CREATING,  ANALYZING,  AND  USING  A  SMALL  LEARNER  CORPUS    Charlotte  Lin  English  Language  Institute,  Kanda  University  of  International  Studies    ABSTRACT    Learner  corpora   are   made   with   “texts   spoken   or  written   by   learners   of  the  target  language”   (Cheng,   2012,   pp.   171).  Learner   corpora   are  therefore  informative   and  accurate  profiles  of  learner  language,  which  help  teachers,  as  well  as  material  and  curriculum  developers,  to  quickly  and  clearly  evaluate  learners’  areas  of  strengths  and  weaknesses.  Therefore,  learner  corpora  can  aid  the  development  of  short-­‐term  teaching   plans,   materials,   long-­‐term   curricula   and   assessments   that   maximize  learning  outcomes  for  different  target  groups  (O’Keeffe  et  al.,  2007;  Reppen,  2010;  Flowerdew,  2012).  Using  a  collection  of  short  essays  written  by  a  learner  of  English,  I   will   provide   brief   theoretical   background   information,   explain   the   process   and  rationale  of  learner  corpora  construction,  the  specifications  of  the  corpus  design  and  construction,   and   analyze   the   corpus   made   by   the   text   retrieval   program  WordSmith  Tools.  The  analysis  revealed  the  student’s  usage  of  present  participles  and  gerunds  in  her  writing,  as  well  as  the  frequency  and  distribution  of  her  errors,  which  helped  improve  future  lessons.  In  addition,  even  though  the  study  was  based  on  the  learner  corpus  of  a  French  Canadian  student,  I  will  explain  how  to  apply  this  method  in  the  Kanda  University  of  International  Studies  (KUIS)  context.    
  INTRODUCTION    For  this  study,  I  applied  various  corpus  linguistic  techniques  to  analyze  a  collection  of  short  essays   written   by   a   student   whom   I   have  been   tutoring   for   one   year   in   Quebec,   Canada.  
Through  the  analysis,   I   aimed   to   map   her  usage  of  present   participles  and  gerunds  in   her  writing  in  order  to  identify  the  frequency  of  the  distribution  of  her  errors.  The  findings  will  be  utilized  to  improve  future  lessons.  In  this  paper,  I  will  provide  brief,  theoretical  background  information   of   learner   corpora   construction   and   details   of   my   learner   corpus   design   and  rationale.   Additionally,   there   will   be   a   discussion   of   the   initial   analysis   made   by   the   text  retrieval  program  WordSmith.  An  extract  of  the  corpus  and  the  full  result  of  the  analysis  are  appended  (Appendix  A  &  B).  
  CORPUS  CONSTRUCTION  &  RATIONALE    A  corpus  is  a  large  collection  of  authentic,  written  or  spoken,  computer-­‐readable  texts  that  have  been  compiled  to  serve  a  specific  purpose.  This  purpose  gives  rise  to  the  principles  and  10criteria   of   the   corpus   design   and   construction.   Therefore,   a   corpus   can   be   used   for  quantitative   or   qualitative   language   analysis   (O’Keeffe   et   al.,   2007).   The   advent   of   using  computers  to  study  language  has  allowed  for  large  amounts  of  data  to  be  sorted,  formatted,  and  analyzed  with  relative  speed  and  ease,  giving  reliable  results  while  minimizing  human  errors  (McEnery   et   al.,   2006).   Practical  applications   of  corpus   studies   exist   amongst  fields  such  as  professional  communication  (e.g.  health  care;  law),  forensic  linguistics,  lexicography,  translation,  and  second  language  acquisition  (e.g.  testing;  textbook  design;  learner  corpora)  (Flowerdew,  2012).  I  am  particularly  interested  in  the  area  of  learner  corpora  because  they  are   excellent   tools   for   tracking   learner   progress   and   analyzing,   for   example,   vocabulary  acquisition  and  writing  errors.  They  are  also  made  with  “texts  spoken  or  written  by  learners  of  the   target  language”   (Cheng,   2012,  pp.  171).  Learner  corpora  are  therefore   informative  and  accurate  profiles  of  learner  language,  which  help  teachers  and  material  and  curriculum  developers  to  quickly  and  clearly  evaluate  learners’  areas  of  strengths  and  weaknesses.  They  also  contribute  to  the  development  of  short-­‐term  teaching  plans  and  materials,  as  well  as  long-­‐term  curricula  and  assessments  that  maximize  learning  outcomes  for  different  target  groups  (O’Keeffe  et  al.,  2007;  Reppen,  2010;  Flowerdew,  2012).    
