The first part of this article explains which methodological issues need to be examined in order to establish and transcribe a large corpus of texts written by pupils, along with their school context. The second part of the article states the various lines of epistemological questioning which led to a second research project, i.e. questions about how to define types of school writing as well as a corpus and context, and about the necessary links between those three elements. A variety of software programs was used to analyse corpora which were not in conformity with orthographical and stylistical standards. Such a use seems possible, joined with qualitative analysis.
