An online training course on the use of corpora for teachers in public schools

Abstract

This paper describes the outcomes of a teacher-training course offered to inservice teachers in public education on the use of corpora in language education. The paper reports on a mixed method study that explores in-service teachers’ evaluation of an online seven-week course in corpus linguistics (CL). Data were gathered through surveys and open-ended questions. Seventy-one in-service teachers took part in this study and completed both pre- and post-course questionnaires. The main aim of the course was to introduce the main concepts of CL, including an exploration of CL tools and resources, and the use of CL in learning and teaching. The course presents a wide range of corpora, corpus-based materials, and tools. The participants had a positive reaction to the course and considered it useful and comprehensive, although they did not prefer the online delivery method for the practical sessions of the course. The participants acknowledged the usefulness of corpora in their classrooms as well as the possible difficulties they might face, which shows that they genuinely thought about applying corpora in their teaching contexts. Moreover, the participants showed a willingness for the future use of corpora. Offering such a course to in-service teachers using an online delivery method is not preferable, but a hybrid course may be more suitable and effective, given the variation in teachers’ computer and corpus literacy.