Using Corpora in Language Teaching, Learning and Use

Abstract

Language corpora have been shown to be of substantial help in improving learner writing, both for advanced students majoring in the language as well as for students with lower levels of proficiency needing language for specific purposes. This paper outlines two very different ways an online corpus has been successfully used as a reference resource by our learners. The first is in a distance learning context: the teacher highlights issues in the student’s academic writing and suggests corpus uses rather than simply giving the correction, the objective being to raise awareness of and sensitivity to the language problems identified. The second derives from a classroom situation where the learner himself chooses the items to check in a professional simulation writing task; the teacher guides the process, again with the intention of fostering the learner’s autonomy.