The Corpus of Academic Learner English (CALE)

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Callies ◽  
Ekaterina Zaytseva
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Writing Proficiency ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Language For Specific Purposes ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
The Way

Learner corpora present an option to inform, supplement and advance the way language proficiency is operationalized and assessed, and may also be used in data-driven approaches to the assessment of writing proficiency that are largely independent of human rating. The aim of this contribution is twofold: first, to introduce a new Language-for-Specific-Purposes learner corpus, the Corpus of Academic Learner English (CALE), currently being compiled for the study of academic learner writing; and second, to illustrate how the CALE is useful in a text-centered, corpus-driven approach to the assessment of academic writing to achieve a higher degree of reliability in assessing language proficiency.

Becoming a proficient academic writer: shifting lexical preferences in the use of the progressive

Corpora ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Wulff ◽  
Ute Römer
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Verb Aspect ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
The One

Recent corpus studies have shown that learners of English are aware of systematic associations between verbs and their preferred argument structures to an extent that is similar to that of a native speaker of English (e.g., Gries and Wulff, 2005 ). Given evidence for similarly systematic associations in native speaker data at the lexis–morphology interface (e.g., Römer, 2005a ), the question arises whether, and to what extent, learners of English are also sensitive to lexical dependencies at the level of morphology, and how their verb-aspect associations compare with those of native speakers. In order to address this question, this study focusses on the potential associations between verbs and progressive aspect in German learners' academic writing. On the basis of the German component of the International Corpus of Learner English and the Cologne–Hanover Advanced Learner Corpus, learners' significantly preferred verb-aspect pairs are identified using an adaptation of collostructional analysis ( Stefanowitsch and Gries, 2003 ). The results are complemented with corresponding analyses of a subset of the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers on the one hand and published research articles from the Hyland Corpus on the other hand. The findings indicate that upper-intermediate and advanced German learners of English exhibit clear lexical preferences in the use of progressives. Furthermore, comparative analyses suggest that verb-aspect preferences shift as a function of writers' mastery of text type-specific conventions rather than language proficiency at large.

scholarly journals Data-driven learning in ESP university settings in Romania: multiple corpus consultation approaches for academic writing support

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-81
Author(s):  
Mădălina Chitez ◽  
Loredana Bercuci
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Learner Satisfaction ◽  
First Year ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
University Settings

Corpora are valuable technology-supported learning resources to be used by autonomous language learners or during teacher-guided lessons. This study explores the potential of corpus consultation approaches for the improvement of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students’ academic writing skills. We investigated the effects of three types of Data-Driven Learning (DDL) activities in a sample group of 29 first-year and second-year students majoring in Geography for Tourism at a Romanian university, consisting of writing tasks supported by: a Learner Corpus (LC), a Native-Speaker Corpus (NSC), and a Web-based Corpus (WBC). The research methodology involves the combination of quantitative and qualitative data, extracted from pre- and post-intervention corpus analyses, with the results of a learner-satisfaction questionnaire. The findings indicate a significant differentiation in the complexity of the lexico-grammatical features used by learners in consequent intervention stages and a better integration of L2-related academic writing strategies into their written productions. The study yields first conclusions on the integration of computer-processed language databases in DDL strategies for ESP learners in the Romanian university context.

Learning to Evaluate Through That-Clauses

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-97
Author(s):  
Deliang Man ◽  
Kok Yueh Lee ◽  
Meng Huat Chau ◽  
Esther Smidt
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Language Resources ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Learner Language

The advent of technology has facilitated the study of language development and writing development in the form of learner corpora. While learner corpus studies have flourished in recent years, few consider evaluative language development. This paper reports on a study which examines the use of evaluative that-clauses, a linguistic structure that is regularly used to express evaluation in academic writing, in a longitudinal corpus of 304 argumentative essays written by a group of undergraduate students at a university in Brunei. Results suggest students' dynamic use of language resources over time, and support the findings of previous research on the use of evaluative that-clauses by undergraduate students in other contexts of learning. This study, based on an approach to treating learner language in its own right, contributes to the understanding of the nature of language development. Implications for language teaching, including a revised role for teacher feedback and the use of longitudinal learner corpora for students' learning, are considered.

