Transcript The application of corpus analysis and concordance

The application of corpus
analysis and concordance
feedback to collegiate EFL
writing
Presenter: Wen-Shuenn Wu (Michael Wu)
Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
May 22, 2009
‘Research is too
important to be left to
the researchers.’
(Tim Johns, 1991)
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Introduction
• What is corpus?
– A collection of naturally occurring
examples of language, consisting of
anything from a few sentences to a set of
written texts or tape recordings, which
have been collected for linguistic study.
(Hunston, 2002, p.2)
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Introduction
• What is concordance?
– A listing of all the occurrences in the
corpus of the query item, together with
some surrounding context in the form of
words to the left and right. (Hoffmann,
Evert, Smith, Lee, Pryta, 2008, p.264)
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Classification of corpora
• Closed corpora
• Paid corpora (self-owned
servers)
• Free online corpora
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Closed Corpora
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CIC
(Cambridge International Corpus)
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Paid Corpora
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BNC (British National Corpus)
75 GBP = 150 USD
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ANC (American National Corpus)
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ICAME (International Computer Archive
of Modern and Medieval English)
About 20 corpora (e.g. Brown, LOB, Helsinki) in CDROM.
3,500 NOK = 700 USD
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LDC (Linguistic Data Consortium)
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Free online
Corpora
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BNCWeb
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The Collins Wordbanks Online
English Corpus
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JustTheWord
Sharp Laboratory of Europe
http://193.133.140.102/JustTheWord
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COCA (The Corpus of Contemporary
American English)
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MICASE (Michigan Corpus of
Academic Spoken English)
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Compleat Lexical Tutor
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Data-driven learning (DDL)
• Students act as ‘language detectives’,
discovering facts about the language
from authentic examples. (Hunston,
2002)
• DDL serves as consciousness-raising
• DDL does not ‘teach’ a language
feature, but presents learners with
evidence and asks them to make
hypotheses and draw conclusions. 20
Corpora and language teaching
• To improve student’s skills of using
real language in context to come up
with an answer to certain grammar
and usage problems.
• To investigate the lexico-grammatical
associations and pattern differences
between nearly synonymous words.
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Advantages of using corpora in a
language class
• Solve some grammatical and usage
problems.
• Additional corpus material may be
useful to help the learner to see a
recurrent pattern rather than relying
on a single occurrence from a text.
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Disadvantages of using corpora in
a language class
• time-consuming
• wrong conclusion or incorrect
interpretation.
• “That’s why we suggest you talk to
us first.”
• “In that case I suggest we stick to it,
because I have the strong feeling
that…”
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Disadvantages of using corpora in
a language class (cont.)
• Not all the concordance-derived data
are grammatically correct.
• A teacher has to make a couple of
digressions from the main topics of a
lesson, which definitely will interrupt
the flow of the lecture or discussion.
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Dictionary definition of advise,
suggest, and recommend (LDCE)
• advise: to tell someone what you think
they should do, especially when you know
more than they do about something
• suggest: to tell someone your ideas about
what they should do, where they should
go etc
• recommend: to advise someone to do
something, especially when you have
special knowledge of a particular subject
or situation
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Whether these sentences are
correct?
• I suggested a new procedure to the
committee.
• A broker will advise you how to
invest your money.
• I would always recommend buying a
good quality bicycle rather than a
cheap one.
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How about these sentences?
• He suggested us to go for a drink. (LDCE)
• He suggested that we go for a drink.
• He advised to leave as quickly as possible.
(Collins COBUILD English Usage, p.26)
• Can you suggest something for us to do
this weekend?
• If you go to London, we recommend you
visiting Tate Modern. (LDCE)
• They advised him that the tour would
proceed.
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Pilot Study
• Find out the whether advise, suggest,
and recommend can be used in the
following patterns?
• V + N + (not) to-V
• V + wh-clause/phrase
• V + that-clause
• V + -ing
• V + for/to someone + to-V
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (1)
• native speaker intuition vs. non-native
speaker competence
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (2)
• the absence of some target patterns and
rare instances of target patterns
• suggest + N + to V: (8 target patterns out
of 8778 examples from BNCWeb)
• I would suggest you to ask that question
in fact you’ll ask Gordon afterwards.
• suggest medicines to help reduce your
symptoms.
• suggest ways to help my weight reduction
• suggest strategies to increase the safety
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of …
pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspctive (4)
• recommend + N + V-ing (Longman
Grammar of Spoken and Written
English, p.742) (2 target patterns out
of 1784 examples from BNCWeb:
“…although she would recommend
you using more tact than Judith did.”)
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (5)
• suggest + N + V-ing (Longman
Grammar of Spoken and Written
English, p.742) (4 target patterns out
of 8778 examples from BNCWeb:
Perhaps I could suggest her getting
someone in to look after him and she
could come..)
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (6)
• real language: Where the example
sentences from corpora are ‘real language’
in a meaningful context?
• In the classroom setting, EFL students are
unlikely to be motivated by corpus-based
data if the instances of language use that
they are studying are taken from contexts
which are detached from their interests
and concerns (Tribble, 1997).
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Conclusion
• “It is certainly true that I do not
believe (and do not think the
research demonstrates) that there is
just one preferred approach to
teaching grammar. The acquisition of
the grammatical system of an L2 is a
complex process and almost
certainly can be assisted best by a
variety of approaches.” (Ellis, 2006,
p.103)
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