Development and application of corpus-based teaching materials for the grammar course in a tertiary level EFL setting in Turkey

Abstract

This mixed methods study aimed to investigate the impact of corpus-based lesson materials on the colligational competence of EFL learners taking Language Awareness (LA) course, which is basically a grammar course at tertiary level, by incorporating educational applications of corpus linguistics methodology (data-driven learning and classroom concordancing) into the curricula. The samples of the study (n: 75) were learners taking LA at level 2 in an English preparatory programme, which features English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instruction, at a state university in Turkey. 25 of these learners were those taking the same course more than once during their preparatory language education and the other 50 were first-time takers. By incorporating data-driven learning methods into the curricula, the researcher, who is also the teacher in the present study, aimed at enhancing learner comprehension of grammatical forms that comprise EAP and ESP based authentic texts adapted from various original sources for in-class use, and thus reducing the number of learners who are likely to fail the course by increasing their awareness of the authentic language used in academic texts focusing mainly on how these sentences are grammatically formed. This research is expected to build up a bridge between LA and other essential language skills being taught within the preparatory programme. For this very purpose, the researcher compiled a corpus database of approximately 5 million words consisting of authentic texts comprising the reading corpus of the preparatory programme, along with listening tape scripts that have so far been used since 2011, the Alternate Corpus of Academic Texts or the ACAT, in addition to a graded-readers corpus previously compiled by the researcher. Data collection methods included the pre-test and post-test of 2 seven-week terms of grammar instruction explicitly strengthened by data-driven learning techniques. The learners were subject to corpus-based in-class tasks in which they were instructed to explore the corpus database at their own pace. The analysis of the quantitative data yielded a statistically significant increase in the test performances of the samples. The quantitative findings of the study were also supported by qualitative data collection methods featuring a focus group interview. The course materials developed for this study are also electronically archived to be used in LA 2 classrooms in the future.