Building language and genre awareness through learner corpus data in a second language writing course
This 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.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 2.1Genre-based pedagogy
- 2.2Learner corpora and corpus-based instruction
- 2.3Learner corpus-based instruction and genre-based pedagogy
- 2.4Lexico-grammatical features in Literacy Narratives and Genre Analyses
- 2.5Transition phrases in learner writing
- 3.Methods
- 3.1Instructional materials creation
- 3.2Course implementation and implementation corpus
- 4.Results
- 4.1Literacy Narrative
- 4.1.1However (in the middle of the sentence)
- 4.1.2Although and Despite
- 4.1.3Variations in using transitions
- 4.2Genre Analysis
- 4.2.1Exemplification transitions
- 4.3
This + summary word vs. bare this
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (45)
References
Aktas, R. N., & Cortes, V. (2008). Shell
nouns as cohesive devices in published and ESL student writing. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes,
7
1, 3–14.
Aull, L. (2015). First-year
writing: A corpus-based study with implications for
pedagogy. Springer.
Belz, J. A., & Vyatkina, N. (2008). The
pedagogical mediation of a developmental learner corpus for classroom-based language
instruction. Language Learning and
Technology,
12
(3), 33–52.
Boulton, A. (2009). Testing
the limits of data-driven learning: Language proficiency and
training. ReCALL,
21
(1), 37–54.
Boulton, A., & Cobb, T. (2017). Corpus
use in language learning: A meta-analysis. Language
Learning,
67
(2), 348–393.
Charles, M. (2007). Reconciling
top-down and bottom-up approaches to graduate writing: Using a corpus to teach rhetorical
functions. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes,
6
(4), 289–302.
Charles, M. (2018). Corpus-assisted
editing for doctoral students: More than just concordancing. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes,
36
1, 15–25.
Cheng, A. (2007). Transferring
generic features and recontextualizing genre awareness: Understanding writing performance in the ESP genre-based literacy
framework. English for Specific
Purposes,
26
(3), 287–307.
Cheng, A. (2008). Analyzing
genre exemplars in preparation for writing: The case of an L2 graduate student in the ESP genre-based instructional framework
of academic literacy. Applied
Linguistics,
29
(1), 50–71.
Cotos, E. (2014). Enhancing
writing pedagogy with learner corpus
data. ReCALL,
26
1, 202–224.
Cotos, E., Huffman, S., & Link, S. (2017). A
move/step model for methods sections: Demonstrating rigour and credibility. English for
Specific
Purposes,
46
1, 90–106.
Dong, J., & Lu, X. (2020). Promoting
discipline-specific genre competence with corpus-based genre analysis activities. English for
Specific
Purposes,
58
1, 138–154.
Fox, W., & Chang-Bacon, C. (2023). Critical
language awareness through advocacy: Disrupting deficit discourse through simulation in L2 writing teacher
education. Journal of Second Language
Writing,
60
1.
Gao, X. (2016). A
cross-disciplinary corpus-based study on English and Chinese native speakers’ use of linking adverbials in academic
writing. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes,
24
1, 14–28.
Garner, J. R. (2013). The
use of linking adverbials in academic essays by non-native writers: How data-driven learning can
help. CALICO
Journal,
30
(3), 410–422.
Granger, S. (2008). Learner
corpora in foreign language education. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia
of language and
education (pp. 1427–1441). Springer.
Granger, S., & Tyson, S. (1996). Connector
usage in the English essay writing of native and non-native EFL speakers of English. World
Englishes,
15
(1), 17–21.
Gunes, H. (2017). A
corpus-based study of linking adverbials through contrastive analysis of L1/L2 PhD
dissertations. International Journal of Curriculum and
Instruction,
9
(2), 21–38.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion
in English. Longman.
Hasselgren, A. (1994). Lexical
teddy bears and advanced learners: A study into the ways Norwegian students cope with English
vocabulary. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics,
4
(2), 237–258.
Hinkel, E. (2020). Teaching
academic L2 writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and
grammar. Routledge.
Hinkel, E. (2001). Matters
of cohesion in L2 academic texts. Applied Language
Learning,
12
1, 111–132.
Hyland, K. (2007). Genre
pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language
Writing,
16
1, 148–164.
Johns, A. (2008). Genre
awareness for the novice academic student: An ongoing quest. Language
Teaching,
41
(2), 237–252.
Lee, D., & Swales, J. (2006). A
corpus-based EAP course for NNS doctoral students: Moving from available specialized corpora to self-compiled
corpora. English for Specific
Purposes,
25
1, 56–75.
Lei, L. (2012). Linking
adverbials in academic writing on applied linguistics by Chinese doctoral students. Journal of
English for Academic
Purposes,
11
1, 267–275.
Nesi, H. (2008). Corpora
and EAP. [URL]
Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres
across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education. Cambridge University Press.
Nesi, H., Gardner, S., Thompson, P., & Wickens, P. (2008–2010). The
British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus.
Paquot, M. (2010). Academic
vocabulary in learner writing: From extraction to
analysis. Bloomsbury.
Reppen, R., Bunting, J., & Diniz, L. (2021). Grammar
and beyond. Cambridge.
Shin, J., Velazquez, A., Swatek, A., Staples, S., & Partridge, R. S. (2018). Examining
the effectiveness of corpus-informed instruction of reporting verbs in L2 first-year college
writing. L2
Journal,
10
(3), 31–46.
Staples, S., & Dilger, B. (2018–). Corpus
and repository of writing [Learner corpus articulated with repository]. [URL]
Swales, J. (1990). Genre
analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J., & Feak, C. (2012). Academic
writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. University of Michigan Press.
Tardy, C. (2019). Genre-based
writing: What every ESL teacher needs to know. University of Michigan Press.
Tardy, C., Buck, R., Jacobson, B., LaMance, R., Pawlowski, M., Slinkard, J., & Vogel, S. (2022). “It’s
complicated and nuanced”: Teaching genre awareness in English for general academic
purposes. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes,
57
1, 101117.
Tardy, C., Sommer-Farias, B., & Gevers, J. (2020). Teaching
and researching genre knowledge: Toward an enhanced theoretical framework. Written
Communication,
37
(3), 287–321.
Tribble, C. (2001). Small
corpora and teaching writing. In M. Ghadessy, A. Henry, & R. Roseberry (Eds.). Small
corpus studies and ELT: Theory and
practice (pp. 381–407). John Benjamins.
Vincent, B., & Nesi, H. (2018). The
BAWE Quicklinks Project: A new DDL resource for university
students. Lidil.
Watson, M., & Shapiro, R. (2018). Clarifying
the multiple dimensions of monolingualism: Keeping our sights on language politics. Composition
Forum,
38
1.
Wingate, U. (2015). Academic
literacy and student diversity: The case of inclusive practice. Multilingual Matters.
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Goulart, Larissa, Shelley Staples, Aleksey Novikov, Adriana Picoral & Randi Reppen
2024.
An introduction to CIABATTA: Increasing accessibility to corpus creation for non-experts.
Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 3:3
► pp. 100146 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.