Schedule: 2009-09-11 (15:00 - 15:45)
Parallel Session 5 (Room A-32)

Title: The development and exploitation of a post-primary school curricular corpus
Authors: Zachary Lyons
Abstract: This research and development paper will report on some specific aspects of the development and exploitation of a post-primary school curricular corpus and the attempts to limit barriers to student input and use.

The concept of successfully integrating ESL learners into the mainstream post-primary school curriculum is multi-dimensional, involving the successful integration of lexico-grammatical, educational and social practices. Within the Irish post-primary school context the successful teaching of curricular lexis derived from subject textbooks and examination papers plays an important role in this integration as it informs the language of instruction, of communication and of assessment within the classroom. Vocabulary is strongly associated with reading and academic comprehension (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Lyons, 2008). While the benefits of using corpus-enhanced language learning (CELL) as a lexico-grammatical resource for language teachers and language learners and as a basis for creating authentic exercises are well illustrated in the literature (Tribble & Jones, 1997) research in classrooms supports Grabe & Stoller (2002: 12) that “extensive word exposure is necessary in order to ensure a deep and solid embedding of new words in the mental lexicon.”

The English Language Support Programme (part of the Trinity Immigration Initiative, Trinity College Dublin) is midway through a three-year project to develop and exploit, using an extensive word exposure approach, a post-primary curricular corpus of all the subject textbooks, teacher guidelines and examination papers used in Irish post-primary schools. The present corpus of nearly 3 million words has led to a focus on subject-specific language which is, in turn, informing the development of a large array of teaching/learning materials designed to support teaching and learning at each of the CEFR A1-B1 Benchmarks. The mediation of these materials to teachers and students alike will be web-based.

Challenges inherent in designing and implementing a balanced and representative corpus that meets the needs of teachers and ESL students while being flexible enough to respond to different uses and standards in the future are discussed. The goal of a successful post-primary ESL approach is to provide newcomer students with equitable opportunities to achieve designated learning outcomes across the curriculum. We believe that our corpus and materials will play a fundamental role in the facilitation of this provision and in the development of skills in which the learner can manage their own lexical learning (Harwood 2005, Sanaoui 1995).

References:
Cunningham, A.E. & Stanovich, K.E. (1997) Early Reading Acquisition and its Relation to Reading Experience and Ability 10 Years Later. Developmental Psychology 33, 6: 934-945.
Grabe, W. & Stoller, F. (2002). Teaching and researching reading: Applied linguistics in action. New York: Longman.
Harwood, N. (2005) What do we want EAP teaching materials for? Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4: 149-161.
Lyons, Z. (2008). Content and Language learning in Irish Post-Primary schools. Presentation to ASTI, 20th November 2008.
Sanaoui, R. (1995) Adult learners’ approaches to learning vocabulary in second languages. The Modern Language Journal 79, 1: 15–28. Tribble, C. & Jones, G. (1997) Concordancing in the classroom: a resource guide for teachers. Houston: Athelstan.
Keywords: Post-primary, corpora, curriculum, vocabulary, web-based, CLIL,

Main topic: Corpora

Biodata: Zachary Lyons (PhD, M.Ed, H.Dip). Research fellow on the English Language Support Project for Post-Primary schools (Trinity Immigration Initiative, Trinity College Dublin). Former post-primary teacher and university lecturer in language learning. Research interests focus primarily on corpus/data-driven learning, CLIL and teacher motivation(s).
Type of presentation Paper presentation

Paper category Research & Development

Target educational sector Secondary education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-11 (15:00 - 15:45) Parallel Session 5 (Room A-32)
Title:	The development and exploitation of a post-primary school curricular corpus
Authors:	Zachary Lyons
Abstract:	This research and development paper will report on some specific aspects of the development and exploitation of a post-primary school curricular corpus and the attempts to limit barriers to student input and use. The concept of successfully integrating ESL learners into the mainstream post-primary school curriculum is multi-dimensional, involving the successful integration of lexico-grammatical, educational and social practices. Within the Irish post-primary school context the successful teaching of curricular lexis derived from subject textbooks and examination papers plays an important role in this integration as it informs the language of instruction, of communication and of assessment within the classroom. Vocabulary is strongly associated with reading and academic comprehension (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Lyons, 2008). While the benefits of using corpus-enhanced language learning (CELL) as a lexico-grammatical resource for language teachers and language learners and as a basis for creating authentic exercises are well illustrated in the literature (Tribble & Jones, 1997) research in classrooms supports Grabe & Stoller (2002: 12) that “extensive word exposure is necessary in order to ensure a deep and solid embedding of new words in the mental lexicon.” The English Language Support Programme (part of the Trinity Immigration Initiative, Trinity College Dublin) is midway through a three-year project to develop and exploit, using an extensive word exposure approach, a post-primary curricular corpus of all the subject textbooks, teacher guidelines and examination papers used in Irish post-primary schools. The present corpus of nearly 3 million words has led to a focus on subject-specific language which is, in turn, informing the development of a large array of teaching/learning materials designed to support teaching and learning at each of the CEFR A1-B1 Benchmarks. The mediation of these materials to teachers and students alike will be web-based. Challenges inherent in designing and implementing a balanced and representative corpus that meets the needs of teachers and ESL students while being flexible enough to respond to different uses and standards in the future are discussed. The goal of a successful post-primary ESL approach is to provide newcomer students with equitable opportunities to achieve designated learning outcomes across the curriculum. We believe that our corpus and materials will play a fundamental role in the facilitation of this provision and in the development of skills in which the learner can manage their own lexical learning (Harwood 2005, Sanaoui 1995). References: Cunningham, A.E. & Stanovich, K.E. (1997) Early Reading Acquisition and its Relation to Reading Experience and Ability 10 Years Later. Developmental Psychology 33, 6: 934-945. Grabe, W. & Stoller, F. (2002). Teaching and researching reading: Applied linguistics in action. New York: Longman. Harwood, N. (2005) What do we want EAP teaching materials for? Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4: 149-161. Lyons, Z. (2008). Content and Language learning in Irish Post-Primary schools. Presentation to ASTI, 20th November 2008. Sanaoui, R. (1995) Adult learners’ approaches to learning vocabulary in second languages. The Modern Language Journal 79, 1: 15–28. Tribble, C. & Jones, G. (1997) Concordancing in the classroom: a resource guide for teachers. Houston: Athelstan.
Keywords:	Post-primary, corpora, curriculum, vocabulary, web-based, CLIL,
Main topic:	Corpora
Biodata:	Zachary Lyons (PhD, M.Ed, H.Dip). Research fellow on the English Language Support Project for Post-Primary schools (Trinity Immigration Initiative, Trinity College Dublin). Former post-primary teacher and university lecturer in language learning. Research interests focus primarily on corpus/data-driven learning, CLIL and teacher motivation(s).
Type of presentation	Paper presentation
Paper category	Research & Development
Target educational sector	Secondary education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No