Learner corpus analysis and the development of foreign language proficiency

Abstract This paper makes a methodological contribution to the emerging field of learner corpus analysis [Granger, S., 1998. Learner English on Computer. Longman, London, 1998; Granger, S., 2002. Computer Learner corpora, Second Language Acquisition, and Foreign Language Teaching. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2002] and to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research by suggesting that a corpus of learner and expert speaker correspondence, in conjunction with ethnographic data, may facilitate microgeneses of particular elements of the foreign language (FL) under study. On the basis of a 100,000-word corpus of telecollaborative correspondence, chronological pathways of da -compound use by learners of German are examined. Telecollaboration involves the use of global computer networks to link expert speakers and learners of particular languages for the purposes of social interaction and academic discussions over a limited period of time within an institutionalized setting.

[1]  Claire Kramsch,et al.  From involvement to engagement in online communication: promoting intercultural competence in foreign language education , 2003 .

[2]  Susan Conrad,et al.  Will Corpus Linguistics Revolutionize Grammar Teaching in the 21st Century , 2000 .

[3]  Graeme D. Kennedy,et al.  Book Reviews: An Introduction to Corpus Linguistics , 1999, CL.

[4]  Michael McCarthy,et al.  Understanding non-restrictive which-clauses in spoken English, which is not an easy thing , 2001 .

[5]  Hilke Dreyer,et al.  Lehr- und Übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik , 1996 .

[6]  Geoffrey Leech,et al.  The role of frequency in ELT: New corpus evidence brings a re-appraisal. , 2001 .

[7]  Sylviane Granger,et al.  Computer Learner Corpora, Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching , 2002 .

[8]  John Sinclair,et al.  Working with German Corpora , 2001 .

[9]  Joan Kelly Hall,et al.  Learning the Pragmatics of Solidarity in the Networked Foreign Language Classroom , 2000 .

[10]  Tom Cobb,et al.  Is There Any Measurable Learning from Hands-On Concordancing?. , 1997 .

[11]  Susan Conrad,et al.  Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use , 1998 .

[12]  C. Kinginger,et al.  The Cross-linguistic Development of Address Form Use in Telecollaborative Language Learning: Two Case Studies , 2002 .

[13]  Tony McEnery,et al.  THE ROLE OF CORPORA IN COMPUTER‐ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING , 1993 .

[14]  Robert J. Blake,et al.  Who's Helping Whom?: Learner/Heritage‐Speakers' Networked Discussions in Spanish , 2003 .

[15]  J. Belz.  Linguistic Perspectives on the Development of Intercultural Competence in Telecollaboration. , 2003 .

[16]  Clive Souter,et al.  Corpus-Based Computational Linguistics , 1993 .

[17]  David Crystal,et al.  A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics , 1997 .

[18]  Tom Cobb.  Analyzing Late Interlanguage with Learner Corpora: Québec Replications of Three European Studies , 2003 .

[19]  Julie A. Belz,et al.  Aspects of advanced foreign language proficiency: Internet-mediated German language play , 2004 .

[20]  D. Perkins,et al.  Individual and Social Aspects of Learning , 1998 .

[21]  Sylviane Granger,et al.  The grammatical and lexical patterning of MAKE in native and non-native student writing , 2001 .

[22]  James P. Lantolf,et al.  SLA Theory Building: “Letting All the Flowers Bloom!” , 1996 .

[23]  Pam Peters,et al.  New Frontiers of Corpus Research , 2002 .

[24]  R. Carter,et al.  Exploring grammar in context , 2000 .

[25]  Sylviane Granger,et al.  The Learner Corpus: a revolution in applied linguistics , 1994, English Today.

[26]  Lev Vygotsky.  Mind in society , 1978 .

[27]  J. Belz,et al.  Teachers as Intercultural Learners: Negotiating German–American Telecollaboration along the Institutional Fault Line , 2003 .

[28]  Sylviane Granger,et al.  Learner English on Computer , 1998 .

[29]  Mark Warschauer,et al.  Online Learning in Sociocultural Context , 1998 .

[30]  Julie A. Belz,et al.  Deutsch-amerikanische Telekollaboration im Fremdsprachenunterricht-Lernende im Kreuzfeuer der institutionellen Zwänge@@@Deutsch-amerikanische Telekollaboration im Fremdsprachenunterricht-Lernende im Kreuzfeuer der institutionellen Zwange , 2002 .

[31]  S. Granger,et al.  Connector usage in the English essay writing of native and non‐native EFL speakers of English , 1996 .

[32]  J. Hall,et al.  Second and foreign language learning through classroom interaction , 2000 .

[33]  C. Kinginger,et al.  Discourse Options and the Development of Pragmatic Competence by Classroom Learners of German: The Case of Address Forms , 2003 .

[34]  Susan Conrad,et al.  The importance of corpus-based research for language teachers , 1999 .

[35]  Julie A. Belz,et al.  Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study , 2002 .

[36]  Tom Cobb,et al.  Breadth and Depth of Lexical Acquisition with Hands-on Concordancing , 1999 .