6 - The Language Learner and the Corpus

Summary

This is a chapter about ‘applications’, specifically the application of corpus linguistics to language learning and teaching. The chapter highlights the input of corpus research into reference materials for learners, including a proposal for a novel ‘constructicon’. It then discusses research using learner corpora, with advice on building a learner corpus and exploiting it to gain information on grammatical development and on vocabulary and collocation. Applications of corpus research to the study of discoursal or pragmatic features such as signalling nouns and stance expressions are then discussed. Finally, there is a discussion of the notion of complexity in learner language. The final part of the chapter discusses the issue of language learners using corpora directly. Research in this area is described, as are some of the materials – software and books – specifically designed to enable learners to gain information from a corpus, especially in the area of academic discourse.