  The  creation  of  learner  corpora  requires  all  the  essential  elements  of  corpora  construction,  such   as   representativeness,   balanced   sampling   of   authentic   learner   languages,   and  consideration  of  specific  purposes  in  addition  to  the  use  of  electronic  texts.  These  elements  address   unique   teaching   problems   and   provide   a   rationale   to   the   creation   of   specialized  corpora   as   opposed   to   using   available   ones   (McEnery   et   al.,   2006).   Large-­‐scale   learner  corpora,  such  as  the  International  Corpus  of  Learner  English  (ICLE),  have  led  to  the  creation  of  learner-­‐targeted   materials   (e.g.   learner  dictionaries)   that   benefit   learners   from   numerous  language  and  cultural  background  worldwide  (Granger,  2003).  However,  even  without  access  to  these  kinds  of  resources,  educators  can  create  their  own  learner  corpora  with  available  data  from  students.  When  creating  such  corpora,  however,  educators  may  only  have  access  to   small   amounts   of   data.   Flowerdew   (2012)   highlighted   the   following   considerations   for  creating  small  and  specialized  corpora:  1)  specific  purposes  for  data  compilation,  2)  specific  context  (e.g.  participant,  communicative  setting),  3)  defined  genres  and  discourse  types,  4)  subject  area,  and  5)  variety  of  English.  
  According  to  these  criteria,  I  have  created  a  small  learner  corpus  with  one  of  my  student’s  weekly  homework   essays   over   a   10-­‐week   period.   The   specific  purpose  of   my   corpus  is   to  analyze  the  usage  of  present  participles  and  gerunds  in  her  writings.  The  data  (i.e.  essays)  is  from  a  single  participant,  who  is  French-­‐Canadian,  in  a  business-­‐English,  one-­‐to-­‐one  tutorial  context.  The  genre  of  the  articles  is  journal-­‐style  free  writing  about  life  events.  The  subject  area  is  English  as  a  Second  Language  (ESL)  and  the  variety  of  English  is  learner  English.  I  will  explain  the  corpus  design  further  in  the  next  section,  followed  by  a  discussion  of  an  initial  analysis   that   I   conducted   with   this   corpus,   including   the   analysis   method,   results   and  discussions.  
  11CORPUS  DESIGN  &  CONSTRUCTION  SPECIFICATION    The   collection   of   the   material   came   directly   from   the   weekly   writing   assignment   of   my  student,  a  French-­‐Canadian  woman  from  Quebec,  over  a  period  of  10  weeks.  These  articles  were   then   compiled   to   create   this   learner   corpus.   The   articles   were   written   directly   in  Microsoft  Word  and  sent  to  me  via  email.  The  materials,  therefore,  were  already  in  electronic  format.  The  articles  were  organized  by  week  numbers  (e.g.  Homework  1  is  the  first  article).  
In  the  analysis,  only  the  raw  versions  of  the  articles  were  used.  According  to  McEnery  et  al.  
(2006),  no  editing,  extra-­‐textual  or  linguistic  annotations,  such  as  parsing  or  error  tagging,  are  needed  in  this  type  of  analysis.  Consequently,  no  editing  was  used  in  this  study.    
  The  written  genre  of  these  articles  can  be  considered  as  free,  personal,  descriptive  journal  entries   that   recount   stories   or   explore   specific   topics   that   the   learner  feels   most   strongly  about  at  the  time  of  writing.  The  entries  vary  across  topics  such  as  Valentine’s  Day,  a  dream,  and   political   comments.   This   corpus   can   be   considered   specialized   because   it   is   genre-­‐specific  (McEnery  et  al.,  2006).  Regarding  the  size,  this  corpus  is  constructed  with  10  articles  of  roughly  500  words  each,  adding  up  to  approximately  5000  words.  The  size  of  the  corpus  is  small  compared  to  any  established  corpora.  However,  regarding  the  issue  of  size,  particularly  in   relation   to   its   suitability,   O’Keeffe,   McCarthy   &   Carter   state   that   the   key   “is   often   the  design  of  a  corpus  as  opposed  to  its  size”  (2007;  pp.  4).  In  other  words,  the  size  should  vary  according  to  the  design  and  purpose  of  the  corpora.  Reppen  (2010)  also  emphasizes  that  for  the  purpose  of  language  teaching,  “small  but  representative  is  more  important  than  millions  of  words,”  (pp.  55).  Indeed,  for  the  purpose  of  its  creation,  which  is  to  evaluate  the  learner’s  progress   over   the   10-­‐week   period,   this   corpus   offers   a   suitable   representation   of   learner  language   and   allows   for   an   initial   analysis   of   the   errors   within.   The   quality   of  representativeness,   a   key   feature   of   any   corpus,   is   achieved   in   this   corpus   by   directly  sampling   materials   from   the   learner’s   own   authentic   production   of   written   texts.  
