Data-Driven Learning in an EFL class: a study of Ecuadorian learners’ perceptions

Abstract

Previous research has reported an increased interest in the application of Data-Driven Learning (DDL), which was derived from corpus linguistics, to aid English as a foreign or second language learning. DDL emerged as a learner-centered approach that emphasizes the discovery of linguistic patterns by analyzing natural occurrences of language. Many studies have investigated the effect of DDL on several linguistic components and have reported positive outcomes. Consequently, its application has germane importance in an Ecuadorian context as it has not been widely explored. This study seeks to document the experience of 14 EFL students from an Ecuadorian public university and examine their perceptions towards the implementation of DDL activities. The intervention included two stages: assisted guidance for students to retrieve information on their own and corpus-based materials developed by the teacher. Students' perceptions were gathered via a questionnaire, a reflection, and a follow-up interview. The findings indicate that students perceived DDL as a practical and innovative approach to support grammar discovery in an EFL class. Nevertheless, students encountered some challenges associated with the use of DDL, for example, the limited number of searches, an issue that can be resolved by a complete registration in the COCA web. This article concludes with pedagogical implications and recommendations for future DDL applications and research in Ecuadorian EFL classes.