Transforming Language Teaching with Corpora - Bridging Research and Practice

Recognising the potential of corpora for language teaching and learning, researchers anticipated a transformative change (Leech, 1997), professing a corpus revolution (e.g., Conrad, 2000) that could potentially transform language education. Over the last three decades, three main approaches have developed based on the extent that learners have direct access to the actual corpus data: (1) corpus-informed teaching, (2) integrated corpus-supported teaching and learning, and (3) self-directed data-driven learning (DDL). However, there still seems to be a gap between corpus research and teaching practices using corpora (Chambers, 2019). In this chapter, I will demonstrate each of the three approaches by drawing on case studies in the field of corpus-based English for Specific Purposes (ESP), while also examining the potential reasons behind the research-teaching gap in each case. I will argue that there are important lessons to be learnt from computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) research (e.g., Hubbard, 2013), especially when it comes to course design and learners’ preparation for corpus consultation and self-directed DDL (Jablonkai Čebron, 2021; Pérez-Paredes, 2019). Based on a review of research, guiding principles for course design and DDL task design will be proposed.