Additionally,  the  range  of  topics  within  this  corpus  adds  variety  in  learner  language,  which  is  another  characteristic  of  representativeness  (McEnery  et  al.,  2006).  
  The  corpus  construction  from  the  original  Word  files  was  straightforward.  First,  all  10  texts  were  re-­‐saved  as  Plain  Text  files,  and  were  subsequently  marked  up  for  WordSmith  analysis.  
Only   the   “header”   tag   was   used   to   mark   the  homework   number   and   date   (e.g.   <header>  HOMEWORK  ONE:  January  9th  2013  </header>).  Tagging  allows  WordSmith  to  ignore  these  words   in   the   analysis   (Scott,   2013).   The   titles   remained   untagged   because   titles   are  considered  part   of  language  production   in  this   analysis.  The   bodies   of  the  articles   remain  untagged  as  well.  A  sample  of  corpus  material,  as  shown  in  Appendix  A,  demonstrates  how  Homework  9  is  marked  up  in  the  corpus.  
  
  
  
  
12

ANALYSIS      In  this  section,  I  will  provide  rationale  for  the  grammar  topic  chosen  for  the  analysis,  followed  by  the  method  of  analysis,  and  finally,  present    the  analysis  results  with  discussion.  
  Present  Participles  and  Gerunds  Present  participles,  or  words  ending  with  –ing,  are  used  in  all  progressive  aspects  of  verbs  (including   present,   past   and   perfect),   in   tenseless   verb   phrases   and   clauses   to   add   extra  information  to  main  clauses,  and  as  complements;  they  can  also  be  used  as  gerunds,  which  are  nouns   that   denote   the   action   of   a  verb  (Carter   &   McCarthy,   2006;  Leech   et   al.,   2006;  Parrott,  2010).  The  key  difference  between  present  participles  and  gerunds  is  the  function,  not  form.    
  English   present   participles   and   gerunds   present   a   unique   challenge   for   French   learners  because   of   the   absence   of   –ing   verb   forms   in   French   (Walter,   2001).   This   causes   French  learners  of  English  to  make  mistakes,  often  overusing  –ing  forms  with  state  verbs,  passive  voice,  adjectives,  gerunds,  and  progressive  aspects  in  all  tenses  (Walter,  2001;  Parrott,  2010).  
My  student  has  demonstrated  a  mix  of  correct  and  false  usage  in  all  these  areas,  and  I  used  the  following  method  to  map  her  present  participle  and  gerund  usage  in  this  corpus.  
  Analysis  Method  The  method  I  used  can  be  considered  computer-­‐aided  error  analysis  because  of  the  use  of  a  text  retrieval  program  called  WordSmith  to  examine  the  frequency  and  patterns  of  present  participle  usage  (Granger,  2003).  Concord  in  WordSmith  was  used  in  this  analysis  to  create  a  concordance  from  the  corpus.  Concord  finds  every  instance  of  a  node  (i.e.  keyword  or  phrase)  in  a  corpus,  and  displays  the  search  results  in  the    Key  Word  in  Context  format,  which  places  the  node  in  the  middle  with  their  closest  co-­‐texts  on  both  sides  (Figure  1.)  (Cheng,  2012).  The  nodes  can  be  vocabulary  or  grammar  related,  and  the  resulting  concordance  allows  for  an  overview  and  analysis  of  how  the  nodes  are  used  in  their  respective  contexts.  
  Due  to  the  nature  of  present  participles  and  gerunds  (i.e.  identical  forms  and  a  wide  array  of  grammatical   functions),   the   corpus   analysis  was   straightforward   yet   resulted   in   generous  insights  into  the  learner  language.  By  analyzing  the  corpus  with  the  entry  *ing  in  Concord,  WordSmith  only  searches  for  words  containing  –ing  at  the  end  and  compiles  all  instances  of  –ing  words  into  a  concordance;  in  addition,  by  specifying  the  cutting  of  tags  <header>  and  </header>,   the   tagged   words   were   ignored   by   WordSmith   in   the   analysis   (Scott,   2013).   I  manually  deleted  lines  which  contained  –ing  words  that  were  not  verbs  (e.g.  spring,  during,  something,  the  beginning,  human  being,  etc).  As  a  result,  there  were  78  instances  of  –ing  usage  (Appendix  B).  I  manually  went  through  the  list  to  identify  and  categorize  correct  and  incorrect   usages   of   present   participles   and   gerunds.   The   next   section   discusses   selected  results  in  detail.  
  13Figure  1.  Screenshot  of  a  part  of  the  concordance  list  after  “zapping”  the  non-­‐verb  –ing  words,  showing  nodes  (-­‐ing  words)  in  the  middle  of  the  concordance  lines  and  immediate  co-­‐texts  on  both  sides  of  the  nodes.  

