Learner Corpus Research and Language Teaching

Course name

Learner Corpus Research and Language Teaching

University

VU

EC

5/6 ECTS

Course date

semester 2 (2023 - 2024)

Registration open until

27/10/2023 - 07/01/2024

Location

Nijmegen / online

Instructor(s)

Gea Dreschler (VU) / t.b.a.

E-mail contact

Gea Dreschler (VU)

Course objectives

Upon completion of this course, students:  

  • will have a comprehensive overview of the domain of learner corpus research, its contributions to L2 acquisition research and its applications in language teaching;
  • will be able to evaluate corpus design criteria, annotation and analysis and interpret the significance of corpus studies of vocabulary, phraseology, grammar, pragmatics and (dis)fluency for language teaching;  
  • will be able to design their own corpus study, selecting appropriate corpus resources and corpus linguistic techniques.

Course content

The overarching question addressed by this course is how corpus research can inform L2 acquisition research and language teaching. It covers the origins and applications of learner corpus research as well as the basics of corpus compilation, annotation and analysis. Each week will be devoted to a detailed study of one major area of LCR research. We analyse and discuss learner corpus data from a number of case studies, and interpret their significance with respect to the seminar topic, ranging from vocabulary and phraseology to grammar and pragmatics.

Course requirements / Language proficiency

A strong command of spoken and written English is essential to succeed in this course.

Assessment

Format
Seminars

Exam
100% Paper proposal

Study load
5 ECTS = 140 hours, of which:

  • Seminars: 14 hrs
  • Literature study (approx. 10 pages/hour): 80 hrs
  • Assignments and presentation: 6 hrs
  • Term paper: 40 hrs 

UvA/VU 6 ECTS
Uva/VU students who need 6 ECTS may elect to do more homework or an extra assignment. This must be determined with the course teacher(s) in week 1.

Background literature and course materials

Selected articles

Further information

Fridays 10h30-12h30

02/02/2024, 10h30-12h30 (Nijmegen)
09/02/2024, 10h30-12h30 (online)
16/02/2024, 10h30-12h30 (online)
23/02/2024, 10h30-12h30 (online)
01/03/2024, 10h30-12h30 (online)
08/03/2024, 10h30-12h30 (online)
15/03/2024, 10h30-12h30 (Nijmegen)