Introducing Online Corpora into ELT Classroom
Yang Jiezhi & Liao Jianhua
Jiujiang University
Abstract: Online corpora are convenient resources for language learners and researchers. Some online corpora are publicly available; they are accessible as long as you are connected online. However, many English language teachers are still wondering if online corpora are appropriate to be employed in the ELT classroom. This paper attempts to demonstrate that some large online corpora are the most useful resources that can be utilized in the ELT classroom.
Key words: online corpora, BNC, Cobuild, LDC, ELT classroom
There has been much talk about how corpora can facilitate language learning, especially foreign language learning and how they can narrow the gap between the English acquired in the classroom and authentic English. Some even declare that corpora will revolutionize language teaching. With the most powerful tools that have ever been created, the concordancer and corpora of natural English, "language learners can short-cut the process of acquiring competence in the target language, because the computer is able to help students organize huge amounts of language data so that patterns are more easily discerned." (Stevens) While interest is growing in the application of corpora to English language teaching, many English language teachers are just wondering if corpora are appropriate to be employed in the ELT classroom, because most of them either have vague ideas about what corpora can offer to them and the students or they don't know where to find publicly available corpora online. And many more just feel more comfortable with traditional ways of instruction. So the real challenge is how to get the language teachers to accept the notion that the new teaching technique is the right thing to improve ELT in the classroom. This article will address those questions by examining why it is necessary to use online corpora, how it can be applied to teaching English, what pattern future foreign language teaching may take.

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