    RESULTS  &  DISCUSSIONS    Progressive  Aspects  &  State  Verbs  The  learner  actively  uses  present  and  past  progressive,  and  while  she  struggles  with  present  perfect   simple   and   progressive   tenses,   she   nevertheless   attempts   to   use   them   whenever  possible.  She  generally  has  no  issues  with  present  and  past  progressive,  as  demonstrated  in  (1)  and  (2):  (1)  I’m  looking  for  a  designer  which  is  familiar  (2)  I  was  trying  to  find  my  way  toward  my  family    However,  she  shows  a  tendency  of  overusing  the  progressive  instead  of  simple  forms.  For  example,  “I  was  waiting  for  five  years  (3)”.  In  the  context  of  (3),  where  she  tried  to  recount  14something   that   was   over   in   the   past,   she   should   have   used   “I   waited”   instead   of   “was  waiting”.  This  is  a  common  Francophone  learner  error,  as  identified  by  Walter  (2001),  and  consequently  an  area  that  requires  constant  monitoring  and  scaffolding  in  her  future  lessons.    
  With  present  perfect  progressive,  however,  mistakes  arise  sporadically  as  she  continues  to  improve   her   command   of   this   grammar   point.   Sometimes   she   uses   it   correctly   (4),   but  sometimes  incorrectly  (5):  (4)  we  have  been  searching  solutions,  (5)  sobriety  styles  has  been  becoming  or  famous  brand.  
  Example  (5)  also  coincides  with  her  confusion  with  state  verbs.  State  verbs  describe  states  or  conditions  and  are  used  only  in  simple  forms,  yet  learners,  including  my  student,  often  make  mistakes  by   using   state   verbs   in  progressive   forms  (Parrott,  2010).   My   student’s  mistakes  include  the  following  selected  examples:        
(6)  my  mother  who  was  looking  younger    (7)  I’m  staying  fascinated  by  the  ways  choose  (8)  Mother  who  were  wanting  better  life  for  theirs  girls  (9)  theirs  feet  were  becoming  completely  “diform”.  
  (10)  April  is  being  the  first  with  chocolate  Easter    (11)  I’m  always  remembering  many  years  ago    In  examples  (6)  to  (11),  she  falsely  used  various  state  verbs  in  present  and  past  progressive  aspects.  Since  this  is  one  of  her  most  common  mistakes,  it  demonstrates  a  strong  awareness  of   the   progressive   verb   forms   yet   only   an   incomplete   understanding   of   its   appropriate  application.  The  topic  of  state  verb  usage,  therefore,  is  clearly  in  need  of  reinforcement.    
  Passive  vs.  Active  Voice  The   learner   has   frequently   demonstrated   confusion   with   passive   and   active   voice   in   her  speech  and  writing.  One  of  her  typical  mistakes  with  voice  is  illustrated  in  (12),  where  she  used  “overwhelming”  instead  of  “overwhelmed”:      (12)  It’s  like  that  I’m  overwhelming  by  some  specific    Another   example,   where   she   attempted   to   use   passive   voice   with   present   perfect  progressive:   (13)   “I   have   always   been   interesting   to   the   cooking   world”,   demonstrated   a  similar  issue.  In  addition,  our  subsequent  discussion  as  teacher  and  student  (13)  revealed  her  fundamental  lack  of  understanding  of  the  role  of  past  participle  in  passive  voice,  as  well  as  the   difference   between   present   and   past   participles   because   she   expressed   strong   doubt  about   using   “interested”   rather   than   “interesting”.   Since   these   passive   examples  are  also  adjectival  (Carter  &  McCarthy,  2006),  the  use  of  present  and  past  participles  as  adjectives  should  be  incorporated  and  reinforced  in  future  lessons  too.    
  15In  (14),  although  she  appeared  to  have  constructed  a  formally  correct  sentence,  she  actually  intended  to  write  “have  fascinated  the  human  being”:    (14)  dragons  have  been  fascinating  the  human  being    This  type  of  mistake  may  demonstrate  confusion  with  both  tense  and  voice.  In  yet  another  situation,  her  confusion  with  state  verbs  is  possibly  mixed  with  voice  choice,  leading  her  to  create  (15):      (15)  that  have  being  occupied  a  big  place  in  their    The  analysis  of  her  usage  of  passive  and  active  voice  suggests  for  a  pedagogy  that  should  begin  by  strengthening  her  understanding  between  present  and  past  participles,  and  then  gradually   building   up   to   passive   construction   in   different   tenses,   along   with   a   continuing  reinforcement  of  state  verb  usage.    
