JoLIE 11:1/2018

 

Back to issue page

 

 

 

A CONVERGENT APPROACH TO CORPUS AND GLOSSARY CREATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION CLIL

 

 

Mona Arhire

Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania

 

 

 

Abstract

 

During the last few decades, there has been growing scholarly concern for the enhancement of the international dimension of education with a view to opening wider perspectives for the learners’ study and subsequent employment in the European space. One of the frameworks conceived so as to address the internationalization of education is Content and Language Integrated Learning, which is aimed at providing learners simultaneously with knowledge in a certain field of study and with communication skills in a widely-spoken language. The study presented in this paper is interdisciplinary, lying at the intersection point of language pedagogy, corpus linguistics, information technology and lexicography. It is an integrative approach borrowing methodology from all these disciplines while pursuing the objective of formulating a teaching and learning methodology to be used in English-taught academic Content and Language Integrated Learning, the participants of which are non-natives speakers of English. The novel methodology herein suggested is considered an effective means to enhance the acquisition of both specialized terminology and content knowledge in such educational contexts. More precisely, the paper attempts at demonstrating that corpus compilation and glossary-making can be joined in a complementary way so as to establish a better balancing act between the improvement of the students’ English language performance inside and outside their field of study and their acquiring the relevant content knowledge. It reports on the experiment undertaken with Romanian students enrolled in the English-taught programme of Automotive Engineering at Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania. They were initially guided to adopt collaborative learning strategies throughout the activities related to corpus compilation and glossary-making so as to develop autonomous learning skills for long-time professional engagement. The methodology was conceived in eight steps, which were scheduled to stretch over a whole semester, during the students’ initial study stages. The two main activities, corpus compilation and glossary-making by means of electronic tools, are dedicated separate sections in this paper, which highlight the gradual development of the learners’ language skills, abilities to handle electronic tools for the creation of learning and working resources and the acquisition of knowledge in a particular field of study. Nonetheless, focus is laid on the relation of interdependency between these two major activities and on the benefits of approaching them convergently by undertaking the adjacent actions in an integrative way and with the end-product in constant view. The methodology is designed as a coherent whole meant to positively impact the overall quality of the learners’ study. The advantages of the proposed methodology have been discussed along two coordinates, one pertaining to the process and the other to the product. The two chief benefits of the methodology have been outlined as (i) enhancing the balance between content and language acquisition in Content and Language Integrated Learning for non-native speakers of English, fostering autonomous and self-directed learning abilities, and (ii) providing the learners with valuable resources during and after the study.

 

Key words: Higher education CLIL; Specialized corpus; Glossary; Autonomous learning.

 

 

References

 

Al-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effects of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study. Language Learning and Technology, 5(1), 202-232. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10125/25117

 

Arhire, M. (2014). Corpus-based translation for research, practice and training. Iași: Institutul European.

 

Arhire, M., Gheorghe, M., & Talabă, D. (2014). A corpus-based approach to content and language integrated learning. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference ICT for Language Learning, Florence, Italy, 13-14 November 2014, Florence, Italy: Libreria Universitaria Edizioni. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL/files/ict4ll/ed0007/FP/1125-CLIL696-FP-ICT4LL7.pdf

 

Aston, G. (2001). Learning with corpora: An overview. In G. Aston (Ed.), Learning with corpora (pp.1-45). Houston, TX: Athelstan.

 

Baker, M. (1995). Corpora in Translation Studies. An overview and suggestions for future research. Target, 7(2), 223-243. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/target.7.2.03bak

 

Boers, F., & Lindstromberg, S. (2008). How cognitive linguistics can foster effective vocabulary teaching. In F. Boers, & S. Lindstromberg (Eds.), Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology (pp. 1-61). Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

 

Bowker, L., & Pearson, J. (2002). Working with specialized language: a practical guide to using corpora. London and New York: Routledge.

 

Bozzo, L. (2012). Collaborative construction of glossaries in language learning: an integration of the lexical approach and constructionism through blended learning.  International Conference ICT for Language Learning, 5th Edition, Florence, Italy, 14-16 November 2012. Florence, Italy: Libreria Universitaria Edizioni.

 

Chung, T. M., & Nation, P. (2004). Identifying technical vocabulary. System 32, 251-263. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.11.008

 

Cobb, T. (1999). Breadth and depth of lexical acquisition with hands-on concordancing. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 12(4), 345-360. DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1076/call.12.4.345.5699

 

Connor, U., & Upton, T. A. (Eds.). (2004). Discourse in the professions. Perspectives from corpus linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

 

Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213-238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3587951

 

Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL content and language integrated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Cusen, G. (2009). Investigating vocabulary learning strategies: A case study of Romanian undergraduates with a professional interest in learning English as a foreign language. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.

 

Dodd, B. (1997). Exploiting a corpus of written German for advanced language learning. In A. Wichmann, S. Fligelstone, T. McEnery, & G. Knowles (Eds.), Teaching and language corpora (pp.131-145). London and New York: Longman.

 

Duquette, L., Renie, D., & Laurier, M. (1998). The evaluation of vocabulary acquisition when learning French as a second language in a multimedia environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 11(1), 3-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1076/call.11.1.3.5725

 

Flowerdew, J. (2001). Concordancing as a tool in course design. In M. Ghadessy, A. Henry, & R. Roseberry (Eds.), Small corpus studies and ELT: Theory and practice (pp.71-93). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

 

Fraser, S. (2004). The lexical characteristics of technical texts. In K. Bradford-Watts, C. Ikeguchi, & M. Swanson (Eds.), JALT2004 Conference Proceedings (pp.318-327). Tokyo: Japan Association for Language Teaching.

