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University of Warwick ELTAM. Tilly Harrison Week 7 Concordances and Data-driven learning. Overview. Issues with corpora and concordancers Examples and tasks Problems arising Three types of data-driven learning Examples of exercise types Hands-on practice. Corpus Basics .
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University of WarwickELTAM Tilly Harrison Week 7 Concordances and Data-driven learning
Overview • Issues with corpora and concordancers • Examples and tasks • Problems arising • Three types of data-driven learning • Examples of exercise types • Hands-on practice
Corpus Basics • Plural = corpora • A body of text • (Now) held in electronic form • Data for linguistic research • No upper or lower limit for size • Large enough to yield useful data • Smaller corpora are less overwhelming
Why Corpora? • Supplement to dictionaries and grammar books • Data is fresh and authentic • New insights are possible • Frequent use and typical collocations are memorable • The teacher need not be the authority • Language awareness is enhanced
Corpus Use for Teaching • Pedagogic purposes differ from research purposes – the corpus should reflect the task. • Familiar corpora are better for learners • Learners should be capable of reading the texts used in the corpus • Smaller corpora yield fewer examples of common lexical words (eg pavement, ceiling) • Corpus search results can be unpredictable – prepare students for this.
How is the Corpus searched? • Special software is needed - concordancers • Concordancers vary in type, purpose, complexity and price • Two main approaches - indexing text / calculating ‘on the fly’ • Not all concordancers can carry out all tasks • The simplest concordancers are best for beginners
Types of Concordancer • Lookup • SARA • Longman Mini Concordancer • Conc • AntConc
Example - advanced student writing an academic essay • “This situation is deeply related with Japan’s foreign policy…” Deep: of great intensity; extreme Related: connected, associated
Task - look at the sets of concordance lines (Query results) for ‘related’ and ‘deeply’. • Discuss in pairs / groups • What can a learner find out that would not be in a dictionary? • How could you show this to the learner?
Closely - 13/40 lines To - only preposition used
No ‘related’. Often used to express emotions, impressions
Problem Sentence • ‘The letters [to the editor] normally end up with the name of the author’ • Teacher underlined ‘end up with’ • Student now checks the dictionary….
end up phrasal verb to be in a particular situation, state, or place after a series of events, especially when you did not plan it He came round for a coffee and we ended up in bed together. I wondered where the pictures would end up after the auction. end up doing something Most slimmers end up putting weight back on. end up with Anyone who swims in the river could end up with a nasty stomach upset. end up as He could end up as President. end up like I don't want to end up like my parents Longman (CD ROM) for ‘end up’
Task - look at the sets of concordance lines (Query results) for ‘end up with’ and ‘end with’. • Discuss in pairs / groups • What differences do you notice? • Is this something it would be easy to find in a dictionary?
Cobuild Concordance for ‘end+up+with’ hat you will sometimes end up with unsaleable seats; we cost edge. You are likely to end up with a patch of bare earth, but Will the public end up with no adult education? This 00 - and valuations and end up with nothing if somebody outbid after Kentucky he could end up with egg all over his face. The in the Bible, too. Some end up with more, some with less." And two ways about it. You end up with a gun-law mentality. `trial" will probably end up with Spurs getting 10 bonus basically you'll end up with chaos which is what's his may mean `So we may end up with fewer people getting ever know what you will end up with until it is too late. The ot count coins, so they end up with a pocket full of change
Cobuild Concordance for ‘end+with’ t deadlock with John Barnes will end with the England star ex Ferguson that looks certain to end with him having to move e a life could pass so fast and end with open circles. He y is to be continued. It does not end with chart success for t spate of horse-slashing may not end with a criminal convicti der Herve Garel, will start and end with time trials, in ughly rejuvenating morning will end with a healthy buffet had not intended the offensive to end with the capture of be his last journey, which would end with his death in 1873 w Jensen, what went right?" and to end with the words, `Never mind, Mr Jensen, it's
Problem Sentence • If a man and a woman apply for the same job, it is no doubt that in many cases the woman will be accepted . • Teacher underlined ‘it is no doubt’ • Student now checks the dictionary….
Longman (CD ROM) for ‘no doubt’ • no doubt • used when you are saying that you think something is probably true • No doubt you'll have your own ideas. • She was a top student, no doubt about it (=it is certainly true) .
Cobuild Concordance for ‘no+doubt+that’ he progress? [/h] [p] There isno doubt that important advance of anti-stress therapy There'sno doubt that coming home with ound on these stands, there isno doubt that Turner's painting egnancy and birth [/h] There'sno doubt that facing pregnancy oreign affairs chief. There isno doubt that the talks will be ke fewer than ten There can beno doubt that the result is an said -- none the less, he left no doubt that he was delighted pressure to step down: There'sno doubt that the inconclusive in the opinion polls. There'sno doubt that many people are had given him away. There wasno doubt that he was clever. It nevitable embroidery, there isno doubt that Haig played a ma tful of our soldiers. There isno doubt that we have, in this
Problems • Concordance lines are unfamiliar and off-putting • Cultural context and unfamiliar vocabulary can make the task more difficult • No data or conflicting data • Training is needed for the use of the concordancer
Corpus Creation • Representing the whole language? • BUT for LT not all text types are suitable • Examples of unsuitable texts: • Poetry • Dialect • Archaic • Technical • Artificial (ELT textbooks)
Think about your students’ reading level. What kinds of text would make a suitable corpus for them? Discuss in small groups.