  Gerunds  Gerunds  are  when  –ing  forms  function  as  nouns  (Parrott,  2010),  and  this  learner  usually  uses  gerunds  correctly,  as  illustrated  in  (16)  to  (18):    (16)  new  tendency  of  living  in  small  apartments    (17)  female  friends.  Having  male  friend  can  be  a  problem    (18)  I’m  afraid  of  quitting  what  I  know  very  well    However,  from  my  long-­‐term  observation  of  her  learning,  it  is  apparent  that  her  successful  usage   of   gerunds   and   infinitives   is   not   entirely   consistent,   and   she   has   a   tendency   of  overusing  gerunds.  It  may  be  speculated  that  in  some  cases,  her  correct  usage  of  gerund  is  a  result  of  guessing.  For  example,  in  (19),  “love”  is  a  verb  that  may  take  gerunds  or  infinitives  with  little  difference  in  meaning,  but  we  tend  to  use  gerunds  to  state  facts;  as  well,  gerunds  are  typically  used  to  list  activities  (Parrott,  2010).  Therefore,  even  though  the  node  “moving”  was  used  correctly,  (19)  demonstrated  a  level  of  inconsistency  in  her  choice  between  gerunds  and  infinitives.  
  (19)  I  love  to  dance  and  to  run  and  moving  for  me  is  life.  
  In  examples  (20)  and  (21),  however,  she  makes  clear  mistakes  by  using  gerunds  after  verbs  that   should   be   followed   by   infinitives.   Making   the   distinction   between   verbs   that   take  gerunds  or  infinitives  has  been  one  of  her  long-­‐term  weaknesses,  which  she  generally  tries  to  compensate  for  by  overusing  gerunds.  This  issue  remains  a  teaching  focus  in  her  training.  
  (20)  because  the  market  starts  decreasing.  I  know  that    (21)  a  lot  of  people  choose  being  on  the  warm  beaches  of  south    A  different  type  of  mistake  was  observed  in  this  example,  “I  had  a  group  who  witnessing  me  in   a   studio”   (22).   Student-­‐teacher   discussion   revealed   that   she   actually   meant   to   say,   “a  group  to  witness  me”.  It  may  be  presumptuous  to  conclude  whether  this  mistake  was  the  16confusion  between  –ing  forms  and  infinitives,  but  her  tendency  of  overusing  –ing  forms  and  adjective  clauses  may  have  led  to  the  result.    
  Two  special  cases  of  gerund  usage  may  be  seen  in  the  titles:  “Moving”  and  “Cooking”  (line  77  &  78  of  Appendix  B).  In  these  cases,  the  learner  showed  clear  knowledge  of  using  gerunds  as  nouns   and   applied   them   as   proper   nouns,   with   capitalization,   in   the   titles   of   her   articles  (Carter  &  McCarthy,  2006).  Overall,  she  demonstrates  a  basic  understanding  of  the  concept  of   gerunds   and   infinitives   but   has   yet   to   successfully   internalize   and   apply   the   concept,  making  it  an  important  topic  for  future  lessons.  
  Tenseless  –ing  Phrases  Tenseless  verb  phrases  or  clauses  with  no  stated  subjects  are  generally  understood  to  share  the   subject   with   the   main   clauses,   and   the   tenseless   phrases   or   clauses   often   have   the  adverbial  function  of,  for  example,  extending  the  main  clauses  by  adding  extra  information  (Carter  &  McCarthy,  2006;  Leech  et  al.,  2006).  Such  phrases  can  be  constructed  with  –ing  participles,  and  my  learner  demonstrated  her  ability  of  using  such  phrases  in  examples  (23)  and  (24).    
  (23)  were  very  well  dressed,  arrived  bringing  a  large  tray.  
  (24)  I’ll  pass  the  next  few  days  finishing  me  big  clean-­‐up  of  my    These  sentences,  albeit  correct,  were  described  by  the  learner  as  more  “accidental”.  She  may  not  have  consistent  command  of  such  structures  yet,  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  continue  observing  her  progress  in  this  direction.  
  Adjectives  The   –ing   verb   forms   may   function   as   adjectives   and   a   possible   learner   mistake   is   mixing  present   and   past   participles   in   this   regard   (Carter   &   McCarthy,   2006;   Parrott,   2010).   My  learner  showed  a  solid  command  of  using  –ing  form  adjectives,  as  shown  in  examples  (25)  to  (27);  (26)  is  a  combination  of  concordance  line  72  &  74  (Appendix  B).  
  (25)  It  will  be  very  interesting  to  create  this  new    (26)  for  its  nourishing,  fortifying,  and  aphrodisiac  virtues      (27)  can  be  very  depressing!  
