Innovation in Language Learning

Despite a lengthy debate over the years about whether grammar should be taught or not, this paper discusses the crucial role of grammar in language teaching and its importance when used to achieve communicative competence. It also supports using corpora (corpus linguistics or word corpus) for effective language instruction through significant input of linguistics aspects. In addition, it aims to present studies and discuss the use of the corpus linguistic website Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) to engage learners in tasks that contribute to grammar discovery. COCA (https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/) is the first comprehensive and diverse corpus of American English. It was released in 2018 with more than 385 million words, and 25 million more words have been added each year since then. COCA comprises texts from eight genres: spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, academic texts, TV and movie subtitles, blogs, and other web pages. To determine how far COCA can contribute to teaching grammar, an analysis of some of its functions and applicability is provided, along with some suggestions for activities. Despite a minor error in one of its functions, COCA's relevance remains strong for specific entries. To manage potential challenges, teachers are advised to use COCA to prepare material and tasks in advance, allowing students to have controlled practice. Overall, COCA facilitates engaging and problem-based learning, empowering students through their active interaction with corpus linguistics.

Keywords: English learning, teaching grammar, corpora, corpus linguistics, COCA