Corpora in theClassroom
Teaching Phrasal Verbs

Henry Troy

Nagoya University of Foreign Studies

Dictionary and translation issues I/IV

I’m going to take it off.

Dictionary and translation issues II/IV• Take off• To remove (usually clothing), start flying, tosuddenly leave somewhere, to suddenly become
popular or successful, not work/study for a periodof time.
• (Cambridge Online Dictionary, 2019)

Dictionary and translation issues III/IV
I’m going to take it off.

私はそれを脱ぐつもりです。
Watashi wa sore wo nugu tsumori desu.
I’m going to take it (clothes/shoes) off.

Dictionary and translation issues IV/IVI’ve finished the project, and I don’t
really have anything left to do on
Friday, so I think I’m going to take it off.

Corpus Linguistics• Various types of corpora and applications
Positives

Negatives

Ability to study language use

Time consuming

Evidence it can assist with learning

Can be overwhelming for students
and teachers

Evidence it improves student
motivation

Not necessarily more effective
than other methods

Corpora in the classroom – Data Driven Learning (DDL)(Johns, 1988)• Direct use• Indirect use• Textbooks / Dictionaries• Mostly attempted in higher education

Research questions

1.

To what extent did the DDL treatment result instudent learning of phrasal verbs?

2.

How did the students react to DDL?

3.

How did the above compare with the results ofthe non-DDL class?

4.

How feasible is teaching vocabulary via DDL
for teachers in private language schools?

Method I/VIII•Setting: British private language school•16 participants in two classes•“DDL class” and “non-DDL class”•Three lessons spread over a month•Phrasal verbs selectedMethod II/VIII•Sometimes avoided by L2 speakers(Gardner & Davies, 2007)•Difficulties with meaning•Difficulties with grammar•Previous studies on DDL learning ofphrasal verbs inadequate(Boulton, 2008), (Spring, 2018)

Method III/VIII•22 phrasal verbs
Task 1
Transitive verbs

Task 2Intransitive verbs

Task 3Three-word verbs

figure out

drop ingo out with

get overget byget round tocount onback down

measure up to

turn down

nod offlook down onrule out

grow apartclamp down on

call off

watch out

make fun ofcatch on

put up withfall throughfill in forMethod IV/VIII•BNCweb - bncweb.lancs.ac.uk/

Method V/VIII

Method VI/VIII – The two treatments•DDL class–Training–Concordance lines–Writing and speaking practice•Non-DDL classMethod VII/VIII – DDL Class
Figure 1: Corpus-based approach class materials sample
1.

The boys at school had

made fun ofhim and Mr. Sunderland, the headmaster had called
him a gullible boy.

2.

He felt that they weremaking fun ofhim, though he could not understand why.

3.

Maidstone found this very funny. ‘Francoknows I’m

making fun ofhim. Look at the anger in his eyes.’

4.

She stiffened, suspecting that he wasmaking fun ofher. She wasn’t going to stand for that!

5.

The others at school keep

making fun ofme and saying things.

6.

We laughed a lot,

made fun ofthem and their new outfits.

7.

Even the one or two who didn’t continually

make fun ofhim and tease him and play jokes on him.

8.

Was he joking? Was he serious? Was hemaking fun ofher? There was absolutely no way of knowing.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Verb 7: make fun ofGrammatical questions•Is the verb ‘make fun of’ ever broken up?
•What type of word or phrase usually comes before and after ‘make fun of’?
Meaning questions•How many people or groups or people are involved in each line?
•How does the person being ‘made fun of’ feel in lines 3 and 4?
•How does the person making fun of another person feel in line 6?
•Is there a word or group of words with a similar meaning to ‘make fun of’ in line 7?

Method VIII/VIII – non-DDL Class
Figure 1: Standard approach class materials sample
Intransitive phrasal verbs•They cannot be broken up. e.g My car broke down NOT I broke my car down.
•Unlike every other type of phrasal verb, they cannot carry an object. This means that they are almost never followed
by a noun, and instead are usually either at the end of a clause/sentence, or followed by a preposition to continue thesentence. e.g. My car broke down. NOT I broke down my car.
•They usually have a preposition or adverb as the last word. e.g. break down.
Match the phrasal verbs to their meaning
Example sentences
Try to write your own example sentence for each phrasal verb. An example is given.
Fall throughI nearly got the contract with the company, but it fell through.

