scholarly journals An Overview of Corpus Linguistics Studies on Prepositions

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Norwati Roslim ◽  
Jayakaran Mukundan

Studies on prepositions have been explored in corpus linguistics. They have been studied in various perspectives mainly in relation to frequency and collocational information. In order to look at the developments of these studies, this paper will focus on the development of sequence of studies of prepositions in three decades as observed by the authors. In keeping up with the developments, this paper will also look into the scenario of English language corpus work in Malaysia. Based on these review, this paper will then further add to this body of knowledge by providing a more tangible and practical applications in dealing with prepositions from the perspectives of the teaching and learning of prepositions.

Author(s):  
Mohammad Amro Mohammad Suleiman ◽  
Mahendran Maniam

The main aim of this study is to help EFL students’ improve their oral communication proficiency out-of-class. To achieve that, video-movie was chosen as a medium for improving the subjects' oral communication proficiency. It was hoped that movie could function as a pseudo-immersion for the students, an accessible and easy alternative to being in the English native countries. Based on that, this study aim has been transformed into this research question ‘what effect does self-directed learning using movies has on the students' perceived oral communication proficiency?’. To answer that, six first year students at the faculty of English language and literature, Ajloun University in Jordan, were selected based on purposive sampling and divided equally into two groups, treatment and control, based on random assignment. The subjects in both groups were asked to take the self-assessment language test twice, once before the beginning of the case study scheme and another after. Likewise, to be interviewed twice, and to fill in the study notes during the case study scheme. Only the treatment group were given eight movies with its guides and asked to self-study with it over eight weeks. The results from the case study indicated that movie could help improve the students' oral communication proficiency with higher post-test scores than pre-test scores. Methodological triangulation from both the interviews and study notes also supports the assertion that movie improved the subjects’ oral communication proficiency. The subjects in the treatment group revealed in the post-interview that movies helped improve their listening skills and two subjects suggested that it could possibly have helped improve their speaking skills as well. Their perception in their study notes also supports the results. In conclusion, it is very likely that self-directed learning using movies has improved the students’ oral communication proficiency. This study has implications for practical applications in language teaching and learning which suggests that movie can be effective out of class. In addition, the results suggest that further larger scale investigations into students' language improvement out of class will be worth carrying out.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahid Zahedpisheh ◽  
Zulqarnain B Abu bakar ◽  
Narges Saffari

The quick development of the tourism and hospitality industry can straightly influence the English language which is the most widely used and spoken language in international tourism in the twenty-first century. English for tourism has a major role in the delivery of quality service. Employees who work in the tourism and hospitality industry are entirely and highly aware of its importance and they need to have a good command of English in their workplace. English for tourism and hospitality has been categorized under English for the specific purpose (ESP). It is an important and dynamic area of specialization within the field of English language teaching and learning. The necessity of teaching English for professional purposes and specifically in the area of tourism is irrefutable. Language proficiency is very important and essential in all professional fields specifically in the tourism and hospitality industry due to its specific nature and concepts. Thus, it is required that the educators understand the practical applications of this approach. This paper aims to provide an overview of the purpose of teaching ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and ETP (English for Tourism Purposes) to the learners and users. In addition, characteristic features of ESP and ETP concerning course development, curriculum planning, learning style, material development, English efficiency, types of activities and evaluation are outlined. Determining the ESP concepts and elements provides specific English instruction that could help the learners be well-prepared for meeting their workplace requirements.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Mahlberg

Cohesion is generally described with regard to two broad categories: ‘grammatical cohesion’ and ‘lexical cohesion’. These categories reflect a view on language that treats grammar and lexis along separate lines. Language teaching textbooks on cohesion often follow this division. In contrast, a corpus theoretical approach to the description of English prioritises lexis and does not assume that lexical and grammatical phenomena can be clearly distinguished. Consequently, cohesion can be seen in a new light: cohesion is created by interlocking lexico-grammatical patterns and overlapping lexical items. A corpus theoretical approach to cohesion has important implications for English language teaching. The article looks at difficulties of teaching cohesion, shows links between communicative approaches to ELT and corpus linguistics, and suggests practical applications of corpus theoretical concepts.


Author(s):  
Barry Kavanagh

This study aims to explore potential reasons why the use of the tools and methods of corpus linguistics are not prevalent in English teaching in Norway, using the research question What do in-service English teachers in Norway find useful about corpora and what do they find challenging? The study provides interview data from in-service teachers, contributing to our understanding of the in-service perspective on corpora. The research design consists of teaching corpus use in seminars for in-service English teachers (featuring LancsLex, the concordancer AntConc and the OANC), integrated into a language course that is part of a further education programme, and semi-structured interviews with four of the students who took the course, during which they also interacted with Netspeak, SKELL and COCA. As with previous research, the in-service teachers found corpora particularly useful for teaching and learning vocabulary, and found challenges to use which are categorized here as usability (criticism of AntConc), IT challenges (a lack of IT skills among teachers), learner-corpus interaction challenges (the complexity of software and concordance lines for pupils; pupil uninterest in language), and lack of teacher need (mistakes being “obvious” to teachers in the lower years). The article discusses some implications of these findings. Keywords: English language teaching, pedagogical corpus application, corpora           


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1220
Author(s):  
Diego P. Ortega ◽  
Johanna M. Cabrera ◽  
Jhonny V. Benalcázar