scholarly journals Corpora for Linguists vs. Corpora for Learners

EL LE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Forti ◽  
Stefania Spina
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
The Future ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Direct Use ◽  
Shed Light

This paper aims to shed light on how research findings stemming from Learner Corpus Research (LCR) can inform the development of Data-driven learning (DDL) pedagogical activities. By doing this, it seeks to show how the gap between corpora built to be used by linguists and those tailored for learners can be filled. It starts by defining what a corpus is and how second language learning studies can benefit from the research findings based on corpora, but also from the direct use of corpora in the classroom. Then, it provides an overview of the available native and learner corpora of Italian, and how corpora in general can be adapted for DDL purposes. Finally, it describes an example of how an LCR finding can be used to develop DDL activities. It concludes with some desiderata for the future.

How to turn managers into data-driven decision makers

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Daniel André Carillo ◽  
Nadine Galy ◽  
Cameron Guthrie ◽  
Anne Vanhems
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Business Analytics ◽  
Business World ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Attitudes Toward Statistics ◽  
Attitude Toward Business ◽  
Professional Contexts ◽  
The Way

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need to engender a positive attitude toward business analytics in order for firms to more effectively transform into data-driven businesses, and for business schools to better prepare future managers. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops and validates a measurement instrument that captures the attitude toward business statistics, the foundation of business analytics. A multi-stage approach is implemented and the validation is conducted with a sample of 311 students from a business school. Findings The instrument has strong psychometric properties. It is designed so that it can be easily extrapolated to professional contexts and extended to the entire domain of business analytics. Research limitations/implications As the advent of a data-driven business world will impact the way organizations function and the way individuals think, work, communicate and interact, it is crucial to engage a transdisciplinary dialogue among domains that have the expertise to help train and transform current and future professionals. Practical implications The contribution provides educators and organizations with a means to measure and monitor attitudes toward statistics, the most anxiogenic component of business analytics. This is a first step in monitoring and developing an analytics mindset in both managers and students. Originality/value By demonstrating how the advent of the data-driven business era is transforming the DNA and functioning of organizations, this paper highlights the key importance of changing managers’ and all employees’ (to a lesser extent) mindset and way of thinking.

scholarly journals Working With Younger-Arriving ESL Learners in High School English: Never Too Late to Reclaim Potential

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hetty Roessingh ◽  
Pat Kover
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
High School English ◽  
Academic Language Proficiency ◽  
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency ◽  
Basic Vocabulary ◽  
Esl Learners

Younger-arriving ESL learners often come to high school ill prepared for the demands of English literature courses. Although they may have acquired the phonological and grammatical system of English with relative ease and developed a basic vocabulary, they lack the breadth and depth of vocabulary and the related concepts that are necessary to engage with the abstract nature and cultural embeddedness of literature study. In probing behind this linguistic facade, we have been able to help our students make gains in the development of cognitive academic language proficiency as reflected in standardized achievement measures of academic writing. The acquisition of the cultural capital necessary for success in literature studies, however, is more problematic. New questions arise about student identity and cultural understandings that are central to the success of ESL learners in high school.

scholarly journals NATIVE LANGUAGE IDENTIFICATION FOR RUSSIAN USING ERRORS TYPES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. V. Remnev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Research Group ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Language Identification ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Shared Task ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Russian Research

