EKIA3020 Corpus Linguistics in Teaching (5 op)

Corpora are the large databanks of texts that are used to write dictionaries and grammar books, test hypotheses about language, and validate linguistic rules. They are also being used in EFL and ESP classrooms to help teachers and students become more familiar with their specific field. This course is intended to familiarize students with corpus linguistics and corpora. We will start by learning how corpora are compiled and how they can be accessed. During the course, we will move from large, general purpose corpora, such as the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English, to smaller and genre-specific corpora, such as various components in the International Corpus of English. The overall goal of the course is to teach students how corpora can be applied in the ESL classroom. We will therefore focus on researching corpora that are important for L2English speakers. The course will be hands-on as we learn about corpora by using different corpora in class, but reading materials will also be provided.

After completing the course, students will

• know what corpora are and which corpora are available
• know how to access and use various English corpora
• understand how to apply corpora in their teaching

Each student will need an account with the online corpora but these can be set up at the start of the course.