Issues in corpus-informed research and learning in ESP

Abstract

To date, corpora have been widely used in general English language research (lexicography, phraseology, discourse, etc.), and increasingly in specialised language and genres. However, little of this has yet had any concrete impact on the material and pedagogy of ESP courses or on the students' involvement in the learning process. There is also a largely unfulfilled need for ESP support for academics who have to publish in English in their disciplinary area. With its emphasis on concrete applications, this book attempts to fill this gap. It is organised into two main sections: a) applications of corpus linguistics for language research, and b) applications of corpus linguistics for language teaching and learning. However, these are essentially two sides of the same coin: all the articles address teaching/learning issues, and the findings are therefore directly applicable in the higher education context to nonnative speakers (NNS) who need to use ESP/EAP.