What norms for language learners? A corpus-based research and teaching perspective
(2022) 48th conference of the Japan Association for English Corpus Studies (JAECS) — Location: Meijo University (Japan) [held online] (1.October.2022)
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- In both research and teaching, norms are often used as a reference against which to describe or evaluate learner language (L2). In learner corpus research, for example, the notions of ‘underuse’ and ‘overuse’ imply a comparison of frequencies in the L2 and in some variety corresponding to the expected target (see Granger 1996). In language teaching, textbooks mostly provide materials representing native varieties of the language and teachers often assess learners’ proficiency with reference to some native standard. Corpora, by giving access to data that are representative of a certain language or language variety, can serve as a basis to define a norm empirically (Klippel & Mukherjee 2007). This presentation will provide an overview of the different types of corpus-derived norms that can be used in learner corpus research and foreign language teaching. We will consider whether a norm is always required and will examine the use of native vs non-native norms, novice vs expert norms, single vs multiple norms and research vs pedagogical norms, among others. It will also be shown that using different norms can lead to different results (see Chen 2013 for an example), which means that it is crucial to choose the most appropriate norm(s). In this respect, the importance of context will be underlined, including one’s research purposes (cf. Ädel 2006) and learners’ goals in studying the language. It will be argued that norms are useful in most L2 research and teaching contexts but should be carefully chosen to reflect the most relevant target languages/varieties and should be applied with some flexibility to allow, for example, for linguistic creativity.
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Gilquin, G. (2022). What norms for language learners? A corpus-based research and teaching perspective. 48th conference of the Japan Association for English Corpus Studies (JAECS), Meijo University (Japan) [held online]. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/101624