The norm in learner corpus research and language teaching: How do we choose?
(2017) The Education University of Hong Kong seminars in Linguistics and Modern Language Studies — Location: Hong Kong (7.April.2017)
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- Abstract
- As a teacher and as a researcher in learner corpus linguistics, it is often necessary to choose a norm. The norm makes it possible for teachers to provide students with a target that guides their acquisition of a foreign or second language, and it gives researchers access to some benchmark against which to compare learner corpus data. However, the question of what norm to choose and how to choose it is not necessarily an easy one. Even if we restrict ourselves to native norms, a choice should be made between different regional varieties, between novice and expert norms, between a single norm and multiple norms, etc. In this presentation, I will discuss the different types of norms that can be used in learner corpus research, demonstrating how the choice of a certain norm can impact, and sometimes even bias, the results. I will also address the question of whether the norm can be dispensed with in learner corpus research. I will then compare the corpus linguistic perspective with the reality of the classroom and show that, although corpus-derived norms should be encouraged in teaching, the results of learner corpus research may have to be adapted before they are presented to students. The talk will focus on the case of English, but the conclusions and implications can be applied to other languages as well.
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Gilquin, G. (2017). The norm in learner corpus research and language teaching: How do we choose? The Education University of Hong Kong seminars in Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, Hong Kong. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/178089