Author Archives: langcorp

Plenary: From data literacy to AI literacy: examining engagement with corpora and technology in language education

Prof Pascual Pérez-Paredes will deliver a keynote at the 2nd EUt+ International Conference on Languages  EUt LC 2024 -Merging New Trends and Consolidating Good Practices in Languages for Specific Purposes – UPCT, Cartagena, Spain, June 26-28, 2024

Abstract

In this talk, I discuss recent developments in what I have described elsewhere as Broad scope DDL (BsDDL) (Pérez-Paredes, 2024), an alternative approach that situates learners’ learning ecology (Pérez-Paredes, 2022b) at the centre of a learning process and where a variety of language data sources such as corpora, Gen AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) coexist. This ecology acknowledges the important role of new digital literacies and the symbolically mediated practices involving different types of knowledge and skills when engaged with texts in electronically mediated environments (Kern, 2021).

References

Boulton, A. (2021). Research in data-driven learning. In Pérez-Paredes, P., & Mark, G. (Eds.) Beyond concordance lines: Corpora in language education. John Benjamins, pp.9-34.

Boulton, A., & Cobb, T. (2017). Corpus use in language learning: A meta‐analysis. Language learning, 67(2), 348-393.

Boulton, A., & Vyatkina, N. (2021). Thirty years of data-driven learning: Taking stock and charting new directions over time. Language, Learning & Technology, 25(3), 66-89.

Boulton, A., & Vyatkina, N. (2023). Expanding Methodological Approaches in DDL Research. TESOL Quarterly.

British Council, The. (2023). Artificial intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future. URL: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/case-studies-insights-and-research/artificial-intelligence-and-english-language

Curry, N., Baker, P., & Brookes, G. (2024). Generative AI for corpus approaches to discourse studies: a critical evaluation of ChatGPT. Applied Corpus Linguistics, 4(1).

Kern, R. (2021). Twenty-five years of digital literacies in CALL. Language Learning & Technology, 25(3), 132–150.

Mizumoto, A. (2023). Data-driven Learning Meets Generative AI: Introducing the Framework of Metacognitive Resource Use. Applied Corpus Linguistics, 3(3), 100074.

Pérez-Paredes, P. (2010). Corpus Linguistics and Language Education in Perspective: Appropriation and the Possibilities Acenario. In T. Harris & M. Moreno Jaén (Eds.), Corpus Linguistics in Language Teaching (pp. 53-73). Peter Lang.

Pérez-Paredes, P. (2022a). A systematic review of the uses and spread of corpora and data-driven learning in CALL research during 2011–2015. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(1-2), 36-61.

Pérez-Paredes, P. (2022b). How learners use corpora. In R. R. Jablonkai & E. Csomay (Eds). The Routledge Handbook of Corpora and English Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 390-405). Routledge.

Pérez-Paredes, P. (2024) Data-driven learning in informal contexts? Embracing Broad Data-driven learning (BDDL) research. In Crosthwaite, P. (Ed.). Corpora for Language Learning: Bridging the Research-Practice Divide. Routledge.

Open access article: Chinese EFL learners’ use of mobile dictionaries in reading comprehension tasks

Zhang, D. and Pérez-Paredes, P. (2024). Chinese EFL learners’ use of mobile dictionaries in reading comprehension tasks. System, 121, 103221.

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X24000034?via%3Dihub

Abstract

Although mobile dictionaries are widely used in English as a foreign language (EFL) education, few studies have examined the different types of mobile dictionaries that Chinese students use. This study looks at monolingual, bilingualised and bilingual mobile dictionaries used by Chinese university EFL learners when completing a reading activity. Mixed methods were used to investigate the engagement of 125 learners with three different dictionary apps. A self-report questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to understand learners’ uses and motivations when using mobile dictionaries. Results of the questionnaire show that most learners look up almost exclusively the first entry definition, the Chinese translation of the target word and, to a lesser degree, part of speech information. Spelling, example sentences and other aspects of vocabulary knowledge were largely ignored by the participants in the study. The interview data allowed us to hypothesise that three strategies are shared by the participants across the three study conditions: (1) the “so-called relevance” strategy, (2) the “choose the first definition” strategy, and (3) the “availability principle” strategy. This study addresses gaps in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) research, providing language teachers, researchers and policymakers with ways to understand how mobile dictionaries are used in English language learning.

Happy Xmas hols everyone

It’s been a fab year for us @languagecorpora: exciting new projects @fomatplay, the 2023 edition of #corpuslinguistics and #appliedlinguitics and the DDL research seminar. Thanks everyone for their contributions and #MerryChristmas & happy hols.

Check out our Youtube channel for talks and events: https://www.youtube.com/@corporaappliedlinguistics8358

And the 2023 talks here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBtPDghJOLAbharMdZ1C5Za3kQGhwjhPN&si=Al2AiAtqyqrJjvZ3

Breaking ground: Discussing the present and the future of Data-driven learning – Online seminar

December 4, 2023

Click below to register. It’s free.

https://umurcia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DuBwB0RnSUGzGfsxJ2i8jw#/r

Check out this event here

This online seminar is hosted and organized by Universidad de Murcia and Université de Lorraine.

Free registration

https://umurcia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DuBwB0RnSUGzGfsxJ2i8jw#/registration

16th Teaching and Language Corpora Conference. Manchester Metropolitan University, July 7-10 2024

Conference Website: https://talc2024.co.uk/

Call for Papers: https://talc2024.co.uk/call-for-papers/

Plenary Speakers

  • Prof. Silvia Bernardini, University of Bologna
  • Dr Philip Durrant, University of Exeter
  • Prof. Fiona Farr, University of Limerick
  • Prof. Bethany Gray, Iowa State University
  • Prof. Tony McEnery, Lancaster University

Important Dates

  • Abstract submission opens: 10th November 2023
  • Abstract submission closes: 12th January 2024 at 11pm UTC.

ICAME45 – Universidad de Vigo – 18-22 June 2024

International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English – ICAME 45 – Interlocking Corpora and Register(s): Diversity and Innovation 

Submission instructions:

SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS
The call for abstracts will close on 1 December 2023. Notification of acceptance will be sent out in early February 2024.

Abstracts should be between 400 and 500 words (excluding references) and should clearly state research question(s), approach, data, method, and (expected) results. Submission should be anonymous and via EasyAbs.

Authors may submit a maximum of two abstracts if at least one paper is co-authored.

We invite abstracts for the following presentation formats:
– Full paper: 20 + 10 mins discussion
– Short paper/Work-in-progress report: 10 + 5 mins discussion
– Software demonstration: 20 + 10 mins discussion
– Poster: on display for the duration of the conference and brief presentations (c.5 mins) during a special session. Maximum A0 size (portrait).

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
We also invite proposals for pre-conference workshops on Tuesday 18 June 2024. If you would like to convene a workshop, please send your proposal by 15 November 2023 directly to the organisers <icame45@uvigo.gal>.

The proposal should contain the title of the workshop, name and contact details of the organisers and of the proposed participants, and a short description of the topics to be discussed (between 400 and 700 words, excluding references). If the workshop is accepted, workshop conveners will be responsible for putting the individual abstracts together, including peer reviewing. This should be completed and notified to the conference organisers before 15 January 2024.

URL: https://icame45.webs.uvigo.es/