In this presentation, I first give a brief overview of descriptive corpus linguistics and the exploitation of descriptive corpora for pedagogic purposes within the framework of data-driven learning. Following a critical evaluation from a cognitive discourse perspective, I then argue for a pedagogic corpus approach in which corpus conceptualization and design are vitally shaped by the pedagogic orientation itself. This concerns in particular pedagogic motivation of corpus content development, including corpus annotation with pedagogically relevant thematic and linguistic categories, content enrichment to facilitate authentication, as well as online searches beyond the familiar concordances. The approch is illustrated with reference to copora available from the EU project “BACKBONE – Corpora for Content and Language Integrated Learning”. The BACKBONE corpora contain video interviews in English, German, French, Polish, Spanish and Turkish as well as in European manifestations of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF); they are freely available for non-commercial educational use. Moodle-based pilot courses are deployed to demonstrate how BACKBONE search results can be used to facilitate individual and collaborative learning activities in blended learning settings.

1. Pedagogic Corpora
From real language to relevant
language learning activities
Kurt Kohn
University of Tübingen (DE) Steinbeis Transfer Center (DE)
kurt.kohn@uni-tuebingen.de Language Learning Media
http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de www.sprachlernmedien.de
Twitter: @kurtkohn – LinkedIn - Facebook
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

2. Corpora – horses for courses
 One of the tenets of CLT is AUTHENTICITY > access to REAL language
 Reference and research corpora of written and spoken texts
 Representativeness for description purposes
 POS tagging, frequency lists, KWIC concordances
 Written and spoken English native speaker corpora, e.g. Brown (1 mio), BNC
(100 mio), Bank of English (650 mio), COCA (450 mio), ICE (1 mio each)
 Small genre and topic-specific “do-it-yourself” corpora
 Learner corpora (e.g. ICLE, Lindsei)
 English as a lingua franca corpora (> VOICE, ELFA)
→ Corpus-based reference dictionaries and grammars
 COBUILD Dictionary (1987)
 COBUILD Grammar (1990)
 Longman Grammar of Spoken & Written English (1999)
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
2

3. Example of a KWIC concordance
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
3

4. Pedagogical application of descriptive corpora
 Corpus-driven vs. corpus-based analysis & description [Tognini-Bonelli 2001]
 Data-driven language learning (DDL)
[Boulton 2009, Johns & King 1991, Krishnamurthy 2001, Repper 2010]
 Corpora as collections of authentic written and spoken texts and representative of
“real language” from genuine communicative situations
 Activities & exercises based on concordance output to enable students
 to notice & explore regularities of patterning in the target language usage
 to work out rules for themselves
 The “real language” misunderstanding
→ real language data = decontextualized texts
[=> Widdowson’s (2004) text/discourse distinction]
→ Focus is on form (based on concordances = keywords in “context”) [=> the
co-text/context distinction]
→ learners as “researchers”: observe > hypothesize > experiment
The driving force of learning is the corpus
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
4

5. Language learning and communication
 A flaw in modern descriptive-linguistic thinking:
the dissociation of grammatical knowledge and grammar learning
from communication
 Language learning aims at communication, and it is (only)
possible through communication
 Communication comes before meaning and
meaning comes before form
 Meaning and communication reach out beyond form
 Our ability to communicate and our ability to understand each
other have the same cognitive, emotional and behavioral basis
Learning a language
involves the cognitive, emotional and behavioral
creative construction of one’s own version of it
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
5

6. Communicative/constructivist concepts & principles
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
 Dimensions of communicative competence: „grammatical“,
„socio-linguistic“, „discourse“, „strategic“ [Canale 1983]
 Communication as learning objective and learning method
Authenticity Collaborative learning
 ‘genuine’ vs. ‘authentic’ & ‘authentication’  Communication IS collaboration!
[Widdowson 2003]
Task-based / Project-based Learning
Learner autonomy
Content and Language Integrated
 Guided Autonomy
Learning (CLIL/EMILE)
 Learner autonomy needs to be
developed (⇒ ‘life-long learning’ )
The social constructivist justification
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
6

