Crow at AAAL and TESOL 2023

If you’re attending AAAL 2023 or TESOL 2023 in Portland, Oregon, look for these sessions that feature data from Crow and MACAWS!

Dang, Wang, Conrad, & Staples, “‘How is it done?’ A qualitative analysis of using corpus-based materials to teach L2 writing”
AAAL, Sunday, March 19, 8:35 to 9:05am, Eugene

Sommer-Farias & Bertho, “Lexical bundles in genre-specific writing: Results from an intervention study”
AAAL, Sunday, March 19, 4:00 to 4:30pm, Laurelhurst

Wang, Dang, & Staples, “Exploring L2 students’ writing performances and perceptions of corpus-based materials”
TESOL, Thursday, March 23, 12:00 to 12:30pm, Oregon Convention Center C122

Abstracts after the jump.

Anh Dang, Hui Wang, Nina Conrad and Shelley Staples, “‘How is it done?’ A qualitative analysis of using corpus-based materials to teach L2 writing” (AAAL)

AAAL, Sunday, March 19, 8:35 to 9:05am, Eugene

Previous research has shown that corpus-based analysis and data-driven learning (DDL) can effectively guide students to understand language patterns across texts and grammatical features typically used in different genres (Boulton & Cobb, 2017; Flowerdew, 2005). Many studies (Chang, 2014; Luo, 2016; Tono et al., 2014) testing the effectiveness of DDL materials use a teacher/researcher (or a team of experts) as the creator and deliverer of the materials, with some studies (Charles, 2014; Granger et al., 2002, 2015) also suggesting the use of learner corpora for academic writing skills. However, many teachers feel they lack training and resources to develop DDL materials even after some training (Farr, 2008; Schmidt, 2020). Since these studies mainly address the importance and benefits of corpora in second language learning, it is necessary to investigate how instructors are involved in the process of developing and implementing corpus-based materials in their own teaching contexts.

For this purpose, we decided to conduct a multiple-case study to track and explore 4 participating instructors’ process of implementing corpus-based materials in a university writing course for undergraduate second language (L2) writers during an academic year (Fall 2020-Spring 2021), focusing on their teaching experiences and feedback. The main purpose of this study is to examine how 4 instructors adapted the corpus-based materials built from a learner corpus, the Corpus and Repository of Writing (Crow), to fit their own contexts, taking account of their previous experiences, beliefs, desires, and overall feedback on the materials. To this end, primary data were collected via classroom observations, focus groups, and instructor surveys and were analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). The findings reveal successes and struggles encountered during two semesters of implementation in an L2 writing course and provide pedagogical implications for those wanting to implement corpus-based teaching practices.

Bruna Sommer-Farias and Mariana Bertho, “Lexical bundles in genre-specific writing: Results from an intervention study” (AAAL)

AAAL, Sunday, March 19, 4:00 to 4:30pm, Laurelhurst

Several studies on learner corpora have described patterns of frequently co-occurring multi-word sequences, especially lexical bundles, and their functions in specific genres (e.g., Xian, Ai & Pae, 2022). While many studies have focused on the comparison between L1 and L2 students’ production (Adel & Erman, 2012), more studies comparing pre- and post-intervention studies informed by corpus-informed materials in languages other than English are needed (Boulton & Vyatkina, 2021). This study investigated the influence of learner corpus-informed materials on L2 learners’ writing, especifically job application letters. The materials used were designed to raise students’ awareness of rhetorical moves and multi-word units in this genre (Sommer-Farias, 2018) based on data from the Multilingual Academic Corpus of Assignments – Writing and Speech (MACAWS) (Staples et al., 2019-). The corpus is composed of first and final draft of job application letters written before and after the intervention over 6 semesters in a high-intermediate L2 Portuguese undergraduate writing course, totalling 113 texts and 34,606 word tokens. Lexical bundles were extracted from texts tokenized by sentence, with normalized frequency of 3- and 4-word bundles calculated by individual text. The bundles with highest mean frequency (range of at least 4) were identified by range and dispersion and then classified by functions (Biber, Conrad & Cortes, 2004). Discourse analysis of multi-word units’ placement in sentences and text sections was conducted to identify rhetorical move changes, especially stance bundles, since these functions were addressed in the instructional materials. Bundles expressing politeness such as “thank you for your time” were classified as special bundles for the first time in written genres. Results showed that discourse organizing bundles were as frequent as referential bundles in the final drafts, but stance bundles were more nuanced and aligned with the genre’s purpose after the intervention, e.g., less use of “ I think that”.

Hui Wang, Anh Dang, and Shelley Staples, “Exploring L2 students’ writing performances and perceptions of corpus-based materials” (TESOL)

TESOL, Thursday, March 23, 12:00 to 12:30pm, Oregon Convention Center C122

Abstract: This presentation depicts L2 students’ writing performances and perceptions of corpus-based materials in a college-level L2 writing course. Findings revealed that the materials helped students observe usage of citation forms, reporting verbs, and evaluative language, and students showed positive attitudes as materials diversified their source synthesis strategies in research writing.

Description: Corpus-based pedagogy has become a popular trend in language learning and teaching in recent decades. It focuses on using sufficient authentic texts in context for learners to observe and induce language patterns, therefore, it is a powerful tool for understanding how language varies in different contexts, genres, and situations (Reppen & Simpson-Vlach, 2002). Writing instruction research also adopts various corpus-based approaches to engage learners in an exploration of language patterns through authentic texts (Boulton & Cobb, 2017; Gilmore, 2009; Kennedy & Miceli, 2017). This study aims to explore the ways in which L2 students in a U.S. university used the corpus-based materials developed by a learner corpus (Corpus and Repository of Writing) for a summary and response project in L2 writing course (Spring 2022-Fall 2022). The study featured a mix-method design with student surveys as well as pre- and final- drafts from both control and experimental groups. The draft analysis results highlight that the corpus-based materials developed students’ awareness, knowledge as well as skills of using evaluative language in their summary and response writing. Student survey responses show that the majority of students found the corpus-based materials effective in achieving their learning goals and improving their overall writing skills. In addition, the study highlights the effectiveness of using learner corpora as teaching resources in L2 writing classes.