirements make OPs compulsory for them

to graduate. In fact, final year students are required to present their final year projects

orally before they can graduate. This is a good practice to prepare graduates not only

to master the content knowledge but also to be able to convey the knowledge and

information to the intended audience.

There are many different types of OPs such as medical OPs, engineering OPs

etc. In the department of architecture of UTM, OPs are widely called Crit. In Crit

sessions, the architecture students are required to present their ideas and design to

peers and faculty members. Normally, the students will come up with an issue and

provide solutions for the issue through their design. Meanwhile, the OPs mentioned

by Seliman (1996) share almost the same attributes as the presenter normally present

some background information of the problem and provide solutions for the problem.

Thus, the OPs in Seliman are actually similar to the Crits in the department of

architecture.

Seliman (1996) states that the genre of OPs (in the context of this research,

Crit) is important to both the listeners and presenters. The listeners especially the

novices need to be aware of the genre in order to understand the gist of the Crit;

whilst the presenters need to understand the genre as to knowing how to bridge the

gap between themselves and the audience. Awareness on the genre of Crit by both

parties can eliminate the potential misunderstanding and miscommunication. In

addition, Crit sessions are very important to architecture students as they provide

these students the opportunity to orally present their design and to mediate between

their design artefacts (model or drawing) and their audiences (Morton, 2009).

3

Besides, Crit sessions also act as a platform for the architecture students to equip

themselves with necessary skills before they pursue their profession as an architect.

Furthermore, the genre of Crit is also important to ESP practitioners or the

teachers responsible in preparing them for the Crit sessions. ESP practitioners and

the involved teachers need to understand the genre of Crit in order to be able to

prepare instructional materials which will meet the needs of architecture students. By

doing so, it will help them to perform better during their Crit sessions.

Based on the importance of Crit, the analysis of the genre of Crit is indeed

necessary in order to enhance the performance of architecture students during Crit

sessions. Besides, it will also help to develop the skills required by the students in

order to prepare them for their career in the workplace.

1.2 Statement of Problem

OP is a must for students at tertiary level. They need to deliver OPs to present

their assignments and final year project. Besides, it is crucial for graduates to equip

themselves with good OP skills as to enable them to express their ideas and opinions

to the intended audience. Furthermore, it is vital for graduates to have good OP skills

in order to succeed in their future career. Furthermore, OP is also crucial in research

activities as researchers need to present their findings during meetings, conferences

etc.

As the importance of OP arises, there is a need for architecture and other

students to understand the genre of OPs. Besides, it will assist them in acquiring the

4

necessary skills of OPs. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the awareness of the

genre by both presenters and listeners will enhance the understanding of the

information conveyed during presentations. In addition, the knowledge of genre of

OP helps in bridging the gap between university and workplace. For these reasons,

there is a need to establish the genre and the genre expectations of the OP (i.e. Crit)

delivered by architecture students.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this research was to look into the OPs delivered by

architecture students of UTM. The focus of this research was on the architecture

students‟ presentations, known as the Crit by the department of architecture in UTM.

At the same time, the researcher intended to identify the patterns of the Crit which

permit it to be characterized as a genre. Besides, the study sought to identify the

DC‟s (lecturers‟ and the students‟) beliefs on what constitute a “good” Crit. In

addition, this study intended to determine if the genre of Crit similar with the genre

expectations of the DC.

1.4 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study were:

1.4.1 To determine if Crit sessions were a genre

1.4.2 To identify the DC‟ beliefs concerning what constitute a “good” or a

“bad” Crit session

1.4.3 To determine if the genre of Crit sessions met the expectations of the

DC.

5

1.5 Research Questions

1.5.1 Are Crit sessions a genre?

1.5.2 What are the DC‟s beliefs concerning what constitute a “good” or a

“bad” Crit session?

1.5.3 Does the genre of Crit sessions meet the expectations of the DC?

1.6 Significance of the Study

The findings of the study would provide useful information regarding the

needs of the architecture students during the Crit sessions. Based on the findings,

ESP practitioners can create and prepare instructional materials which would help to

improve the skills needed by the architecture students during Crit sessions.

Besides, the findings from this study would also benefit the students as the

findings would reveal what are the expectations of the DC during Crit sessions. Thus,

they would know what to do to impress the audience as well as to improve their Crit

sessions.

Furthermore, this study was also hoped to be able to address the future needs

of architecture students in UTM concerning their career prospects. As future

architects, they need to present their designs to intended audiences or clients; thus,

the findings on what constitutes a “good” Crit would help them to equip themselves

with the necessary skills for them to perform well in Crit sessions. They can apply

these skills when they have graduated and use it to present their designs to the

6

clients. This would undoubtedly be beneficial to the students since it is crucial for

fresh graduates to perform well in academic as well as to equip themselves with soft

skills.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study consists of the generic elements covered and the stage

of Crit sessions investigated. A genre analysis on OPs can reveal numerous elements

that can be classified as grammatical and non-grammatical elements. Examples of

non-grammatical elements are moves and sub-moves while grammatical elements

include tenses, choices of vocabulary, choices of structure etc. This research only

concentrated on the non-grammatical generic elements i.e. beliefs and expectations

of the DC members.

According to the informants, there are five stages of Crit session in the first

part of their final year project, also known as PSM I. The first stage is the proposal

stage in which the students are required to propose topic for their thesis. The second,

third and fourth stages of the Crit are the progress stages and the students are

expected to present the progress of their projects. The fifth stage is the final stage as

the students are required to prepare schematic design in preparation for their PSM ΙΙ.

