The Use of Make in a Korean Learner Spoken Corpus

Abstract

The present study explores the various uses of the high-frequency verb ‘make’ by Korean learners of English. Specifically, we focus on the usage of this verb revealed in a Korean learner spoken corpus and compare its result with the native English speaker corpus (SBCSAE) and a Korean learner written corpus (Kim, 2002). A combination of manual and computer-aided approaches using software called AntConc 3.5.8 is used for analysis. The results demonstrate that there are significant differences in the usage of ‘make’ in the two spoken corpora under study. Specifically, while Korean learners tend to overgeneralize the causative and productive meaning of ‘make’, the preferred use of ‘make’ among English speakers is the delexical one. In addition, the frequency of productive meaning of ‘make’ by the Korean learners of English is noticeably higher as compared to the results of the written corpora. Taken together, the results of the present study allow us to draw the following two conclusions. First, in speaking, Korean learners use ‘make’ differently from native English speakers; second, the Korean learners’ uses of ‘make’ in speaking are significantly different from those in writing. Moreover, the current study implies pedagogical implications. That is, students should be given a corpus-driven teaching to learn how to use high-frequency delexical verbs correctly occurring in natural contexts, comparing native English speaker spoken corpus. (Incheon National University)