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- Volume 10, Issue 1, 2024
International Journal of Learner Corpus Research - Volume 10, Issue 1, 2024
Volume 10, Issue 1, 2024
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Teaching L2 speech fluency with learner‑corpus‑based awareness‑raising activities
Author(s): Pauliina Peltonen and Pekka Lintunenpp.: 39–66 (28)More LessAbstractSecond language (L2) speech fluency has been found to develop especially in study-abroad contexts, while few studies have examined fluency development in formal instruction. Furthermore, the instructional approaches have rarely targeted fluency specifically. The present study examines the effects of a teaching experiment utilizing learner-corpus-based awareness-raising activities on L2 fluency development in formal instruction. Eighteen Finnish university students of English, divided into control and experimental groups, provided speech samples at the beginning and end of an L2 English pronunciation course. The samples were analyzed with a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analyses demonstrated mostly minor differences in fluency development across the groups. Qualitative analyses demonstrated individual learning trajectories regarding stalling mechanisms. The findings suggest that while corpus-based awareness-raising activities can be beneficial for supporting L2 fluency development, a more extensive teaching approach is needed for full effects. The study has implications for L2 fluency research and pedagogy.
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Learning to interact from conversational narratives
Author(s): Virginie André, Alex Boulton, Maud Ciekanski and Clara Cousinardpp.: 67–106 (40)More LessAbstractThis article explores two under-researched types of corpora for use in data-driven learning (DDL): L2 corpora (i.e. in a second or foreign language) and multimodal corpora. It first outlines the development of FLEURON, a dedicated DDL platform designed to support interactional competence in French as a Foreign Language (FFL), based on multimodal corpora of both native and L2 speakers. It then presents an ecological study of how 19 international FFL learners interacted with the platform in a DDL approach at the University of Lorraine. The analysis highlights how L2 corpora in particular can help learners to improve their awareness of complex phenomena related to conversational narratives by engaging their meta-cognitive strategies during their time abroad. The study thus reveals the potential for integrating an L2 component among the range of resources available for teaching and learning spoken interaction.
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Using learner corpus data for grammatical accuracy development in written productions
Author(s): Cédric Sarré, Cédric Brudermann and Muriel Grosboispp.: 107–145 (39)More LessAbstractThis study investigates the differential effect of various noticing activities on grammatical accuracy development in EFL learners’ written productions. We focus on different types of noticing activities based on an error-tagged learner corpus and report on effective practical experiments involving learner corpus data. A pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design is used with three experimental groups (receiving different treatments) and one control group. Error frequencies, at both group and individual levels, and proportions of learners producing errors on three specific error types (articles, verb tense, verb agreement) are compared. Our results suggest that accuracy in the use of articles and verb agreement could be more easily fostered through the comparison of learner output with native data (the BNC, in our case). As for verb tenses, the impact of a more traditional form of corrective feedback seems greater while the use of online machine translation tools does not seem to foster much accuracy development.
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Building language and genre awareness through learner corpus data in a second language writing course
Author(s): Shelley Staples, Nina Conrad, Anh Dang and Hui Wangpp.: 146–182 (37)More LessAbstractThis study is part of a larger project investigating the impact of corpus-based teaching in a series of second language (L2) genre-based writing courses. In this paper, we focus on activities that were implemented in one L2 writing course between first and final drafts of two major assignments (a Literacy Narrative and a Genre Analysis). Materials were created using Crow (Corpus and Repository of Writing; https://crow.corporaproject.org) and designed to interact with an existing genre-based curriculum. Findings show modest but clear changes by students who interacted with the corpus-based materials. We also discuss our use of learner corpora, which departs somewhat from previous literature, including an asset-based approach where learners’ texts are used as models for other learners.
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Expressions of epistemic stance in computer-mediated L2 speaking assessment
Author(s): Dana Gablasova, Luke Harding, Vaclav Brezina and Jamie Dunleapp.: 183–215 (33)More LessAbstractLearner and L2 user corpora are increasingly valued in language testing and assessment as they can inform test design, revision, and validation. This paper illustrates the benefits of using an L2 corpus to explore patterns of epistemic stance marking in computer-mediated speaking tests with no live human interlocutor. Drawing on the British Council-Lancaster Aptis Corpus – comprising over 630,000 words of L2 speech – we explored the frequency of epistemic stance markers (adverbial, adjectival and verbal) across proficiency levels and speaking task types. The analysis revealed that epistemic stance was prevalent in test-taker discourse and that frequency was influenced by L2 proficiency and task type. The findings demonstrate that computer-mediated speaking tests can elicit expressions of epistemic stance in a comparable way to tests which involve human-human interaction. Implications are drawn for examiner training, test preparation, and an enriched understanding of the elements of pragmatic competence that can be elicited in computer-mediated speaking assessment.
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Proficiency-rated learner corpora
Author(s): Luciana Fortipp.: 216–240 (25)More LessAbstractIn this position paper, I argue that proficiency-rated learner corpora should gain a more prominent role in data-driven learning (DDL). With specific reference to DDL, proficiency-rated learner corpora can provide typical, atypical and erroneous target language data at different levels of proficiency, which can be meaningfully used in the design of learning activities. This makes them pivotal in expanding the scope of DDL to include mid- and lower-level proficiency learners more extensively. Although the field of learner corpus research has been promoting learner corpus use in DDL for a long time, only a small fraction of DDL studies make use of a learner corpus. As a contribution to overcome this hiatus, I will demonstrate how using a specific proficiency-rated learner corpus (i.e., the CELI corpus; Spina et al., 2022, 2023) can enrich the design of DDL activities, making them more adaptable to a wider range of learner needs.
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The Trinity Lancaster Corpus
Author(s): Dana Gablasova, Vaclav Brezina and Tony McEnery
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