Moreover,  she  knows  how  to  create  her  own  adjective:  to  express  my  “mothering”  energy  (28).   This   example   shows   her   understanding   of   creating   adjectives   with   suffixes   (Parrott,  2010).  However,  it   is   unclear  why   she   chose   the  suffix   -­‐ing  instead   of,  for  example,   -­‐ly  for  “motherly”,   or   simply   the   adjective   “maternal”.   Regardless   of   correctness,   this   example  shows  a  level  of  creativity  in  her  English  usage.  Despite  using  adjectives  correctly  in  active  sentences,   she   appears   to   be   less   consistent   with   adjectival   passive   constructions   as  discussed  earlier  –  an  important  topic  for  future  lessons.  
  
  
  
  
17

CONCLUDING  REMARKS  &  APPLICATION  TO  CLASSROOM  PRACTICE    The  frequency  of  grammatical  errors  provides  constructive  implications  for  material  choice  and  teaching  direction  (Biber  &  Reppen,  2002).  The  main  goal  of  this  analysis  was  to  identify  the   patterns   and   frequency   of   learner  language   in   terms   of   grammar   and   context   and   to  apply  these  findings  to  plan  suitable  pedagogy  and  improve  future  lessons  for  the  learner.  
The  results  demonstrated  that  the  learner’s  weakest  points  were  1)  overusing  gerunds  and  present  participles  with  state  verbs;  2)  falsely  using  progressive  instead  of  simple  verb  forms  and   3)   confusing   passive   and   active   voice,   which   led   to   false   usage   of   present   participles  instead  of  past  participles,  or  vice  versa.  The  positive  aspects  of  her  language  were  the  sound  command  of  adjectives  and  capability  of  using  tenseless  phrases  to  add  extra  information.  
The  learner’s  current  level  of  proficiency  no  longer  requires  basic  grammar  lessons.  Instead,  a   continuing   push   for   production   with   targeted   accuracy   refinement   could   be   the   more  efficient  approach.  
  While  a  learner  corpus  clearly  and  quickly  displays  learner  mistakes,  it  is  nevertheless  difficult  to   assess,   on   paper,   the   degree  of   significance   these   mistakes   represent.   As  all  erroneous  sentences  have   been   corrected   and   discussed  with  the   learner  during  our   lessons,  I   could  observe  how  she  reacts  to  different  mistakes  in  real  time.  Some  mistakes  might  have  been  the   result   of   carelessness   and   not   a   lack   of   knowledge.   Through   the   discussions   I,   as   the  instructor,  have  become  highly  aware  of  the  true  nature  of  her  learning  obstacles.  As  learner-­‐awareness  in  pedagogical  materials  is  key  in  the  applications  of  learner  corpora  (Granger,  2003),  the  insights  gained  through  classroom  discussions  of  her  mistakes  would  undoubtedly  help  further  refine  my  lesson  planning.    
  In  a   one-­‐to-­‐one   tutorial   context,   a   combination  of  corpus   analysis  and  real-­‐life   discussion  appears  to  bring  the  most  realistic  representation  of  learner  needs  and,  therefore,  would  be  ideal  for  the  development  of  future  lesson  planning.  For  instance,  the  same  practice  can  be  expanded   and   adapted   for   a   larger   group   of   students   in   classroom   settings.   Other   than  writing   or   literacy   classes,   some   other   English   proficiency   courses   at   Kanda   University   of  International  Studies  (KUIS)  (e.g.  Freshman  English)  ask  students  to  write  study  reflections  regularly.  If  these  reflections  are  written  in  electronic  texts  (e.g.  Google  Docs),  then  they  can  be  collected  and  analyzed  using  the  methods  outlined  in  this  paper.  The  analysis  can  be  done  for  individual  learners,  small  groups  in  a  class,  or  for  an  entire  class.  Regardless  of  sample  size,  a  learner  corpus  analysis  will  identify  clear  patterns  and  frequency  of  learner  language  and   provide   guidance   for   teachers   to   develop   lessons   based   on   the   learners’   needs.   In  addition,  learners  can  also  take  their  corpus  analysis  results  to  learning  advisors  and  ask  for  more  specific  and  direct  assistance  on  the  problem  area.  The  application  of  learner  corpora  is  vast  and  I  highly  encourage  all  language  educators  to  explore  this  method  on  their  journey  to  better  understand  their  learners.  
  
  
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REFERENCES    Biber,  D.,  &  Reppen,  R.  (2002),  What  does  frequency  have  to  do  with  grammar  teaching?  
Studies  in  Second  Language  Acquisition,  24,  199-­‐208.  
