Using Corpus-based Research for Language Teaching and Learning

1. Using Corpus-based Research for Language Teaching and Learning ENGLISH 510 Hee Sung (Grace) Jun & Kimberly LeVelle

2. The importance of corpus-based research for language teachers By Susan Conrad (1999)

3. Definitions of terms • Corpus: principled collection of naturally-occurring texts • Corpus Linguistics: the empirical study of language relying on computer-assisted techniques to analyze large, principled databases of naturally occurring language • Concordancers: software programs that display words or simple grammatical terms with their surrounding context

4. Limitations of previous corpus-based work for language teachers • 1. Small-scale analyses • Small collection of texts compiled by convenience • Looking at all occurrences of a word or reading a transcript from corpus • 2. Focus on lexical or lexico-grammatical analyses • Study words alone or words in connection with a grammatical feature

5. Characteristics of corpus-based research • 1. Use a principled collection of naturally-occurring texts (corpus) • Size • Diversity • 2. Use computers for analyses • 3. Both quantitative analyses and functional interpretations of language use

6. Advantages of large-scale corpus-based studies • 1. Allow investigation of a variety of factors • Frequency • Semantic categories • Grammatical structures • Clausal positions • Individual items • 2. Easy to investigate social variation • register, gender, regional differences • 3. Provides both structural description and information about use • Intuition  concrete support and examples that reliably represent real language use Interrelated

7. Will corpus linguistics revolutionize grammar teaching in the 21st century? By Susan Conrad (2000)

8. Changes in grammar teaching and research at the end of the 20th century • 1. Renewed interest in focus on form • 2. Computer technology enabled the development of corpus linguistics

9. Three revolutionary changes in grammar teaching in the 21st century prompted by corpus-based studies • 1. Monolithic descriptions of English grammar  register-specific descriptions • 2. Integration of teaching of grammar with teaching of vocabulary • 3. Structural accuracy  appropriate conditions of use

10. Four Factors on which the Future of Grammar Teaching Depends • Introduction of corpus-based research to the right audience including teachers and teachers-in-training • Thoughtful presentation of pedagogical applications of corpus research • New grammar teaching materials that incorporate corpus-based research • Teachers’ willingness to deviate from traditional grammar syllabi and accept the changes

11. Integrating corpus consultation in language studies By Angela Chambers (2005)

12. Types of Corpus Based Research • TEACHING ABOUT (i.e., teaching about corpora/corpus linguistics) • TEACHING TO EXPLOIT (i.e., teaching students to exploit corpus data) • EXPLOITING TO TEACH (i.e., exploiting corpus resources in order to teach)

13. Methodology • Students studying Applied Languages and Applied Languages with Computing • 3 week unit on corpora and concordancing • Students design own investigation • Corpora for each language were compiled from journalistic and academic writing sources

14. Findings • Student reactions to the activity • grammar text and corpus together • types of text to include in corpus • Discovery learning • Learner autonomy

15. DISADVANTAGES • Not a replacement for grammar book • prescriptive vs. descriptive dilemma • Limitations of small corpus • Time intensive • Learner training (as discussed by Jinrong and Pan Na) • Availability of corpora (esp. in variety of languages)

16. Using a Concordancer