Introduction to Corpora How Can Corpora Help Me

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Introduction to Corpora How Can Corpora Help Me To Be Successful in CO 150?

Introduction to Corpora How Can Corpora Help Me To Be Successful in CO 150?

What Is a Corpus? Corpus (singular) corpora (plural) § A collection of texts that

What Is a Corpus? Corpus (singular) corpora (plural) § A collection of texts that are used to study language § Texts can be written language (books, newspaper articles, magazines, etc. ) § And/or oral language (lectures, daily conversations, speeches, etc. ) that are transcribed to writing Note: ‘To transcribe’ is to write something down exactly as it was said.

Who Can Use a Corpus? Nowadays corpora are electronic, which makes it easy for

Who Can Use a Corpus? Nowadays corpora are electronic, which makes it easy for us to access and use them for free Researchers use corpora to look at patterns in language English grammar textbook authors use corpora to be sure of what patterns in English actually occur in writing and speech Teachers can use corpora for the same reason, to make sure that the English you are learning matches the English that native speakers use Students can use corpora, which shows them how native English speakers use grammar/sentence structure/vocabulary.

What Corpora Should I Use? There are many types of corpora: § Big and

What Corpora Should I Use? There are many types of corpora: § Big and balanced (texts from different genres: COCA 450 million words) § Small and specialized (business letters, engineering research journal articles, legal essays) § Spoken only (MICASE) § Other languages (Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus, Chinese) § Multilingual (comparing two or more languages in 1 corpus) § Free vs. not for the public (Longman corpus) § Learner (created with language learner, not native speaker, texts) We will explore a few free, big, and balanced corpora: COCA, BNC, Lex Tutor (uses both)

How Can This Help Me In CO 150? Two of the goals in this

How Can This Help Me In CO 150? Two of the goals in this class, according to your syllabus, are to: § Locate and evaluate pertinent source material, including library and Internet-based sources. § a) Understand the principles of revising and editing and (b) be able to revise for focus, structure, style, purpose, and audience. The corpora I show you in class will help you edit your writing yourself, which should help you in CO 150 and other classes

What’s Next? We will learn about different corpora resources throughout the semester. Corpora can

What’s Next? We will learn about different corpora resources throughout the semester. Corpora can help us with editing our papers, so we will use it during our second drafts. Today we will look at the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) § COCA is free § Has a large selection of different genres like spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper, academic § We will focus on academic, since we use American Academic English in college