Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:32:49.843Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exploiting a corpus of business letters from a phraseological, functional perspective*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2012

Lynne Flowerdew
Lynne Flowerdew
Affiliation:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR (email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper illustrates how a freely available online corpus has been exploited in a module on teaching business letters covering the following four speech acts (functions) commonly found in business letters: invitations, requests, complaints and refusals. It is proposed that different strategies are required for teaching potentially non-face-threatening (invitations, requests) and face-threatening (complaints, refusals) speech acts.

The hands-on pedagogic activities follow the ‘guided inductive approach’ advocated by Johansson (2009) and draw on practices and strategies covered in the literature on using corpora in language learning and teaching, viz. the need for ‘pedagogic mediation’, and the ‘noticing’ hypothesis from second language acquisition studies.

Keywords

inductivepedagogic mediationnoticingpattern-huntingspeech actsfunctionsphraseology
Type
Research Article
Information
ReCALL , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , 27 April 2012 , pp. 152 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerley, K.Coccetta, F. (2007) Enriching language learning through a multimedia corpus. ReCALL, 19(3): 351–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, J. L. (1962) How to do things with words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baldry, A.Thibault, P. (2006) Multimodal corpus linguistics. In: Thompson, G. and Hunston, S. (eds.), System and Corpus. Exporing Connections. London: Equinox, 164–183.Google Scholar
Bernardini, S. (2002) Exploring new directions for discovery learning. In: Kettemann, B. and Marko, G. (eds.), Teaching and Learning by Doing Corpus Analysis. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 165–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernardini, S. (2004) Corpora in the classroom. An overview and some reflections on future developments. In: Sinclair, J. (ed.), How to Use Corpora in Language Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 15–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloch, J. (2009) The design of an online concordancing program for teaching about reporting verbs. Language Learning and Technology, 13(1): 59–78.Google Scholar
Bloch, J. (2010) A concordance-based study of the use of reporting verbs as rhetorical devices in academic papers. Journal of Writing Research, 2(2): 219–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BNC (British National Corpus). Available at: www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/. Retrieved 6 February 2012.Google Scholar
Boulton, A. (2009) Testing the limits of data-driven learning: language proficiency and training. ReCALL, 21(1): 37–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulton, A. (2011) Language awareness and medium-term benefits of corpus consultation. New Trends in CALL– Working Together. Madrid: Macmillan ELT.Google Scholar
Braun, S. (2005) From pedagogically relevant corpora to authentic language learning contents. ReCALL, 17(1): 47–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, P.Levinson, S. (1987) Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Business Letter Corpus (BLC). Available at: http://www.someya-net.com/concordancer/. Retrieved 6 February 2012.Google Scholar
Carter, M.McCarthy, M. (1995) Grammar and the Spoken Language. Applied Linguistics, 16(2): 141–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, A. (2005) Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. Language Learning and Technology, 9(2): 111–125.Google Scholar
Chambers, A. (2007) Editorial. Integrating corpora in language learning and teaching. ReCALL, 19(3): 249–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, M. (2007) Reconciling top-down and bottom-up approaches to graduate writing. Using a corpus to teach rhetorical functions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(4): 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, M. (2011) Using a corpus to teach rhetorical functions: students’ evaluation of a hands-on concordancing approach. In: Frankenberg-Garcia, A., Flowerdew, L. and Aston, G. (eds.), New Trends in Corpora and Language Learning. London: Continuum, 26–43.Google Scholar
Chujo, K., Anthony, L., Oghigian, K. (2005) DDL for the EFL classroom. http://www.ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/publications/cl2009/48_FullPaper.docGoogle Scholar
Coccetta, F. (2011) Multimodal functional-notional concordancing. In: Frankenberg-Garcia, A., Flowerdew, L. and Aston, G. (eds.), New Trends in Corpora and Language Learning. London: Continuum, 121–138.Google Scholar
Cowie, A. P. (ed.) (1998) Phraseology. Theory, Analysis and Applications. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flowerdew, L. (2008) Corpus linguistics for academic literacies mediated through discussion activities. In: Belcher, D. and Hirvela, A. (eds.), The Oral-Literate Connection. Perspectives on L2 Speaking, Writing and Other Media Interactions. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 268–287.Google Scholar