 

Groot, P.J.M. (2000). Computer assisted second language vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning and Technology, 4(1), 60-81.

 

Howarth, P. (1998). Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied Linguistics, 19(1), 24-44.

 

Hou, H. (2012). A corpus approach to discourse analysis of newspaper restaurant reviews: A preliminary analysis. Studies in Literature and Language, 5(3), 95-100. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.sll.1923156320120503.1422

 

Hou, H. (2014). Teaching specialized vocabulary by integrating a corpus-based approach: implications for ESP course design at the university level. English Language Teaching, 7(5), 26-37. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n5p26

 

Hulstijn, H. (2000). The use of computer technology in experimental studies of second language acquisition: A survey of some techniques and some ongoing studies. Language Learning and Technology, 3(2), 32-43.

 

Hunston, S. (2014). Corpora in applied linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Johns, T. (2002). Data-driven learning: the perpetual challenge. In B. Kettemann, & G. Marko (Eds.), Teaching and learning by doing corpus analysis. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Teaching and Language Corpora (pp.107-117). Graz, Austria, 19-24 July, 2000.

 

Kaewphanngam, C. (2002). A corpus analysis of psychology texts as a basis for the development of teaching materials in English for academic purposes. Bangkok: Mahidol University.

 

Kennedy, G. (1998). An introduction to corpus linguistics. London and New York: Longman.

 

Laviosa, S. (2013). Corpus-Based Translation Studies: Where Does it Come From? Where Is It Going? In A. Kruger, K. Wallmach, & J. Munday (Eds.), Corpus-based translation studies. Research and applications (pp.13-32). London: Bloomsbury. (Original work published in 2011).

 

Laufer, B., & Hill, M. (2000). What lexical information do L2 learners select in a CALL dictionary and how does it affect word retention? Language Learning and Technology, 3(2), 58-76.

 

Macmillan Dictionary. [On-line dictionary]. (2014). Macmillan Publishers Limited. Retrieved April, 24, 2017, from http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

 

McEnery, T., & Wilson, A. (1996). Corpus linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

 

Merriam-Webster. [On-line dictionary]. (2014). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Retrieved April, 24, 2017, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/

 

Meyer, C. (2002). English corpus linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Nation, P. (2008). Teaching vocabulary: Strategies and techniques. Boston: Heinle.

 

Riera, J.B., & Arevalo, C.M. (2013). CLIL and translation in tertiary education. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Especificos, 19, 33-64.

 

Rizzo, C. R. (2010). Getting on with corpus compilation: From theory to practice. ESP World Issue, 9(1), 1-23.

 

Römer, U. (2008). Corpora and language teaching. In A. Lüdeling, & M. Kytö (Eds.), Corpus linguistics. An international handbook: Vol 1 (pp.112-130). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

 

Römer, U. (2011). Corpus research applications in second language teaching. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 205-225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190511000055

 

Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Sinclair, J. (2005). Corpus and text - basic principles. In M. Wynne (Ed.), Developing linguistic corpora: A guide to good practice (pp.1-16). Oxford: Oxbow Books.

 

Sun, Y.C. (2003). Extensive reading online: An overview and evaluation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(4), 438-446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0266-4909.2003.00048.x

 

Sun, Y.C. (2007). Learner perceptions of a concordancing tool for academic writing. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(4), 323-343. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09588220701745791

 

Sun, Y.C., & Wang, L.Y. (2003). Concordancers in the EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 16(1), 83-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1076/call.16.1.83.15528

 

The Free Dictionary. (2012). Huntingdon Valley, PA: Farlex, Inc. Retrieved April, 24, 2017, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com.

 

Tribble, C. (1990). Concordancing and an EAP writing program. CAELL Journal, 1(2), 10-15.

 

Tribble, C. (2001). Small corpora and teaching writing. In M. Ghadessy, A. Henry, & R. L. Roseberry (Eds.), Small corpus studies and ELT: Theory and practice (pp.381-408). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

 

Tropes - Semantic Knowledge. (2014). Paris, France: Acetic, Lisbon, Portugal: Cyberlex. Retrieved March, 20, 2017, from http://www.semantic-knowledge.com/tropes.htm

 

West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. London and New York: Longman.

 

Wichmann, A. (1995). Using concordances for the teaching of modern languages in higher education. Language Learning Journal, 11, 61-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09571739585200201

 

Wilkinson, M. (2006, January). Compiling corpora for use as translation resources. Translation Journal, 10(1). Retrieved April, 20, 2017, from http://www.bokorlang.com/journal/35corpus.htm.

 

Woolard, G. (2000). Collocation-encouraging learner independence. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation: Further development in the lexical approach (pp.28-46). Hove: Language Teaching Publications.

 

Wolff, D. (2011). CLIL and learner autonomy: relating two educational concepts. Education et Sociétés Plurilingues, 30, 69-80.

 

Zanettin, F. (2011). Translation and corpus design. SYNAPS – A Journal of Professional Communication, 26, 14-23.

 

Zimmerman, B.J. (2001). Theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview and analysis. In B. Zimmerman, & D.H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives (pp.1-65). NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

 

How to cite this article: Arhire, M. (2018). A convergent approach to corpus and glossary creation for higher education CLIL. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 11(1), 23-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2018.11.1.2

 

 

For details on subscription, go to: http://jolie.uab.ro/index.php?pagina=-&id=19&l=en