Introducing data-driven learning on a PhD pre-sessional programme

The aim of this article is to investigate the feasibility and benefits of a data driven learning (DDL) approach in the context of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pre-sessional programme at a British university. It shows how self-compiled corpora can be usefully implemented on a pre-sessional programme to cater for the academic language development needs of international students in a multidisciplinary classroom. The participants were three international students preparing for doctoral study by completing a ten-week online PhD pre-sessional programme, during which they utilised corpus software in regular weekly sessions to expand their discipline-specific academic language knowledge. The usefulness and value of this approach was investigated through semi-structured interviews on completion of the programme, complemented by tutor reflection. The results show that self-compiled corpora can provide a valuable resource for writing in multidisciplinary EAP contexts. This paper thus suggests that a DDL approach could be usefully implemented in PhD pre-sessional programmes, as well as in mainstream EAP classes.