Corpus linguistics is defined as the study of language relying on computer-assisted techniques to analyze large, principled databases of naturally occurring language. Because of the development of technology in the 21st century, this computer-assisted corpus linguistics begin to play a important role in pedagogy.
The most well-known use of corpus linguistics in the language classroom is concordance. It will help teachers to look at corpus instances of the searched words or phrases, observing patterns of use that they would not notice otherwise. And as Susan Conrad said in her paper, corpus linguistics made language professionals know that grammatical study needs to take place within the context of a register or by comparing registers. What’s more, the corpus-based research substantially improves the lists which are given by the traditional grammar books. That’s because the information is no longer based on the intuition or anecdotal evidence. These new lists will not omit important items. And in addition, frequency information can help teachers decide which items they should emphasize or what kind of activities are the most appropriate. Corpus linguistics can also make grammar teaching more focused on conditions of use. When teachers use the finding of corpus database, they don’t even have to approach a native speaker.
I never used a corpus database before, so I know nothing about the corpus linguistics. However, I think that with the corpus linguistics, I will know the typical language use patterns of Chinese, without doing the survey myself. And the frustrated situation for language teachers which is mentioned in Susan Conrad’s paper is that something that is grammatically acceptable but doesn’t sound right will be changed by corpus linguistics. That will be a great help.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
About Me
- Ling
- My name is Ling, I came from a small but beautiful city located in the east part of China. If anyone wants to tranvl in my hometown,just call me(*^__^*), and I'm still working on my English!
1 comments:
Hi Ling,
I have never used these sorts of corpus databases or concordances either, so I really only know what I have read about them in books and articles.
I think you make a very good point: that when we want to find out (or explain to students) why something might be grammatically OK, but still sound strange, a corpus database is just as useful for all teachers-- regardless of whether they are native speakers or not.
As I was reading these articles, I was thinking about the Chinese language learning materials I have used, and I was wondering if corpus linguistics is being used to make them more effective. I hope so! Because I often get the feeling that I am working hard to learn something that might be old-fashioned, or only useful in formal writing, etc.
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