Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research (아시아태평양코퍼스연구)

Institute for Corpus Research (국립인천대학교 코퍼스연구소)
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Effects of Corpus Use on Error Identification in L2 Writing

  • Received : 2023.05.21
  • Accepted : 2023.08.12
  • Published : 2023.08.31
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Abstract

This study examines the effects of data-driven learning (DDL)-an approach employing corpora for inductive language pattern learning-on error identification in second language (L2) writing. The data consists of error identification instances from fifty-five participants, compared across different reference materials: the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), dictionaries, and no use of reference materials. There are three significant findings. First, the use of COCA effectively identified collocational and form-related errors due to inductive inference drawn from multiple example sentences. Secondly, dictionaries were beneficial for identifying lexical errors, where providing meaning information was helpful. Finally, the participants often employed a strategic approach, identifying many simple errors without reference materials. However, while maximizing error identification, this strategy also led to mislabeling correct expressions as errors. The author has concluded that the strategic selection of reference materials can significantly enhance the effectiveness of error identification in L2 writing. The use of a corpus offers advantages such as easy access to target phrases and frequency information-features especially useful given that most errors were collocational and form-related. The findings suggest that teachers should guide learners to effectively use appropriate reference materials to identify errors based on error types.

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Acknowledgement

This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 16K02851.

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