Transcript The marriage between corpus-based linguistics and grammar

The marriage between
corpus-based linguistics and
grammar instruction: Using
advise, recommend, and
suggest as an example
Presenter: Wen-Shuenn Wu (Michael Wu)
Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
August 7, 2008 (WorldCALL 2008)
‘Research is too
important to be left to
the researchers.’
(Tim Johns, 1991)
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Introduction
• What is corpus?
– A collection of naturally occurring
examples of language, consisting of
anything from a few sentences to a set of
written texts or tape recordings, which
have been collected for linguistic study.
(Hunston, 2002, p.2)
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Classification of corpora
• Closed corpora
• Paid corpora (self-owned
servers)
• Free online corpora
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Closed Corpora
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CIC
(Cambridge International Corpus)
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BNCWeb
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Paid Corpora
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BNC (British National Corpus)
75 GBP = 150 USD
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ANC (American National Corpus)
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ICAME (International Computer Archive
of Modern and Medieval English)
About 20 corpora (e.g. Brown, LOB, Helsinki) in CDROM.
3,500 NOK = 700 USD
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LDC (Linguistic Data Consortium)
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Free online
Corpora
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BNC (British National Corpus)
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The Collins Wordbanks Online
English Corpus
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JustTheWord
Sharp Laboratory of Europe
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VIEW (Variation in English Words and
Phrases) --> COCA (The Corpus of
Contemporary American English)
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MICASE (Michigan Corpus of
Academic Spoken English)
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PERC Corpus Online
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WebCorp
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Data-driven learning (DDL)
• Students act as ‘language detectives’,
discovering facts about the language
from authentic examples. (Hunston,
2002)
• DDL serves as consciousness-raising
• DDL does not ‘teach’ a language
feature, but presents learners with
evidence and asks them to make
hypotheses and draw conclusions. 21
Corpora and language teaching
• To improve student’s skills of using
real language in context to come up
with an answer to certain grammar
and usage problems.
• To investigate the lexico-grammatical
associations and pattern differences
between nearly synonymous words.
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Application of corpora to language
teaching
• ‘raw’, unedited corpora search
• Advantage
• Disadvantage
• specially-compiled, teacher-edited
corpus
• Advantage
• Disadvantage
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Advantages of using corpora in a
language class
• Solve some grammatical and usage
problems.
• Additional corpus material may be
useful to help the learner to see a
recurrent pattern rather than relying
on a single occurrence from a text.
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Disadvantages of using corpora in
a language class
• time-consuming
• wrong conclusion or incorrect
interpretation.
• “That’s why we suggest you talk to
us first.”
• “In that case I suggest we stick to it,
because I have the strong feeling
that…”
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Disadvantages of using corpora in
a language class (cont.)
• Not all the concordance-derived data
are grammatically correct.
• A teacher has to make a couple of
digressions from the main topics of a
lesson, which definitely will interrupt
the flow of the lecture or discussion.
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Dictionary definition of advise,
suggest, and recommend (LDCE)
• advise: to tell someone what you think
they should do, especially when you know
more than they do about something
• suggest: to tell someone your ideas about
what they should do, where they should
go etc
• recommend: to advise someone to do
something, especially when you have
special knowledge of a particular subject
or situation
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Whether these sentences are
correct?
• I suggested a new procedure to the
committee.
• A broker will advise you how to
invest your money.
• I would always recommend buying a
good quality bicycle rather than a
cheap one.
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How about these sentences?
• He suggested us to go for a drink. (LDCE)
• He suggested that we go for a drink.
• He advised to leave as quickly as possible.
(Collins COBUILD English Usage, p.26)
• Can you suggest something for us to do
this weekend?
• If you go to London, we recommend you
visiting Tate Modern. (LDCE)
• They advised him that the tour would
proceed.
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Pilot Study
• Find out the whether advise, suggest,
and recommend can be used in the
following patterns?
• V + N + (not) to-V
• V + wh-clause/phrase
• V + that-clause
• V + -ing
• V + for/to someone + to-V
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Pilot Study (cont.)
