Using Corpus-Based
References to Guide
Editing and Revision
in L2 Writing
Jan Frodesen
frodesen@linguistics.ucsb.edu
TESOL 2007
Seattle, Washington
Benefits of Using Corpus-based
References (CBRs)

CBRs offer authentic text examples from a variety of genres.

CBRs integrate grammar and vocabulary learning by presenting
common patterns (e.g., collocations, chunks).

CBRs promote inductive learning through noticing and
discovery.

Writers can compare patterns of language use in their own
texts to patterns produced by native speakers.

In developing materials, instructors can discover patterns
they are not aware of or may not have thought of otherwise!
Challenges of Using CBRs for L2
Writing Instruction






Authentic examples may be too complex.
Data shown may not be pedagogically relevant.
Students can get overwhelmed by “raw data” (e.g.,
long concordance strings with insufficient context).
Some available exercises based on CBRs either too
complex or too simple for levels of your students.
Available exercises may not be directly related to
your students’ writing tasks or needs.
Creating materials can be time-consuming for
teachers.
Addressing Challenges



In general: Guide students’ use of CBRs through
tutorials, exercises and/or adaptation of data.
Specific Steps:
Identify common error patterns (grammatical,
lexical, lexico-grammatical) in academic writing
for your student population in general or a class.
Respond to questions your students raise about
grammar or vocabulary as they work on drafts.
Addressing Challenges, cont.


Consider what areas of grammar and vocabulary
are best explored by students through CBRs
(e.g., article usage, prepositions in phrases
commonly used for academic writing, word
forms, adjective-noun collocations, syntactic
structures after reporting verbs)
Consider which kind of CBR (dictionary,
collocations dictionary, concordancer) might be
most appropriate
Example 1:
Adapting an Exercise
Source: Subject-verb agreement exercise in Tim Johns’
Virtual DDL Library



Steps:
Select examples that are most relevant
meaningful for your students
Delete surrounding text for focus
Rewrite directions as needed
Adapted Exercise
Concordancer SV Agreement
Find the singular head noun in each of the following text examples
and circle it. The first has been done as an example.
1) An eight man team of scientists is to make a lengthy tour
2) In a few rings one of the carbons is replaced by an atom of
oxygen
3) The choice of species in tree plantings is also important.
4) The total number of people who will benefit from such drugs is
unknown …
5) …the amount of energy an animal creates is independent of
body mass
Examples 1,2, 5, 10, 17 selected and adapted from exercise on
Tim Johns’ website:
http://www.eisu.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/mum_ag.htm
Note: Could also select and leave strings in original form for
visual effect of is verbs running vertically down the page
Example 2:
Adapting a Concordance String



Grammar Focus: “most of + NP”
(common error problem)
Source: Concordance strings from
Compleat Lexical Tutor
Adaptation: Select examples to show
most of + the + NP; reduce context as
appropriate
Adapted Concordance Examples:
Most of + the + noun phrase
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
As expected, most of the activity was found …
… most of the actors are unknowns.
…they could have found most of the answers …
It spread to most of the audience …
It is hard not to lay most of the blame for their failures on the
pope.
Most of the data used are from…
Most of the emphasis has been placed on a wild party…
Most of the impact energy is spent in crushing
most of the information now available about the radio
emission…
most of the other prizes, once offered to Pittsburgh …
Sample Questions for most of
the + NPs examples
1.
2.
3.
4.
What word directly follows most of in
each of the examples?
What are the head nouns in the most of
phrases? List them.
Which head nouns are count nouns?
Which head nouns are noncount
nouns?
Addressing Challenges, cont.





