TEC 2014 Hyderabad

Adam Scott

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and The Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively
teachAdam@me.com @teachAdam

Adam Scott

A need for change

Some beginners making slow progress New students joining existing classes Traditional coursebooks failing to deliver Frustrating for teachers and learners
The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

A premise or two
Collocation should help learners Corpus data can inform course content Syntax is central to learning English

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Literature Review
Beginners, by Paul Grundy Teaching English to Beginners, by LRH Chapman

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Literature Review
From Corpus to The Lexical Syllabus, Lexical Priming, Classroom, OKeeffe, by Dave Willis by Michael Hoey McCarthy & Carter

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Post-beginner Dilemmas
Problems some higher-level learners still have:

some level of illiteracy in English poor basic speaking skills poor basic listening skills poor basic syntax and verb use poor or unnatural basic vocab and collocation struggle badly with pronunciation have taken forever to make progress

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Why bother?

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Brain Power
McLaughlins Attention-Processing Model
Second language learning is a skill It requires automization of component sub-skills New learning needs our focal and controlled attention Our capacity to manage controlled processes is limited automization makes our language processing skills more efficient Structured practice of linguistic patterns supports integration and automization

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Welcome to English!

Neradova, M. (2013). Summer in the mountains. Retrieved 15/11/13 from: http://www.marianeradova.org/?month=6

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Undirected focus

Neradova, M. (2013). Summer in the mountains. Retrieved 15/11/13 from: http://www.marianeradova.org/?month=6

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Too many foci

Neradova, M. (2013). Summer in the mountains. Retrieved 15/11/13 from: http://www.marianeradova.org/?month=6

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Typical coursebook

Neradova, M. (2013). Summer in the mountains. Retrieved 15/11/13 from: http://www.marianeradova.org/?month=6

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Interface CL and LA

Neradova, M. (2013). Summer in the mountains. Retrieved 15/11/13 from: http://www.marianeradova.org/?month=6

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Corpus tools 1
Frequency Lists
UCREL Lancaster University http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/bncfreq/

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Top 30 English Words

this
not

he

's be

you in with a to that but she and

1 2 3 4 5

have a

...

she is this is

from ... a ...

are you from

...

from for the it on of is had are I was by his have at they ...
Data from Lancaster University. Companion website for word frequencies in written and spoken English based on the British National Corpus . (2001). Retrieved 15/09/12 from: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/bncfreq/flists.html

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Your turn to play!

Data from Lancaster University. Companion website for word frequencies in written and spoken English based on the British National Corpus . (2001). Retrieved 15/09/12 from: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/bncfreq/flists.html

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Practise and personalise

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Corpus tools 2
Online Concordancer
BYU BNC http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Online concordancer

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Online concordancer

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Building collocation

go to

get

a taxi

have

use

see

play

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Lexical grammar
/j-uh/ Do you? /d-i-j-uh/ Did you?

/j-uh/ ? (=every day) Yes, I do. No, I dont. /d-i-j-uh/ yesterday?

go to

get

a taxi

have

use

see

play

Yes, I did. No, I didnt.

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Key practical features

Collocating lexis into grammar Presentation light, production heavy Careful staging one thing at a time Chunking up structural elements A focus on accuracy Achieves real communication

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Building collocation
Top 10 adjectives Top 10 nouns

Data from Lancaster University. Companion website for word frequencies in written and spoken English based on the British National Corpus . (2001). Retrieved 15/09/12 from: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/bncfreq/flists.html

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Building collocations
time
year people

way

man

day

thing

government

work

year

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Top Verbs

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Building associations
Collocating the highest-frequency words
Builds associations across lexis

Chunking creates better pronunciation

Synthetic phonics to represent sounds

Develops understanding of primings Supports receptive skills

Increases ability to listen, read and anticipate

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Pronunciation
/w-air d-i-j-uh g-oh/ /h-ue d-i-j-uh g-oh w-i-th/ /w-e-n d-i-j-uh g-oh/ /w-o w-uh-z th-uh w-e-th-uh l-igh-k/ /w-o d-i-j-uh d-ue th-air/ /w-o w-uh-z-i-t l-igh-k/ /w-air d-i-j-uh s-t-ey/

Doff, A. (2010). English unlimited starter coursebook. Cambridge: CUP. p.67

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Adjacency Pairs

Doff, A. (2010). English unlimited starter coursebook. Cambridge: CUP. p.67

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Pronunciation maps

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

New value in resources

fly play catch

run
n walk sit t
(lie)

ly

sail
throw kick feed swim m

(ride)

rid

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Associative activities
Using memory maps
Collocating adjectives with landmarks Matching words with people Matching sounds in different words Teaching new lexis with strong collocates Meaning is built through association

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Statistical indicators
Beginners reaching pre-int or higher
(Beginner and elementary levels counted as one level)

Number of weeks per level (averaged)

Median progress in student weeks

14.00 [VALUE] weeks 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 [VALUE] weeks

4.00
2.00 0.00

Traditional New COURSE TYPE

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Qualitative Feedback
Students fit capably into elementary level Surprising levels of fluency and accuracy
Able to say a lot with relatively little

Learners are engaged and questioning Good ability to collocate lexis Students are happy and motivated Good study skills

The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively

Adam Scott

Some closing ideas

Download slides at: http://teachadam.wordpress.com Stage lessons for focal, controlled attention: one thing at a time! Well-staged, integrated lesson content fosters Demand High learning and meaningful production Chunk up cumbersome/discreet discrete grammar points Collocate new lexis to minimise learner confusion Collocation differences are easy to recognise and remember Simple, explicit pronunciation teaches sound-spelling relations Priming learners for listenings and readings practises sub-skills Learning is a skill - strategies are at least as important as content Thank you
The Interface of Corpus Linguistics and the Lexical Approach for Teaching ESL Beginner Learners Effectively