Prof. Karīna Aijmere ( Karin Aijmer ) Gēteborgas Universitāte, Zviedrija „Valodas apguvēju korpuss – tā veidošana un izmantošana valodu apguvē, mācību materiālu izveidē”

While the use of computer text corpora in research is now well established, they are now being used increasingly for teaching purposes. This includes the use of corpus data to inform and create teaching materials; it also includes the direct exploration of corpora by students, both in the study of linguistics and of foreign languages. (Stewart, Bernardini and Aston 2004)

Corpora are collections of texts stored electronically which provide access to authentic language use. The corpus revolution has now also reached the pedagogical sphere.

Corpora provide authentic data Corpora are important for language learning and teaching and in the classroom Corpora are important for the writing of dictionaries, grammars and textbooks – The Cobuild Dictionary – The Cambridge Grammar of English (Carter and McCarthy 2006)

Publications Corpora and Language Learners (2004) How to use Corpora in Language Teaching (2004) Corpora and Language Teaching (2009) Corpus Linguistics and Language Teachers (2010) Conferences (TaLC)

In addition to native corpora we now have learner corpora According to Leech 1998 ’we may claim that the concept of a learner corpus is an idea ’whose hour has come’

Computer learner corpora are electronic collections of authentic FL/SL textual data assembled according to explicit design criteria for a particular SLA/FLT purpose. They are encoded in a standardised and homogeneous way and documented as to their origin and provenance.

A so-called learner profile gives information about name, age, sex, native language, language spoken at home, education (how many years of English), stay in an English-speaking country The learner corpus can be used with special tools (WordSmith, Error editor, PoS-tagger)

Methodology: comparison with a native speaker corpus Makes it possible to identify features characteristic of the learners’ interlanguage What do learners need help with?

the International Corpus of learner English (ICLE) Initiated by Professor Sylviane Granger at the University of Louvain-la-neuve. It totals 3.5 million words and includes essays written by learners from 16 different backgrounds.

Advantages of a learner corpus Corpus-linguistic methods and tools can be used (WordSmith, PoS taggers) Error tagging – How should error be coded and claaffied?

The ICLE-corpora can be used together with a native speaker corpus Makes it possible to identify features which are typical of non-native speakers Overuse – a feature is more frqquent in the non-native speaker corpus thain in the native-speaker corpus Underuse – a feature is less frqquent in the non-native speaker corpus thain in the native-speaker corpus

Example of overuse Learners generally overuse I think in argumentative writing (Swe learners 41 times; NSs 3 times) Can be explained as overuse of patterns from spoken language in written language Compare very and really

Large learner corpora have been assembled by publishers (Longman, Cambridge University Press) The Cambridge Grammar of English (2006) Advanced Learners’ dictionaries (Longman)

There are several new developments in learner corpus studies Longitudinal corpora Corpora of novice learners in addition to advanced learners The advent of spoken learner corpora

Spoken learner corpora The pedagogical applications are linked to the teaching of communicative practices How does one create a spoken learner corpus? The LINDSEI Corpus (Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage)

Spoken learner corpora Based on interviews Advanced learners Comparisons can be made with a comparable corpus with native speaker students

Makes it possible to consider the ’errors’ made by non-native speakers in their conversational behaviour Includes overuse and underuse Phenomena which are difficult for learners include discourse features such as little words like well, you know and I mean

Little words such as well, you know and I mean seem to mean very little They are above all fluency devices contributing to coherence in the discourse they are generally underused

A: (I mean) I mean she’s so little I mean you you know sort of one can imagine a sort of middle-aged woman with a coat that seemed you know sort of just slightly exaggerated her form you know (I mean) she could sort of slip things in inside pockets but C: m m B: no she just carried it all home in a carrier bag didn’t she

Non-native speakers generally underuse ’pragmatic markers’ Well is an exception he came to visit sometimes. [uhm] he was fifteen years old I think. but [uhm]. well family life [uhm]. that’s difficult to … hm. well I don’t know really well it was it was exciting to. to see em different habits and so on but nothing in particular

Well is overused by Swedish, German and French learners Well is underused by Chinese learners Should pragmatic markers be taught or are they acquired implicitly by exposure They are overused and misused and should therefore be taught

The teaching of spoken phenomena is now generally recognized Supported by results from learner corpora Learner corpora can target what is to be taught by pointing to ’errors’ explicit as warning notes

Types of applications of learner corpora How can they inform teaching in the classroom How can they be a resource for textbook writers

Learner corpora have both direct and indirect uses Direct uses: hands-on uses of learner corpora in the class-room What happens for example if a pragmatic marker is omitted? What is the function of the pragmtic marker?

What will happen in the future? More and different learner corpora Learner corpora of different languages More use of learner corpora to target teaching objectives and inform teaching aids More attention to learners’ errors and difficulties in dictionaries, grammars and textbooks (warning notes)