The task of recognizing the author’s native (Native Language Identification—NLI) language based on a texts, written in a language that is non-native to the author—is the task of automatically recognizing native language (L1). The NLI task was studied in detail for the English language, and two shared tasks were conducted in 2013 and 2017, where TOEFL English essays and essay samples were used as data. There is also a small number of works where the NLI problem was solved for other languages. The NLI problem was investigated for Russian by Ladygina (2017) and Remnev (2019). This paper discusses the use of well-established approaches in the NLI Shared Task 2013 and 2017 competitions to solve the problem of recognizing the author’s native language, as well as to recognize the type of speaker—learners of Russian or Heritage Russian speakers. Native language identification task is also solved based on the types of errors specific to different languages. This study is data-driven and is possible thanks to the Russian Learner Corpus developed by the Higher School of Economics (HSE) Learner Russian Research Group on the basis of which experiments are being conducted.

scholarly journals Using Rubrics in A University EFL Process Writing Program: An Exploratory Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamin Qian
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Writing Programs ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Peer Reviews ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Student Cohorts

While rubrics have been widely recognized as an effective instructional tool for teachers to evaluate students’ writing products, fewer studies explored how students use it for their writing process in an EFL university academic writing classes. This study explores the application of process-oriented rubrics in two EFL writing programs, and investigates whether English language proficiency, motivation to writing, and their previous experiences with writing programs would significantly affect the use of the rubrics. The participants (N=190) were from two student cohorts, each of which had 95 participants. The data set includes students’ self-, peer- use and the instructor’s use of the rubrics, and students’ written reflection upon peer feedbacks. The data showed that the rubrics can guide students to practice a writing process, and that the 20-item rubric was statistically reliable.  The data of rubrics also showed that the participants were more critical on their peers’ writing, and the reflection data showed students’ awareness of revision strategies. The qualitative data seemed to suggest that peer reviews and reflections upon such reviews could enhance students' revision strategies. This article will conclude itself by providing some pedagogical suggestions in EFL contexts

scholarly journals Analysing the behaviour of academic collocations in a corpus of research-papers: a data-driven study / Analisando o comportamento de colocações acadêmicas em um corpus de artigos científicos: um estudo dirigido por dados

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1229
Author(s):  
Paula Tavares Pinto ◽  
Diva Cardoso de Camargo ◽  
Talita Serpa ◽  
Luciano Franco da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Electronic Library ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Respective Field ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract: Authors from different countries have published their papers in English, aiming to promote their research results widely and to become internationally known by their peers. It is also true that, although they are aware of the English terminology used in their respective field, some authors still struggle with some features of academic writing such as collocations. Thus, this paper presents a discussion on the underuse and overuse traces of academic collocations by Brazilian authors who had their articles published in English on an open electronic library of scientific journals. In order to analyse the collocations used by these researchers, we compiled a 906,035-word corpus from eight different academic areas. The collocations observed were statistically compared to those from an academic corpus of English writings which contains texts produced by English-speaking authors. Results showed that there are more collocations underused than overused by the authors. The analysis proved that the collocation repertoire of researchers could be broadened by being pointed out during academic writing workshops.Keywords: academic collocations; research paper writing; corpus linguistics.Resumo: Autores de vários países têm publicado seus artigos científicos em inglês com o intuito de promover amplamente os resultados de suas pesquisas dentre a comunidade científica internacional. É verdade que, embora estejam cientes da terminologia utilizada no respectivo campo de pesquisa, alguns autores ainda apresentam dificuldade em lidar com certas características da escrita acadêmica, como o uso das colocações. Este artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre traços de sobreuso e subuso de colocações acadêmicas utilizadas por autores brasileiros que têm seus artigos publicados em inglês numa plataforma eletrônica aberta de artigos científicos. Para analisar as colocações utilizadas por estes pesquisadores, compilamos um corpus de 906.000 palavras a partir de oito áreas científicas. As colocações analisadas foram comparadas estatisticamente com as colocações de um corpus acadêmico de inglês que contém textos escritos por autores anglófonos. Os resultados mostraram que há mais traços de subuso que sobreuso de colocações acadêmicas utilizadas pelos pesquisadores e este repertório poderia ser ampliado se fossem destacadas durante cursos de escrita acadêmica em língua inglesa.Palavras-chave: colocações acadêmicas; escrita de artigos científicos; linguística de corpus.

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