Syllabus
ONLINE VERSION FOR SUMMER TERM 2020/21
Week 1 – Theoretical introduction + course requirementsIntroduction to learner language, interlanguage, learner corpora, learner corpus research, language proficiency, methods of collecting learner data, and compiling a corpus.Introduction to CAF.Course requirements and methods of work will be discussed in detail.Practical: perceptive analysis of short exerpts of learner English.
BLOCK 1 FLUENCY (Seminars 2–5)
Week 2 – Fluency and its analysisFluency – theory, methods of analysis, fluency in native and learner English.Setting Task 1 and describing techniques for the compulsory analysis.
Week 3 – Perceptive fluencyWorking with learner samples perceptively.
Week 4 – Self-study and analysisReading week.Analysis (Task 1) and preparation of presentation for the following week.
Week 5 – Presenting fluency findingsStudents present their own results.Comparison of all results using statistical methods.
BLOCK 2 ACCURACY (Seminars 6–9)
Week 6 – Accuracy and its analysisAccuracy – theory, methods of analysis, accuracy in learner English.Setting Task 2 and describing techniques for the compulsory analysis.
Week 7 – Perceptive accuracy and grammaticality judgmentsWorking with learner samples perceptively.Trying out grammaticality judgment tests.
Week 8 – Self-study and analysisReading week.Analysis (Task 2) and preparation of presentation for the following week.
Week 9 – Presenting accuracy findingsStudents present their own results.Comparison of all results using statistical methods.
BLOCK 3 COMPLEXITY (Seminars 10–12)
Weeks 10–12Complexity. Following the same structure as the previous blocks.
Week 13 – ConclusionPresenting the overall CAF profiles and comparing the results.
Annotation
Aims, objectives and learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to introduce techniques and tools used in learner corpus research for exploring and describing the dimensions and characteristic features of learner language. The secondary aim is to develop in the students the appreciation of the qualities of learner language and the cognitive processes which have led to its development, and the ability to assess these qualities in the position of a language teacher or examiner.
The practical goal is to create a CAF (complexity, accuracy a fluency) profile of a number of L2 English speakers whore recordings (and their transcriptions) will be analysed in the course.
By the end of the course the students will be able to:
- use reliable techniques of obtaining samples of learner language and related metadata and prepare them for analysis (e.g. coding, filtering etc.);
- explore learner language using a variety of descriptive frameworks (especially complexity-accuracy-fluency, and contrastive interlanguage analysis);
- use a variety of descriptive and inferrential statistical techniques used for describing learner language and for verifying hypotheses;
- extend the range ot these techniques to other areas (e.g. language testing, managing school admin etc.).