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An investigation intoCorpus-based learning about
language in the primary-school: CLLIP
The classroom-based fieldwork
Background
Renewed interest in children learning about language (NLS)
ESRC funded project (Economic and Social Research Council)
Potential of a corpus-based approach for children’s evidence-based investigation
‘The study of English helps pupils understand how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins’
The National Curriculum for English (DfEE 1999)
‘investigative, independent and evidence-based learning’
National Literacy Strategy (DfEE 1998)
Aim of Project
To investigate the potential of:a corpus-based approach
for children’s
evidence-based investigation
into patterns in the English language
Research questions (1)
How do primary school pupils respond to corpus-based teaching and learning activities?
What kinds of metalinguistic knowledge, understanding or misconceptions are the children prompted to articulate by the presentation of texts in a corpus format, such as concordance lines?
Research questions (2)
What features of the corpus-learner interface do the children find useful in learning to recognise and identify patterned features of vocabulary and grammar?
As the children become familiar with the approach, do they begin to posit metalinguistic questions and hypotheses of their own, as older learners have been found to do?
Research questions (3)
Does the evidence generated by the research suggest any constructive modifications to the prescriptions of the English National Curriculum, the Initial Teacher Training National Curriculum for Primary English, or the National Literacy Strategy?
What is a corpus?
an electronically stored databank of authentic language
‘a collection of pieces of language, selected and ordered according to explicit criteria in order to be used as a sample of the language’
What is the CLLIP corpus?
40 texts written for a child audience extracted from the British National Corpusstories, history books, Brownie annual etc.approximately 800,000 words
What can be done with a corpus?
Identify patterns in language Grammar Vocabulary
For example collect, classify and order sets of words to
identify shades of meaning explain the differences between synonyms
e.g. angry, irritated, frustrated, upset NLS ObjectiveYear 5 Term 1
Fieldwork2 Primary Schools
Phase 1: 6 Y4 + 6 Y5 children
Phase 2: 8 Y5 children
9 x 40 minute sessions in each school
Recording: 2 video cameras, 2 Mini Disc recorders
Activities
First session: introducing the concept of a corpussimple set of concordance lines, focusing
on centre of concordance lines first
Later sessionsPhase 1: Mainly paper-basedPhase 2: Computer-based
Y4T2Wto spell words with the common endings: -ight, etc
Objective (NLS)
This worksheet is based on concordance lines generated by a search for ‘*ight’. The task was to identify which of these words rhyme with ‘bite’ and which with ‘ate’. The objective was to familiarise the children with the idea and appearance of concordance lines
Objective (NLS)Y5T3Sto search for, identify and classify a range of prepositions … Understand and use the term preposition
This worksheet was produced by searching for a verb of motion followed by ‘the’ after the next word, generating a set of concordance lines centring on prepositions.It is very ‘busy’ in appearance, because all the part of speech / word class categories are colour coded. Later versions of the interface allowed us to show colour in a much more selective way.
Sample data: Extract 1Alison: right so we've noticed quite a few patterns in these colours
has anyone got any idea why the colours might be different why the words are in different colours
GA1: ooh Alison: have a think about it and see if you can work out what the reason
might be for them all being printed in different colours L____?
GA1: is some is maybe some of them like nouns in one colour one adjectives and the other one one verbs and
GA2: oh BA2: adverbs
GA1 = Girl 1 at School ABA2 = Boy 2 at School A
This discussion took place during the session when the children in School A were introduced to the colour-coded output for the first time. (See previous slide.)They found the sheets intriguing and speculated about why the words had been coloured in the way they had.
Sample data: Extract 2Alison: adjectives nouns verbs and adverbs
but we’ve found about nine ten or eleven different colours so does does that mean that the colours couldn’t be anything to do with parts of speech or
GA2: they could they could Alison: yeah BA4: could BA1: but # Alison: how would they be then BA2: I found eleven BA1: because you could have them like
because they could show description on them if they wanted and stuff because they could just have some certain colours as nouns adjectives and things and any others could just be different things
Sample data: Extract 3Alison: try and say it once more because people were talking when you were
talking BA1: well Alison: just tell me what you've noticed BA1: the blue sort of thi-, ones are like things Alison: yes BA1: because there's like mouth Bobby Peter and stuff and there's a shower
room there's Alison: right BA1: Karen there's # Alison: all right
A___ do you want to add something to this BA1: and I think they're things BA4: they're nouns Alison: they're nouns
how wo-, how do you know so sure you're very sure
BA4: because they're things Alison: okay [laughter] BA1: things
yeah they're things BA3: because there's the the book Alison: so blue might be the colour for nouns
Y5T1W: to use adverbs to qualify verbs in writing dialogue
Objective (NLS)
The task here was to discuss in a small group which adverb would fit best into each set of three concordance lines.The children completed a copy of the sheet when all in the group agreed, having given reasons for their decisions.
The corpus interface
Name of programme:Wordsmith Tools
FeaturesColour chooser
Grouping by ‘set’
Sorting the lines – by left, right, by set
Initial findingsChildren were familiar from previous work with some language categories and patternsThey readily assimilated the idea of a corpus and concordance linesThe corpus-based activities helped to consolidate and extend their understanding of language categories and patternsThey initiated uses of the analysis software which we hadn’t foreseen
Contact
We would be very pleased to hear from anyone who is interested in the project and would like to know more.
Please see the main project page for details of where we are presenting the research.
We can be contacted at the University of Reading (address on SLALS home page), or via email:
[email protected]@rdg.ac.uk