Identify kinds of writing activities for which CBRs are
useful for revision or editing
Addressing frequent problems in vocabulary or
grammatical structures identified in content-based
writing tasks
Revising student-written brief summaries (compiled)
Revising students’ paraphrases of source material
(compiled examples of same source sentences)
Addressing error patterns in e-mail message assignments
(e.g., Request to professor for appointment: “I am
appreciate it if you…”)
Example of Content-Based Focus:
Attitudes about Civil vs. Uncivil Behavior
Grammar/vocabulary focus: Use of behave and
behavior in describing uncivil behavior
Draft Problems: Misuse of word forms; lacking
appropriate or varied adjectives or adverbs to modify
behave or behavior; inappropriate prepositions in
prepositional phrases modifying behave and
behavior
CBR Sources:
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English,
CANDLE Project TANGO concordancer
Behave & Behavior: Collocations
Questions for Oxford Collocations Dictionary Entries
(OHT)
1.What are five adjectives that could be used to describe
inappropriate behavior? (undesirable, problem, aggressive,
disruptive, violent, among others)
2. Of these words, choose one that would fit a context describing
uncivil behavior in your draft.
3. What are five adverbs that could be used to describe people
behaving badly in a situation? (disgracefully, outrageously,
improperly, unreasonably, stupidly, among others)
4. Again, find a context in your draft in which you could use one of
these adverbs.
5. What verbs describe the effects that others can have on
behavior? (control, alter, change, influence, modify)
Behave in + NP modifiers
Questions to guide TANGO text examples:
Behave in + NP
1. What nouns follow behave in? List them.
(way, manner, fashion)
2. Are these nouns count or noncount nouns?
How do you know? (a, this)
3. What adjectives are used to describe these nouns?
(proper, ridiculous, perilous and ridiculous)
4. What words from the Oxford Collocations dictionary
could substitute for the adjectives in 1, 3?
Behave in + NP modifiers, cont.
Behave in such…
1. Look at Instances 1, 2, and 19. What structure
pattern do you see? (in such a way that…)
2. Look again at your draft about uncivil behavior on
college campuses. Write a sentence using in such a
way/manner that to describe a student or
students’ behavior that was mentioned in one of your
sources.
Writing Contexts: Revising
Paraphrases
Context: In a graduate writing class, students
are reading selected paraphrases they have
written. For one, the instructor suggests that
a verb other than use might be better before
knowledge in a paraphrase of get
knowledge.
CBR Source: TANGO Concordancer,
CANDLE Project
Conclusions






Corpus-based references can be rich resources for L2
composition materials development.
As materials writers, we can help to bridge the gap between
theory and research in applying research findings to the
classroom.
We need to find balance between frequency, difficulty and
pedagogical relevance in selecting materials (Meunier, 2002).
Most students need help in accessing and using CBRs: Select,
adapt for students’ levels and needs,
Corpus-based materials should complement but not replace
other writing class activities
Materials writing can be time-consuming! Needed: More
sharing of corpus-based exercises and ideas for different
levels/purposes?
References





Bahns, J. (1993). Should we teach EFL students collocations? System
21.2, 101-114.
Bernadini, S. (2004). Corpora in the classroom: An overview and
some reflections on future developments. In J. Sinclair (Ed.), How to
Use Corpora in Language Teaching (pp. 15-36). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.
Braun, S. (2005). From pedagogically relevant corpora to authentic
language learning contents. ReCALL 17 (1), 47-64.
Chan, T. & Liou, H.C. (2005). Effects of web-based concordancing
instruction on EFL students’ learning of verb-noun collocations.
Computer Assisted Language Learning 18.3, 231-250.
Hadley, G. (2002). An introduction to data-driven learning. RELC
Journal 33, 99-122.
References, 2




Johns, T. (1994). From printout to handout: Grammar and vocabulary
teaching in the context of Data-Driven Learning. In T. Odlin (Ed.),
Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar (pp. 293-313). Cambridge and
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kaur, J. & Hegelheimer, V. (2005). ESL students’ use of concordance
in the transfer of academic word knowledge: An exploratory study.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18.4, 287-310.
Lee, C.H, Lin, S.Y. & Liou, H.C. (2006). Learning product and process
of how English learners as researchers actually produce with scaffolds
of three web-based reference tools: Research with mixed methods.
Proceedings of 2006 Int’l Conference and Workshop on TESFL and
Applied Linguistics (pp. 204-212). Tapei: Crane.
Liou, H.C. et al. (2006) Corpora processing and computational
scaffolding for an innovative web-based English learning environment:
The CANDLE project. CALICO Journal 24.1.
References, 3






Meunier, F. (2002). The pedagogical value of native and learner
corpora in EFL grammar teaching. In S. Granger, H. Hung and S.
Petch-Tyson (Eds.,) Computer Learner Corpora, Second Language
Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching (pp. 119-141).
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners
of English and some implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics
24.2, 223-242.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2002). Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press.
Websites
Tom Cobb’s Compleat Lexical Tutor: http://132.208.224.13
Corpora for Digital Learning of English (CANDLE):
http://candle.fl.nthu.edu.tw/newcandle/Home_C.asp
Tim Johns’ homepage: http://bham.ac.uk/johnstf/homepage.htm