• What is the commonest modal (e.g. would,
should, might, can, could, etc.) that is
used in the that-clause of the third
sentence pattern (i.e., V +that-clause)?
Which adverbs are usually used with
these three words:
• modal:
• adverbs:
• advise
• suggest
• recommend
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V + N + (not) to-V
• He advised me to put my money in
the bank.
• I would recommend anyone to read
two books.
• suggest??
• Could you suggest someone to
advise me how to do this? (Collins
Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English
Dictionary, 4th edition, 2003, p.1449)
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V + wh-clause/phrase
• He may need to advise how to obtain legal
help or financial guidance. (BNCWeb) (1
target pattern out of 2021 examples)
• I keep trying to suggest where he could get
work. (BNCWeb) (136 target patterns out of
8778 examples)
• The trust will also recommend whether the
investment costs should be passed on to
consumers. (BNCWeb) (16 target patterns
out of 1784 examples)
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V + that-clause
• We advised that they should start
early.
• I suggested that he leave the room.
(fml; esp. AmE)
• I recommend that you get some
professional advice.
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V + -ing
• I advise waiting till the proper time.
• He suggested taking the children to
the zoo.
• I would always recommend buying a
good quality bicycle rather than a
cheap one.
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V + for/to someone + to-V
• He suggested for her to take the
money.
• I suggested to her to go to France
with me.
• advise??
• recommend??
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modal
• What is the commonest modal (e.g.
would, should, might, can, could, etc.)
that is used in the that-clause of the
third sentence pattern (i.e., V +thatclause)?
• should
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adverb
• Which adverbs are usually used with
these three words
• advise: strongly
• suggest: strongly
• recommend: highly, thoroughly,
strongly
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (1)
• native speaker intuition vs. non-native
speaker competence
• Many more experimental studies require
to be done before we can say that…
(Owne, 1996)
• …decided that a large number of laws
would require to be passed by a two-thirds
majority (from a corpus)
• Yes, your cordon pears do require to be
pruned in summer (from a corpus)
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (2)
• “Although REQUIRE to be is found in the
Bank of English, and fairly frequently, the
past participle that follows is usually that
of a verb with a specific meaning, not a
general verb such as do. There are plenty
of examples of the type These roses
require to be pruned each spring but very
few indeed of require to be done (only 3 out
of 302). Thus Owen’s intuitions are backed
up by evidence of the corpus, but on
phraseological rather than grammatical
grounds” (Hunston, 2002, p.21-22).
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (3)
• the absence of some target patterns and
rare instances of target patterns
• suggest + N + to V: (8 target patterns out
of 8778 examples from BNCWeb)
• I would suggest you to ask that question
in fact you’ll ask Gordon afterwards.
• suggest medicines to help reduce your
symptoms.
• suggest ways to help my weight reduction
• suggest strategies to increase the safety
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of …
pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspctive (4)
• recommend + N + V-ing (Longman
Grammar of Spoken and Written
English, p.742) (2 target patterns out
of 1784 examples from BNCWeb:
“…although she would recommend
you using more tact than Judith did.”)
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (5)
• suggest + N + V-ing (Longman
Grammar of Spoken and Written
English, p.742) (4 target patterns out
of 8778 examples from BNCWeb:
Perhaps I could suggest her getting
someone in to look after him and she
could come..)
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pedagogical and research
issues – EFL perspective (6)
• real language: Where the example
sentences from corpora are ‘real language’
in a meaningful context?
• In the classroom setting, EFL students are
unlikely to be motivated by corpus-based
data if the instances of language use that
they are studying are taken from contexts
which are detached from their interests
and concerns (Tribble, 1997).
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Conclusion
• “It is certainly true that I do not
believe (and do not think the
research demonstrates) that there is
just one preferred approach to
teaching grammar. The acquisition of
the grammatical system of an L2 is a
complex process and almost
certainly can be assisted best by a
variety of approaches.” (Ellis, 2006,
p.103)
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Conclusion (cont.)
• The marriage between corpus-based
linguistics and grammar instruction
might have a happy ending if
competent English teachers are fully
prepared and find adequate methods
to integrate corpus-based materials
into relevant grammar learning.
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