Applying ‘Sketch Engine for Language Learning’ in the Japanese English classroom

Abstract

The application of online authentic language data has played an increasingly important role in language teaching. These include freely available online corpora such as the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English. However, students are easily overwhelmed by the enormous amount of incomplete sentences (concordance lines) contained therein and therefore may fail to consult keywords and expressions as a resource tool. As an alternative resource a new web-based platform for English language learning, called Sketch Engine for Language Learning (SkELL), has been developed. Unlike the aforementioned corpora, SkELL generates sufficient amount of complete sentences which help students learn multiple examples of lexical and grammatical items in context. However, little research has been conducted as to how Japanese students with lower English proficiency assess the efficacy of SkELL. This study aims to examine the potential and limitation of SkELL in the language classroom for Japanese students who have almost no online experience in educational settings. The findings indicate that there is a close relationship between students’ view of the utilisation and efficacy of the resource and their attitudes toward English education. The study concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications of the use of SkELL as a valuable educational tool for students who are accustomed to traditional English language learning.