In this study, the researcher analysed only the fourth stage of the Crit because

according to the informants, the students‟ projects are more stable in this stage.

Besides, architecture students are divided into several work-bases such as

Environment, Regional and Urban; but the researcher focused only on one specific

work-base which is New Spirit. In addition, only three Crit sessions were analysed as

the whole genre of Crit sessions is too wide to be established.

7

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter describes what Crit sessions are and defines genre from three

different orientations – genre as typified rhetorical actions, genre as a social process,

and genre as conventionalised communicative events. Besides, it discusses the

common ground of the three genre orientations. Furthermore, it reviews the possible

framework that can be used to describe the genre of Crit sessions. It also discusses

the DC members‟ beliefs on what is considered as a “good” OP. In addition, the

genre of OPs from previous research is discussed in this chapter.

2.1 What are Crit Sessions?

The Crit, the review, or the jury are the terms used to refer to the architecture

students‟ presentations which are at the centre of architecture courses throughout the

world (Webster, 2005).

8

For architecture students, among the academic genres that they need to learn

to produce, the Crit is a significant moment in “students‟ enculturation to

disciplinary norms” (Melles, 2008). Adding to this dimension, Frederiksen (1990)

also points out that the architecture Crit or jury aims to “socialise students to

academic and professional practices” (p.22).

According to Morton (2009), Crit sessions normally are held at least once or

twice a year for the duration of an architecture degree. Nonetheless, the number of

Crit sessions to be held is different depending on the lecturers and the students.

Besides, Morton further adds that in a typical Crit session, the students present their

ideas, design artefacts, as well as create the visual which conveys the conceptual

design of built environment space to an audience that comprises of their instructors,

peers and also external panels who are usually practitioners in the field. Each

presentation is followed by a critique. Here, the instructors and evaluators engage in

a discussion with the students; the instructors and evaluators will criticise, comment

and provide necessary feedback to the students (Morton, 2009).

Furthermore, Morton (2009) implies that Crit sessions also act as a platform

which provides students an opportunity to “verbally communicate their designs and

to mediate between their design artefacts (drawings and models) and their audience”

as they will not be able to do so after they submit their work for final stand-alone

marking.

Apart from that, Dannels (2005) identifies four distinct types of oral Crit,

summarised as below:

i. Desk Crit. This type of Crit is also known as informal Crit which normally

occurs in one-on-one setting between a faculty member and one individual

student. The Crit is held outside the formal schedule and within the studio

9

time. This type of Crit normally functions as a platform for students to

brainstorm ideas as well as receive advices from lecturer.

ii. Pin-up. The name is derived from the verb „pin-up‟ as students are required

to pin-up and display their work on a large wall or board. After that, the

students will receive feedback from both faculty members and peers.

iii. Crit. This is when the Crit, the review or the jury take place; either at mid or

end of project.

iv. Open House. This is when a broad public is invited to view materials and

visual outcomes.

The preceding types of Crit are distinguished by setting, the prominence of visual

and spatial elements, and audience feedback.

2.2 Definitions of Genre

To determine the genre of Crit sessions, it is essential to define what genre is.

There is no concrete definition of genre as “genre remains as a fuzzy concept, a

somewhat loose term of art” (Swales, 1990). The process of defining a genre often

involves substantial disagreement among theorists as a genre is ultimately an abstract

conception rather than something that exists empirically in the world (Jane Feuer,

1992). Nevertheless, it is customary to identify three broad orientations of genre

(Hyon, 1996) – genre as a typified rhetorical action; genre as a staged, goal-oriented

social process; and genre as conventionalised communicative events (Hyland, 2002).

10

2.2.1 Genre as Typified Rhetorical Action

The term genre is derived from French word for „type‟ or „class‟ (Chandler,

1997). It has its genesis in rhetoric traditions and several researchers consider genre

as typical responses to recurring rhetorical situations. Coe and Freedman (1998)

regard genre as “a socially standard strategy, embodied in a typical form of discourse

which has evolved for responding to a recurring type of rhetorical situation”. In

addition, Bitzer (1968) seems to be saying this when he describes recurrent rhetorical

situations. He maintains that when comparable situations recur and at the same time

prompts comparable rhetorical responses, rhetorical forms of discourse (i.e. genres)

are established.

Furthermore, Miller (1984) refers genre as “a conventional category of

discourse based on typification of rhetorical action” which acquires meaning from

situation and social contexts. Here, he relates the notion of recurrence of rhetorical

situations with the typicality of responses and views genre as a form of social action.

Following Miller, Bazerman (1997) defines genres as:

… not just form. Genres are forms of life, ways of being. They are frames for

social action, locations within which meaning is constructed. Genres shape

the thoughts we form and the communities by which we interact. Genres are

the familiar places we go to create intelligible communicative action with

each other and the guideposts we use to explore the unfamiliar (p.19).

As the genres in this tradition mainly focus on the effect of contextual

elements towards the users of genres in which their ways of thinking are influenced,

to certain extent, the genres possibly are challenged and reshaped to cater the needs

of the users. Thus, the understanding of genres involves “not only describing the

lexico-grammatical forms and rhetorical patterns, but also investigating the social,

cultural and institutional contexts” (Carstens, 2009).

Following the same dimension, Berkenkotter and Huckin (1995) define genre as

“inherently dynamic rhetorical structures that can be manipulated according to the