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a topic that has attracted the attention of in-service and pre-service teachers, teacher educators and educational authorities in the last few decades, because of its great importance and several different affordances for better student learning. In this sense, this article attempts to provide content-area, classroom teachers and English language teachers with a solid understanding of what DI entails by learning about its key characteristics and fundamental reasons for the use of DI within the classroom context. Moreover, the importance behind modifying content, process, and product is not only analyzed in this paper but also the value of adjusting the learning environment is examined as well. Then a brief narrative of a teaching situation in an EFL context is highlighted in order to set the stage and explain the necessity of the implementation of a DI model into the classroom, so that students can experience meaningful and successful language learning. Afterwards, practical applications, based on meaningful and varied ways to differentiate instruction are included, so that language teachers find it easier to help students achieve learning standards. It is concluded that DI helps teachers be responsive to leaners’ needs, interests, ability and language proficiency levels, and learning styles, as DI puts students at the center of teaching and learning, promotes equity and academic excellence, and acknowledges student uniqueness.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hebah Asaad Hamza Sheerah

The recent development in the field of technology in education has led to renewed interest in blending traditional methods of teaching with technology which might enhance language teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature concerning the strengths and weaknesses of blended learning as a technology-enhanced pedagogical tool that combines online and face-to-face instructional activities, on the development of English skills, inclusive of its use in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Furthermore, this article sheds new light on how blended learning allows the learner to become autonomous and engaged in the construction the knowledge, rather than acting as passive absorbers. It is expected that this paper will contribute to enhancing the body of knowledge that exists in the area of blended learning, especially as it applies to the issue of the acquisition of experience in English as a foreign language. It can be concluded that the use of blended learning has the potential to support EFL learning and maximize EFL learners’ opportunities to practice the English language freely at their convenience. There are issues which need to be addressed and, or resolved, such as ensuring that the library facilities are capable of delivering this type of approach, online materials are suitably supportive of the students needed to access them, and the design of blended learning approaches take account of the preferred learning methods of students, and the workload required to be successful.


Author(s):  
Martin Hilpert ◽  
Susanne Flach

Abstract This article investigates the collocational behavior of English modal auxiliaries such as may and might with the aim of finding corpus-based measures that distinguish between different modal expressions and that allow insights into why speakers may choose one over another in a given context. The analysis uses token-based semantic vector space modeling (Heylen et al., 2015, Monitoring polysemy. Word space models as a tool for large-scale lexical semantic analysis. Lingua, 157: 153–72; Hilpert and Correia Saavedra, 2017, Using token-based semantic vector spaces for corpus-linguistic analyses: From practical applications to tests of theoretical claims. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory) in order to determine whether different modal auxiliaries can be distinguished in terms of their collocational profiles. The analysis further examines whether different senses of the same auxiliary exhibit divergent collocational preferences. The results indicate that near-synonymous pairs of modal expressions, such as may and might or must and have to, differ in their distributional characteristics. Also, different senses of the same modal expression, such as deontic and epistemic uses of may, can be distinguished on the basis of distributional information. We discuss these results against the background of previous empirical findings (Hilpert, 2016, Construction Grammar and its Application to English, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Flach, in press, Beyond modal idioms and modal harmony: a corpus-based analysis of gradient idiomaticity in modal-adverb collocations. English Language and Linguistics) and theoretical issues such as degrees of grammaticalization (Correia Saavedra, 2019, Measurements of Grammaticalization: Developing a Quantitative Index for the Study of Grammatical Change. PhD Dissertation, Université de Neuchâtel) and the avoidance of synonymy (Bolinger, 1968, Entailment and the meaning of structures. Glossa, 2(2): 119–27).


Author(s):  
Dentik Karyaningsih ◽  
Puji Siswanto

Lecture courses in the English Language Education Study Program of STKIP Setiabudhi Rangkasbitung are still conducted in face-to-face class, so the students who do not attend lectures cannot know the pronunciation material at that time, because the Pronunciation course is a practical course in the English pronunciation system. The E-Learning Pronunciation is built so that lectures can be carried out anywhere and anytime without reducing the quality of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, the students who are left behind can continue to follow the Pronunciation course material, as well as habituating students in utilizing communication and information technology. E-Learning Pronunciation is important to be built to improve the ability of students’ pronunciation when doing distance learning, so that students are clearer and more firm in understanding Pronunciation so that there are no errors in English pronunciation. Participants in this study were first semester students of English education study programs. This study uses an experimental research design with the Prototype System development method and system of testing uses Black box testing.


Author(s):  
Л. Е. Бєловецька

The problem of external independent evaluation in English for admission Master`s degree programs in Ukraine is considered in the article. The perspective for further improvement of English teaching and learning standards at Ukrainian universities has been found. The correspondence to the CEFR basic levels and English proficiency has been identified. Conceptual Principles of State Policy on the Development of English in the Field of Higher Education are considered. The study included 1546 participants. The age of students, who studied to gain the first higher education, was between 17 and 20. The students were not familiar with the structure of External Independent Evaluation and they have never passed it. The research was carried out during the period 2018–2019. The relevance of English language competence in the professional context is noted emphasized as a key point of the presented research. The necessity to provide a sufficient competitive level for Ukrainian graduates through improving correspondent English language training has been considered. The study is based on a study of reports by British experts and contemporary scientific publications presented international researchers have focused on the problems of internationalization and perspectives for Ukrainian universities in the English language dimension. The relevance of studying and adaptation of the UK higher education successful practice has been highlighted. The problems and potential ways of improving students` English language proficiency in the given context are identified. In particular, the study contains important recommendations regarding the number of contact hours and the required levels of English proficiency for the main groups of participants in the educational process in higher education according to international standards.


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