  Carter,  R.,  &  McCarthy,  M.  (2006).  The  Cambridge  grammar  of  English.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
  Cheng,  W.  (2012).  Exploring  corpus  linguistics:  Language  in  action.  London:  Routledge.  
  Flowerdew,  L.  (2012).  Corpora  and  language  education.  Basingstoke:  Palgrave  Macmillan.  
Retrieved  from  https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780230355569    Granger,  S.  (2003).  The  international  corpus  of  learner  English:  A  new  resource  for  foreign  language  learning  and  teaching  and  second  language  acquisition  research.  TESOL  Quarterly,  37(3),  538-­‐546.  
  Leech,  G.,  Deucher,  M.,  &  Hoogenraad,  R.  (2006).  English  grammar  for  today:  A  new  introduction  (2nd  ed.).  Palgrave  Macmillan.  
  McEnery,  T.,  Xiao,  R.,  &  Tono,  Y.  (2006).  Corpus-­‐based  language  studies.  London:  Routledge.    
  O’Keeffe,  A.,  McCarthy,  M.,  &  Carter,  R.  (2007).  From  corpus  to  classroom:  Language  use  and  language  teaching.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  Retrieved  from  https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780511321733    Reppen,  R.  (2010).  Using  corpora  in  the  language  classroom.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
  Scott,  M.,  (2013).  WordSmith  tools  help.  Liverpool:  Lexical  Analysis  Software.  
  Walter,  C.  (2001).  French  speakers.  In  M.  Swan,  &  B.  Smith,  (Eds.),  Learner  English:  A  teacher’s  guide  to  interference  and  other  problems  (2nd  ed.).  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press,  pp.  52-­‐72.    
  
  
  

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APPENDIX  A.  Sample  material  from  the  corpus    <header>HOMEWORK  9:  6  mars  2013</header>    SPRING    I  know  that  is  not  still  the  spring  but  I  could  see  and  feel  some  signs  of  it.  The  first  thing  that  I  notice  is  the  light  during  the  day.  In  fact,  the  sun  arises  earlier  and  goes  down  later.  What  I  like  is  the  warm  and  the  irradiance  of  this  light,  even  if  we  are  in  winter;  a  real  antidote  against  the  end  of  the  winter  that  often  can  seem  long  for  some  people.  In  Quebec,  it  seems  that  is  the  moment  during  the  year  that  the  sun  is  physically  the  closest  of  us.  I  love  these  days  which  invite  us  being  outside  practicing  Winter  sports  with  friends  and  family.  Fortunately  at  this  same  time,  we  have  these  days  break  for  many  students  and  parents;   many  of  them  plan  trips  and  outdoors  in  family,  couple  or  with  friends.  There  are  many  cultural  activities  that  we  can  do  in  town.  However,  when  the  weather  is  too  grey,  a  lot  people  choose  being  on  the  warm  beaches  of  south;  there  are  many  travelling  packages  especially  for  this  period  of  time.  
  This  year  there  are  no  beaches  or  any  trip  organised  for  me.  In  fact,   I  have  to  prepare  my  move  toward  a  new  «nest».  I’ll  pass  the  next  few  days  finishing  me  big  clean-­‐up  of  my  actual  condo.  I  live  here  for  almost  thirteen  years  now;  last  year  I  bought  a  new  condo  not  too  far  from  this  one.  I  have  some  butterflies  in  the  stomach  because  this  change  is  a  bit  risky.  My  actual  situation  at  work  is  unpredictable  and  my  new  place  is  just  in  front  of  it.  Also  the  new  one  is  smaller,  than  half.  I’m  afraid  that  will  be  too  small.    
  I  try  to  figure  out  living  in  this  «bubble».  I  know  that  I  can  live  with  few  furniture,  in  a  very  Zen  space.   Last   month,   I   watched   a   documentary   on   this   new   tendency   of   living   in   small  apartments   in   Vancouver,   where   the  real   estate   market   is  very   high.  People   talked   about  their  appreciation  of  this  life  style.  I  could  understand  them  because  the  price  of  the  houses  is  so  high.  This  is  not  the  same  situation  for  the  Montrealer  Market  but,  in  my  concern,  I  want  only  a  «pied  à  terre»  and  finding  something  else  in  the  country.    
  I  try  to  imagine  this  small  place.  I  have  to  sale  my  old  and  big  furniture.  I  visualize  how  to  create  a  comfortable  and  warm  nest  for  myself.  I  really  like  the  Japanese  style  with  the  doors  which  slide.  I’m  looking  for  a  designer  which  is  familiar  with  this  style.  I  have  to  find  smart  ways  about  storing  things.  This  is  my  challenge  for  next  weeks  and,  despite  my  fears,  I’m  very  excited  to  do  it.  Now  I  have  to  sale  my  actual  condo  and  rapidly,  because  the  market  starts  decreasing.   I   know   that   there   are   many   things   to   do   and   think;   fortunately   the   arrival   of  spring  will  give  me  a  great  bust  of  energy.    