Flowerdew, L. (2009) Applying corpus linguistics to pedagogy: A critical evaluation. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 4(3): 393–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flowerdew, L. (in press, 2012a) Corpora and Language Education. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flowerdew, L. (in press, 2012b) Corpora and the classroom: An applied linguistic perspective. In: Hyland, K., Chau, M.H. and Handford, M. (eds.), Corpora in Applied Linguistics: Current Approaches and Future Directions. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Frankenberg-Garcia, A. (2011) Raising teachers’ awareness of corpora. Language Teaching doi:10.1017/S026144481000080, Cambridge University Press. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7931797Google Scholar
Gavioli, L.Aston, G. (2001) Enriching reality: language corpora in language pedagogy. ELT Journal, 55(3): 238–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goffman, E. (1967) Interaction ritual: essays on face-to-face behavior. Garden City: New York.Google Scholar
Hunston, S.Francis, G. (2000) Pattern Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansson, S. (2009) Some thoughts on corpora and second-language acquisition. In: Aijmer, K. (ed.), Corpora and Language Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 33–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, T. (1997) Contexts: The background, development and trialling of a concordance-based CALL program. In: Wichmann, A., Fligelstone, S., McEnery, T. and Knowles, G. (eds.), Teaching and Learning Corpora. London: Longman, 100–115.Google Scholar
Johns, T., Lee, H- C.Wang, L. (2008) Integrating corpus-based CALL programs in teaching English through children's literature. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21(5): 483–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G. (2001) Classroom research on interlanguage pragmatics. In: Rose, K. and Kasper, G. (eds.), Pragmatics in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 33–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, C.Miceli, T. (2010) Corpus-assisted creative writing: introducing intermediate Italian learners to a corpus as a reference resource. Language Learning and Technology, 14(1): 28–44.Google Scholar
Lee, D.Swales, J. (2006) A corpus-based ESP course for NNS doctoral students: Moving from available specialized corpora to self-compiled corpora. English for Specific Purposes, 25(1): 56–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, M. (1998) Spoken Language and Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mishan, F. (2004) Authenticating corpora for language learning. ELT Journal, 58(3): 219–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moon, R. (1997) Vocabulary connections: multi-word items in English. In: Schmitt, N. and McCarthy, M. (eds.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 40–63.Google Scholar
O'Keeffe, A.Farr, F. (2003) Using language corpora in initial teacher education: Pedagogic issues and practical applications. TESOL Quarterly, 37(3): 389–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Sullivan, I. (2007) Enhancing a process-oriented approach to literacy and language learning: The role of corpus consultation literacy. ReCALL, 19(3): 269–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Sullivan, I.Chambers, A. (2006) Learners’ writing skills in French: corpus consultation and learner evaluation. Journal of Second Language Writing, 15(1): 49–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (1997) Individual differences and the fundamental similarity of implicit and explicit adult second language learning. Language Learning, 47(1): 45–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, R. (1990) The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2): 129–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, R. (2001) “Attention”. In: Robinson, P. (ed.), Cognition and Second Language Instruction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2011) Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sinclair, J.McH. (1991) Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sinclair, J.McH. (2004) The lexical item. In: Weigand, E. (ed.), Contrastive Lexical Semantics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1–24.Google Scholar
Stubbs, M. (1987) ‘A matter of prolonged field work’: Notes towards a modal grammar of English. Applied Linguistics, 7(1): 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stubbs, M. (1996) Text and Corpus Analysis. London: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Stubbs, M. (2006) Corpus analysis: the state of the art and three types of unanswered questions. In: Thompson, G. and Hunston, S. (eds.), System and Corpus. Exploring Connections. London: Equinox, 15–36.Google Scholar
Swain, M. (1998) Focus on form through conscious reflection. In: Doughty, C. and Williams, J. (eds.), Focus on Form in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 64–81.Google Scholar
Thompson, P.Tribble, C. (2001) Looking at citations: using corpora in English for Academic Purposes. Language Learning and Technology, 5(3): 91–105.Google Scholar
Thurstun, J.Candlin, C. (1998a) Exploring Academic English: A workbook for student essay writing. Macquarie University: NCELTR.Google Scholar
Thurstun, J.Candlin, C. (1998b) Concordancing and the teaching of vocabulary of academic English. English for Specific Purposes, 17(3): 267–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truscott, J. (1998) Noticing in second language acquisition: a critical review. Second Language Research, 14(2): 103–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WebCorp. Available at: www.webcorp.org.uk/. Retrieved 6 February 2012.Google Scholar
Widdowson, H. G. (1998) Context, community and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4): 705–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Widdowson, H. G. (2000) On the limitations of linguistics applied. Applied Linguistics, 21(1): 3–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, D. (1976) Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar