Innovation in Language Learning
Using Data-Driven Learning Methods in Telecommunication English Teaching
Camino Rea Rizzo, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain)
María José Marín Pérez, Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Abstract
The use of linguistic corpora in language teaching has spread considerably in the last twenty-five years thanks to the pioneer work by Johns [1], who coined the term data-driven learning (DDL, henceforth); Sinclair [2], who developed the concept further on; or Boulton [3], amongst others. DDL teaching methods promote language study based on the observation of concordances, that is, examples of the authentic use of keywords in context (KWC), which are retrieved from a linguistic corpus by running software programs specifically designed to that end, such as Wordsmith [4].
According to the literature on the subject, there exist arguments for and against the use of corpora in language teaching and there has been a fairly small number of pedagogical experiments in English for specific purposes (ESP) [3], particularly in the field of telecommunication English. This work suggests two activities for teaching terminology within this area applying DDL-based methodology, together with a pedagogical experimental model for its future implementation. Such activities are not intended to substitute any other teaching material like course books, they are rather envisaged as a supplement to language exposure and/or reinforcement of terminology. The language samples of this specialised variety are stored in the Telecommunication English Corpus (TEC) [5], designed and compiled ad hoc for language research owing to the scarcity of technical corpora available.
[1] Johns, T. (1986).Microconcord: A language-learner’s research tool. System, 14 (2), 151–162.
[2] Sinclair, J. 2003. Reading Concordances: An Introduction. London: Longman.
[3] Boulton, A. (2012). Corpus consultation for ESP. A review of empirical research. In Boulton, A., Carter-Thomas, S., Rowley-Jolivet, E. (eds.) Corpus-Informed Research and Learning in ESP. Issues and Applications (261-292). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[4] Scott, M. (2008). WordSmith Tools version 5 [computer software]. Liverpool: Lexical Analysis Software.
[5] Rea, C. (2008). El inglés de las telecomunicaciones: estudio léxico basado en un corpus específico. Tesis doctoral. http://www.tesisenred.net/TDR-0611109-134048/index_cs.html>
