Research Article
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Corpus Based Authenicity Analysis of Language Teaching Course Books

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 4, 287 - 307, 30.12.2017

Abstract

In this study, the resemblance of the language learning course books used in Turkey to authentic language spoken by native speakers is explored by using a corpus-based approach. For this, the 10-million-word spoken part of the British National Corpus was selected as the reference corpus. After that, all language learning course books used in high schools in Turkey were scanned and transferred to SketchEngine, an online corpus query tool. Lastly, certain grammar points were extracted first from British National Corpus and then from course books; similaritites and differences were compared. At the end of the study, it was found that the language learning course books have little similarity to authentic language in terms of certain grammatical items and frequency of their collocations. In this way, the points to be revised and changed were explored. In addition, this study emphasized the role of corpus approach as a material development and analysis tool; and tested the functionality of course books for writers and for Ministry of National Education.

References

  • Barbieri, F., & Eckhardt, S. E. B. (2007). Applying corpus-based findings to form-focused instruction: The case of reported speech. Language Teaching Research, 11(3), 319-346. doi: 10.1177/1362168807077563
  • Benson, P., & Voller, P. (1997). Autonomy and independence in language learning. Harlow: Longman.
  • Biber, D., & Reppen, R. (2002). What does frequency have to do with grammar teaching? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2), 199-208.
  • Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 60-70.
  • Brown, J., & Eskenzai, M. (2004, June). Retrieval of authentic documents for reader-specific lexical practice. Paper presented at the InSTIL/ICALL Symposium, Venice, Italy.
  • Burnard, L. (2002). Where did we go wrong? A retrospective look at the British National Corpus. Language and Computers, 42(1), 51-70.
  • Crewe, J. (2011). How far do ‘global’ ELT coursebooks realize key principles of Communicative Language teaching (CLT) and enable effective teaching-learning? Unpublished MA Dissertation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham.
  • Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.
  • Daloğlu, A. (2004, June). Place of culture in English language teaching in Turkey. Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, Long Beach, CA.
  • Dubin, F., & Olshtain, E. (1986). Course design : Developing programs and materials for language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Dülger, O. (2016). Evaluatıon of EFL coursebooks taught in Turkey based on teachers’ views. Journal of Advances in English Language Teaching, 4(1), pp-1.

Corpus Based Authenicity Analysis of Language Teaching Course Books

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 4, 287 - 307, 30.12.2017

Abstract

References

  • Barbieri, F., & Eckhardt, S. E. B. (2007). Applying corpus-based findings to form-focused instruction: The case of reported speech. Language Teaching Research, 11(3), 319-346. doi: 10.1177/1362168807077563
  • Benson, P., & Voller, P. (1997). Autonomy and independence in language learning. Harlow: Longman.
  • Biber, D., & Reppen, R. (2002). What does frequency have to do with grammar teaching? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2), 199-208.
  • Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 60-70.
  • Brown, J., & Eskenzai, M. (2004, June). Retrieval of authentic documents for reader-specific lexical practice. Paper presented at the InSTIL/ICALL Symposium, Venice, Italy.
  • Burnard, L. (2002). Where did we go wrong? A retrospective look at the British National Corpus. Language and Computers, 42(1), 51-70.
  • Crewe, J. (2011). How far do ‘global’ ELT coursebooks realize key principles of Communicative Language teaching (CLT) and enable effective teaching-learning? Unpublished MA Dissertation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham.
  • Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.
  • Daloğlu, A. (2004, June). Place of culture in English language teaching in Turkey. Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, Long Beach, CA.
  • Dubin, F., & Olshtain, E. (1986). Course design : Developing programs and materials for language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Dülger, O. (2016). Evaluatıon of EFL coursebooks taught in Turkey based on teachers’ views. Journal of Advances in English Language Teaching, 4(1), pp-1.
There are 11 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects English As A Second Language, Language Studies (Other), Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Emrah Peksoy

Özhan Harmaoğlu This is me

Publication Date December 30, 2017
Published in Issue Year 2017 Volume: 5 Issue: 4

Cite

APA Peksoy, E., & Harmaoğlu, Ö. (2017). Corpus Based Authenicity Analysis of Language Teaching Course Books. International Journal of Languages’ Education and Teaching, 5(4), 287-307.