7. From descriptive corpora to pedagogic corpora
 Backdrop: communicative & constructivist principles of LL&T
 Pedagogical mediation of descriptive corpora [Widdowson 2003]
 More than pedagogically mediating sth that exists before mediation
 Corpora specifically designed and developed for PEDAGOGIC purposes
 Pedagogically relevant genres and topics
 Pedagogical annotation
 Pedagogically relevant enrichment resources, e.g. audio/video files,
concordances, ready-made language learning tasks
 Pedagogically motivated search functions
 Focus on form within a communicative approach: discourse authentication
through communicative & collaborative blended learning activities (Moodle)
 ELISA : the mother of (our) pedagogical corpora [Braun 2006]
 video-recorded spoken interviews with American, British, Irish and Australian
speakers of English from different walks of life
The driving force of learning is the learner
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
7

8. BACKBONE
Pedagogic corpora for Content & Language Integrated Learning
The EU LLP project BACKBONE (2009-2011)
(http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/backbone )
 8 partners 7 European countries: France, Germ., Ireland, Poland, Spain, Turkey, UK
 Focus on authentic language support for CLIL settings
 lesser taught languages (Polish, Turkish)
 regional & socio-cultural varieties of more frequently taught languages (English,
French, German, Spanish)
 European non-native speaker manifestations of English as a lingua franca
 7 language subcorpora (video-recorded interviews & presentations)
 topics: cultural, social, economic & political issues, regional perspectives
 pedagogical annotation and enrichment (language learning materials)
 BACKBONE pedagogical corpus tools
 Tools for transcription, annotation & enrichment, corpus management, and search
 Pedagogical piloting was carried out in Moodle-enhanced CLIL settings
 secondary, higher and vocational education.
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
8

9. BACKBONE
Pedagogical design, use and creation
Kohn 2012
 Pedagogically relevant (interview) topics
 Corpus search [http:purl.org/backbone/searchtool]
 Browse, Section search, Co-occurrences, Concordances, Lexical lists
 Enrichment resources: video/sound, exercises, learning instructions
 Pedagogical application: from corpus search to Moodle courses
 Tools for “do it yourself” corpus creation
 Corpus enrichment: Virtual Resource Pool (VRP)
 Pedagogical transcription, annotation & management
Development teams:
University of Tübingen (Germany): Kohn, Widmann, Vacarius, Wetzel, Ziai
University of Murcia (Spain): Pérez-Paredes, Alcaraz Calero
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
9

10. Pilot courses and evaluation results
 24 pilot courses: 6 target languages (English, French, German, Polish, Spanish,
Turkish) – CLIL orientation – Moodle/ blended learning
 Typical pilot course design: video-based awareness – forum discussion –
comprehension checks (TELOS) – collaborative thematic/linguistic corpus explorations –
spoken interaction in class – summary writing (forum, assignment)
 Teacher training and support area (Moodle): information, instructions, hands-on
practice => pedagogy, BACKBONE, Moodle – demo course networking & collaboration
 E-learning integration: still marginal – need for teacher training and support –
technological problems and challenges
 Overall positive feedback: thematic vocabulary explorations – writing and speaking –
comprehension practice (diversity of voices & regional accents, ELF) – focus on form in
thematic contexts – self-study potential – exploration & communication – high level of
perceived success – positive ratings by teacher
 E-learning activities: significantly foster key principles of communicative and
constructivist learning (autonomy, authenticity, collaboration) – computer lab NOT the
most suitable solution, RATHER data projection and internet access in class combined
with individual & collaborative learning outside class
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
10

