Using corpora in teaching vocabulary to advanced EFL learners in a higher education context
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Hümeyra Can
Abstract
This study focuses on the development of lexical competence of tertiary level EFL learners who have reached C1 level according to CEFR during their course of study, but who still have difficulty in recognizing and producing academic words in terms of their correct and appropriate use in various contexts. Following a data-driven learning (DDL) approach within an action research paradigm, this study aims to discover whether corpus investigation makes a difference in students’ vocabulary knowledge and how they react to corpus data in learning vocabulary. To this end, the study was carried out in a listening/speaking course of two C1 level classes in an EFL classroom at an English preparatory school in Higher Education. In one of the classes, conventional lesson materials, and in the other, corpus-based lesson materials were used to teach the selected vocabulary items. The effect of corpus-based lesson materials on vocabulary learning was examined in relation to conventional materials. The data obtained from pre and post-tests showed that although there was a significant increase in students’ scores from pre-test to post-test, corpus use made statistically no significant difference in their scores as compared to the conventional method that had been adopted during the regular course of study based on the contextual guesswork involved in the coursebook. Students’ reactions throughout the implementation of corpus-based materials and the feedback sessions held with the students, shed light on the results and suggested some pedagogical guidelines for using corpora in teaching L2 vocabulary.
Sample items from the pre/post-test
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction: the variety of realities of language learning and teaching in Higher Education throughout the world. A step forward to keep on sharing ideas
- Research Articles
- Model United Nations: a thematic analysis of Japanese EFL students’ reflections on intercultural communicative competence
- Japanese tertiary students’ perceptions of group work with explicit scaffolding
- A critical literacy class: beyond English learning and teaching in Higher Education
- Predictors of English Medium Instruction academic success in Vietnamese Higher Education
- University English-medium instruction in Türkiye – what instructors say
- Testing English for Medical Purposes: the effects of traditional and distance education on learning outcomes
- Using corpora in teaching vocabulary to advanced EFL learners in a higher education context
- Digital multimodal PechaKucha presentations in ESP: insights from students’ learning experiences
- From face-to-face tuition to online classes: ‘Re-styling’ a course of English for academic purposes
- Turning the tables on online exam cheating via language mediation tasks
- Attitudes to Spanish language variation. A study on Portuguese students of Spanish as a Foreign Language
- “Mur de paroles” – ou tentative de promotion de l’expression orale en langue française
- Activity Reports
- « Being plurilingual is a gift we make to ourselves. » : amener les étudiants à valoriser et développer leurs compétences plurilingues et pluriculturelles
- International collaborative tasks in language courses for engineers integrated in a multidimensional teaching format
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction: the variety of realities of language learning and teaching in Higher Education throughout the world. A step forward to keep on sharing ideas
- Research Articles
- Model United Nations: a thematic analysis of Japanese EFL students’ reflections on intercultural communicative competence
- Japanese tertiary students’ perceptions of group work with explicit scaffolding
- A critical literacy class: beyond English learning and teaching in Higher Education
- Predictors of English Medium Instruction academic success in Vietnamese Higher Education
- University English-medium instruction in Türkiye – what instructors say
- Testing English for Medical Purposes: the effects of traditional and distance education on learning outcomes
- Using corpora in teaching vocabulary to advanced EFL learners in a higher education context
- Digital multimodal PechaKucha presentations in ESP: insights from students’ learning experiences
- From face-to-face tuition to online classes: ‘Re-styling’ a course of English for academic purposes
- Turning the tables on online exam cheating via language mediation tasks
- Attitudes to Spanish language variation. A study on Portuguese students of Spanish as a Foreign Language
- “Mur de paroles” – ou tentative de promotion de l’expression orale en langue française
- Activity Reports
- « Being plurilingual is a gift we make to ourselves. » : amener les étudiants à valoriser et développer leurs compétences plurilingues et pluriculturelles
- International collaborative tasks in language courses for engineers integrated in a multidimensional teaching format
- Training citizens as users of languages and digital technology. Real-world tasks to tame the digital wilds