  20APPENDIX  B.  The  concordance  of  present  participle  usage  in  the  corpus  
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A documentary on this new tendency of living in small apartments in Vancouver
I want only a “pied a terre” and finding something else in the country. I
I’ll pass the next few days finishing me big clean-up of my actual
be too small. I try to figure out living in this “bubble”. I know that I
I have to find smart ways about storing things. This is my challenge for
rapidly, because the market starts decreasing. I know that there are manystyle with the doors which slide. I’m looking for a designer which is familiar
warm beaches of south; there are many travelling packages especially for thisdays which invite us being outside practicing Winter sports with friends andis too grey, a lot of people choose being on the warm beaches of south;us. I love these days which invite us being outside practicing Winter sports.
for me is life. Ten years ago, I was “moving” with some people; dancers,
body. I love to dance and to run and moving for me is life. Ten years ago, I
not as well that if I had a group who witnessing me in a studio. However, thisstill was on the campus McGill; I was trying to find my way toward my family
was younger that in reality, she was preparing a dessert for me. There also
were very well dressed, arrived bringing a large tray. It’s at this time
saw a horse, without cavalier, it was bringing a saddle, an English saddle.
and it lay down close to me, it was protecting me from the bad weather.
Christmas and my mother who was looking younger? I really don’t know.
by some specific concerns and I’m cutting off them for many raisons: I
emotionally. It’s like that I’m overwhelming by some specificmeanings. There is many ways for working (to work?) with ourwhat to do or think or so on. I’m staying fascinated by the ways choose
His work was really inappropriate for raising girls, so he decided to abandon
women of the old car can that was confining their body. She had a very
research for sobriety styles has been becoming or famous brand; finish
a very modern view of what she was wanting to be. She built up an empire
or future powerful nations are looking for clients, new markets ordifficult events. However, when I’m looking at that call our modern world, I
looking for clients, new markets or taking their place among the G8 or G21
real issue. In fact it depends on how doing it and often against what or who!
little dragons that want their place; Taking our place it’s not the real issue.
swat with its tail of the dragon, I’m hoping for February 9th. I don’t really
For centuries the dragons have been fascinating the human being; especiallybeing; especially in China, that have being occupied a big place in their
Liette because many events have been shocking and we have been searching
have been shocking and we have been searching solutions. I have been
been searching solutions. I have been passing through different feelings:
For twelve years I have been working at the Centre
university campus and everybody are looking for financial support. We don’t
has to search and to find solutions keeping the center alive; the coach thatThat’s for sure, I’m afraid of quitting what I know very well and what I
I try to stay calm and present. I’m observing movements around me; I’mobserving movements around me; I’m talking with people concerned by thefor the child, if something has to be happening. I find that to be a
I feel like a fairy. It will be very interesting to create this newwill take still too much time. I was waiting for five years. This decision was
There is one year ago (already) I was deciding to stop my adoption project in
but I will be possible to express my “mothering” energy! So I really wait forarea. Another thing that I like about cooking is the movies about.
is brought great satisfactions like receiving family and friends, to create
because I can share my passion of cooking with them. Sometime,
I can remember, I have always been interesting to the cooking world. I lovefrom and how we have to prepare them. Cooking is more than that to prepare a
I have always been interesting to the cooking world. I love to work with the
We are all connected. Also, cooking is brought great satisfactions

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very pertinent proverb here about feeding; “when you eat something, youfriendship was for life. They were learning a secret language that theyof friendship. Sometime, a mother was asking for a friend for her young girl,very close between them. They were developing a deep sens of friendship.
a secret language that they were using all their life, to be in touch together
I have male and female friends. Having male friend can be a problem,
their life, to be in touch together. Watching this movie, reminds me mya better life for theirs girls, were asking to the person who wasfeet’s women. Mother who were wanting better life for theirs girls, weretime, on the 19th century, we were banding feet’s women. Mother who
young girls; theirs feet were becoming completely “diform”. Moreroles were having babies and were taking care about them, their family andof these deals. Women’s roles were having babies and were taking carefeet were “beautiful”, more they were having chance to do a great marriage.
They appreciate it for its nourishing, fortifying and aphrodisiac
his or her love this day. I’m always remembering many years ago; I had aappreciated it for its nourishing, fortifying, and aphrodisiac virtues. Also
report income tax and et can be very depressing!
of the year, April is being the first with chocolate Easter:Moving In my childhood, I always loved
Cooking I don’t know why, since I can

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