11. References
Boulton, A. (2009). Testing the limits of data-driven learning: language proficiency and training. ReCALL,
21: 37-54
Braun, S., Kohn, K. & Mukherjee, J. (eds.) (2006). Corpus Technology and Language Pedagogy: New
Resources, New Tools, New Methods. Peter Lang.
Braun, S. (2006). ELISA: a pedagogically enriched corpus for language learning purposes. In Braun, Kohn
& Mukherjee (eds.). Corpus Technology and Language Pedagogy. Peter Lang, 25-47.
Canale, M. (1983). From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In Richards &
Schmidt (eds.). Language and Communication. Longman, 2-27.
Johns, T. & P. King (eds.) (1991). Classroom Concordancing. University of Birmingham: Centre for English
Language Studies .
Kohn, K. (2009). Computer assisted foreign language learning. In Knapp & Seidlhofer (eds.). Foreign
Language Communication and Learning. Handbooks of Applied Linguistics, vol. 6. Mouton de Gruyter.
[download]
Kohn, K. (2012). The BACKBONE project: pedagogic corpora for content and language integrated learning.
Objectives, methodological approach and outcomes. Eurocall Review 20/2. [download]
Krishnamurthy, R. (2001). Learning and teaching through context - A data-driven approach. TESOL Spain
Newsletter 24. [download]
Repper, R. (2010). Using Corpora in the Language Classroom. Cambridge UP.
Tognini-Bonelli, E. (2001). Corpus Linguistics at Work. Benjamins.
Widdowson, H.G. (2003). Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. Oxford UP.
Widdowson, H.G. (2004). Text, Context, Pretext: Critical Issues in Discourse Analysis. Blackwell.
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
11

12. Over to you
Now think of what you would like to do with BACKBONE
Do you find the concept of pedagogical corpus design pedagogically
appealing?
Does this kind of corpus/blended learning integration fit in with your
language learning and teaching objectives and purposes?
Which topics and communication genres would you be interested in?
Would you like to develop your own BACKBONE corpora?
What about networking and collaboration?
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
12

13. Thank you
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013
13

14. BACKBONE Interview Topics
 Cultural issues
customs/traditions - arts – sports - new technologies
 Economic issues
fishing & agriculture, automotive industry, world of labour, trade unions
 Urban and rural life
 Social issues
minorities and fringe groups, immigration multicultural society
 Health & social security
national health system, hospitals, health professions, welfare and social
benefits
 Education
educational system & institutions, vocational education, educational
mobility
 The environment
climate change, traffic & pollution, renewable energies, environmental
policy
 Government & politics
political system, institutions & parties, mayor, city council, local
government
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

15. BACKBONE Search – “Browse” function
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

16. BACKBONE Search – „Section Search“ function
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

17. BACKBONE Search – „Section Search“ results
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

18. BACKBONE Search - Access to Learning Resources
 Learning modules for listening
comprehension and focus on
form and vocabulary
 Instructions for exploratory and
communicative activities
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

19. BACKBONE Learning Resources: Telos exercises
Listening comprehension
and focus on form
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

20. BACKBONE Learning Resources: instructions for
exploratory and communicative activities
 Collaboration (Wiki)
 Forum discussions
 Exploring interviews
 Internet research
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

21. BACKBONE Search – „Co-occurrence“
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

22. BACKBONE Search – „Concordance“
Users can enter up to 3
key words and restrict
their search to selected
thematic domains
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

23. BACKBONE Search – „Lexical lists“
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

24. The Moodle connection
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

25. BACKBONE Virtual Resource Pool (VRP)
 Enrichment resources in a Virtual Resource Pool
 Links to video + audio files
accessible via
 Links to learning modules (e.g. TLP packages) resource sheets
and blended learning patterns
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

26. BACKBONE Learning Resources: Telos exercises
Listening comprehension
and focus on form
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

27. BACKBONE Learning Resources: instructions for
exploratory and communicative activities
 Collaboration (Wiki)
 Forum discussions
 Exploring interviews
 Internet research
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

28. The BACKBONE Transcriptor Tool
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

29. BACKBONE Annotation
 Annotation
 Annotation at section level
 Annotation categories customized to
capture, e.g. topics, grammatical, lexical,
textual characteristics, and CEF level
 Drag & drop annotation
 Collaborative annotation
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013

30. The BACKBONE Annotator Tool
Kurt Kohn, “Pedagogic Corpora: From real language to relevant language learning activities”, TESOL Arabia, 16 March 2013