________________________________________________________________________________
Nod off

I was so tired after work that I nodded off in front of the TV early in the evening.

________________________________________________________________________________
Speaking practice
Below are example questions for each of the phrasal verbs. Use the example questions to discuss the topics, and try tothink of your own questions using the phrasal verbs as well.
•Have you had any plans or deals fall through?
•What situations make you nod off?

Evaluation data

1.

Learning-based evaluation: pre- and post-tests

2.

Response-based evaluation: recordings

3.

Student-based evaluation: interviews(Ellis, 2003)

Results I/IV: Learning-based evaluation: Descriptive Statistics
ClassPre-test average(standarddeviation)

Post-test average Average gain(standarddeviation)

DDL Class8.31 (5.26)

14.38 (3.74)+6.60

Non-DDL Class 6.50 (2.87)

15.69 (2.90)+8.28

Results I/IV: Learning-based evaluation: Inferential Statistics
Class

Inferential statistical results

Z = -2.52, p = .012
DDL Class(Wilcoxon)
F(1, 14) = 69.39, p = <.001,
DDL / Non-DDL Class
Large effect size of = .83(ANOVA)
DDL / Non-DDL Class F(1, 14) = 2.92, p = .11
Medium effect size of = .17
interaction(ANOVA)

Results II/IV: Response Based Evaluation• DDL Class had more STT – Average 70% vs 40%• Teacher’s role in DDL = facilitator• Timing issues in DDL classResults III/IV: Student Based Evaluation• Similar assessment of improvement before test results revealed• More enthusiastic feedback for DDL class“It was like a fun game; not passive study”.
“It takes longer but is more effective”.
“It’s more motivating than the usual way”.

• Not everyone liked it“I prefer to be told the meaning” (x2)
• Non-DDL class feedback less enthusiastic“It was useful” (x3)“There wasn’t enough time talking with other students” (x2)

Discussion I/IV: Learning-based evaluation•Both methods benefited learning•No significant differences in results•Connection between student leveland efficacy?

Discussion II/IV: Response-based evaluation•DDL class more active•Each student’s chosen partner had
an impact on efficiency•Time consumption is the maindrawback

Discussion III/IV: Student Based Evaluation•Motivational benefits of DDL•Style did not suit every student•DDL students felt it took too long•Non-DDL students identified a lack ofchange

Discussion IV/IV: Feasibility•Difficult but possible for teachers tointroduce•More student-training needed•Difficulties in managing corpora

Limitations•Small study(Boulton and Cobb, 2017)•Lack of post-hoc analyses•Lack of experience in DDL of theinstructor•Only one type of DDL application

Future research•Direct use of corpora•Larger studies focusing on different
types of students•Custom-made corpus

Summary of findings• DDL and non-DDL method resulted in learning• DDL method had greater motivationalbenefits• DDL perhaps feasible for teachers toimplement but requires training / preparation

References•

Boulton, A. (2008) “Looking for empirical evidence for DDL at lower levels”. In Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.) Corpus
Linguistics, Computer Tools, and Applications. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

•Boulton, A. and Cobb, T. (2017) Corpus Use in Language Learning: A Meta-Analysis. Language Learning, 67/1, 1-46.

•Cambridge Online Dictionary. (2019) Cambridge Online Dictionary. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/•

Dornyei, Z. (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

•Elllis, R. (2003) Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

•Gardner, A. and Davies, M. (2007) Pointing out frequent phrasal verbs: A corpus-based analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 34/5,1-24.

•Hunston, S. (2002) Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

•Larson-Hall, J. (2010) A Guide to Doing Statistics in Second Language Research Using SPSS. London: Routledge.

•Nunan, D. (2005) “Classroom research”. In Hinkel, E. (ed.) Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching andLearning. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 225-240.

•Spring, R. (2018) Teaching Phrasal Verbs More Efficiently: Using Corpus Studies and Cognitive Linguistics to Create aParticle List. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 9/5, 121-135.

Thank you