The natural use of function words can be seen in a very small corpus. Many common content words may not be found even in a very large corpus. The ideal corpus is made up of the texts your students need to read / write / say. BUT a corpus of mainstream English (mass media) is adequate for teaching general English Corpus Creation
Data-driven Learning 1- prepared exercises • Learners as researchers – inductive approach • Types of Teaching / Testing • Collocation • Colligation • Cultural Associations • Semantic Prosody • Connotations • Needs teacher training and teacher time!
Concordance - Based Exercises • Inductive • Follow-up exercises • Can be needs / error analysis driven • BUT it takes time at first • Corpus should be at reading level of students • Genre of corpus should be suitable
Exercise made using MicroConcord Fill in the gaps with words from the list below. Answers abort, communist, culturally shared, digital, his officials, minor, mixtures of liquid and crystals, molten rock, people who struggled with O-level, silicon chips, speed limits, worse, 1 on of TV, whether analogue or ____________, could offer better and bigger 2 stimates, whether better or ____________. Taking the best possible outcome of 3 ocieties, whether capitalist or ____________, have given only lukewarm 4 he melts, whether completely liquid or ____________, would fl 5 ndustry), whether he or ____________ had seen the recent Channel 4 programme 6 crucial. Whether idiosyncratic or ____________, they inform and mediate ou 7 y address whether load or ____________ should be adjusted for the machine's 8 isorder - whether major or ____________ - if nothing can be done about the 9 fluids - whether oil, water or ____________ - seep through rocks where 10 people - whether professional scientists or ____________ 11 made of, whether protoplasm or ____________, but how the material is 12 to choose whether to attempt or ____________ a pregnancy; they would make the
Contrast Look carefully at the following citations from New Scientist. What do they have in common? ena from more dubious data, we propose that they should be renamed "UAPs", for unidentifie hen his advisory committee recommended that last year Depo-Provera should get a licence. C eir drinking water. The EEC recommends that tap water should not contain more than 5 micro he scale of the problem. It recommends that the government should set a firm date for thes olol. The Greenfield report recommends that prescrition forms should contain a box, which f the road plan was the recommendation that for half its length it should be routed throug h a name for the strategy. He suggests that the term "porpoising" should be used to descri put an absolute veto on-any suggestion that Post Office canvassers should be remunerated b Now look at the following citations. How are they different from citations 1) - 8)? Can you explain the difference? sed, and with it, speed. They proposed that Harward create a super-track tuned to hum ed voice: 'Then will somebody propose that this paper be rejected irrespective of it con under review. An HSE document proposes that GMAG be turned into ACGM - an Advisory apolis. They said: "......we recommend that the dose of benoxaprofen be decreased mistic. The committee also recommended that the government clarify the rules covering the sing plants breaks down. It recommends that France take a second look at following the h. The coordianting committee suggests that the appeal panel ask why this change has been of the University of Bristol, suggests that a group of babies be trained to use a "baby-
Gapped Lines 1 What's the missing word? infected people are prone to almost infection that happens to that plasticity would have scarcely influence on failure in th those who would like to see hardly movement at all. Harold have, it is to be assumed, little if relevance to the actual, ovember. He did not, however, detect pulses. The newly-discovered
Gapped Lines 2 What's the missing word? Choose from the list below. Nouns : agreement, announcement, assurances, comment, proof, suggestion, warning AN team does give them a ___________ that another Richter-7 earthquake is due in 7 or 11 ints could strengthen the ___________ that Britain needs to frame more acceptable noise l schemes require detailed ___________ that applications for grants are soundly based, the "We shall need cast iron ___________ that the work does not leak abroad," said Jenkin. T t, 10 March, p 630). Your ___________ that the central thesis of my lecture does not stan Last week's ___________ that a gigantic cloud of dark gas has been found in e main network. Serpell's ___________ that this line should close could cost British Rail e well. There was general ___________ that the struggle began much earlier -in the school
And Many More! • Matching • Cohesion • Cause / Effect • Lexical Sets • Fixed Phrases • Superordinates/Hyponyms/Antonyms
Data-driven Learning 2 – teacher using computer with students • As above (inductive approach etc.) • Responsive to immediate needs • Authentic materials • Focus on form • Needs confident teacher • Many examples in Johns’ ‘kibbitzers’
Data-driven Learning 3 – students using concordancer • As above (inductive approach, authentic materials, focus on form, immediate response to queries etc.) • Learner autonomy • Needs learner training • Presupposes advanced level students
Conclusion • What is it to know a word? • Exercises can focus on collocation • Concordancing reveals patterns - a new way of reading • Self access gives learners numerous native-speaker examples