Building a Corpus of 2L English for Automatic Assessment: the CLEC Corpus

In this paper we describe the CLEC corpus, an ongoing project set up at the University of Cádiz with the purpose of building up a large corpus of English as a 2L classified according to CEFR proficiency levels and formed to train statistical models for automatic proficiency assessment. The goal of this corpus is twofold: on the one hand it will be used as a data resource for the development of automatic text classification systems and, on the other, it has been used as a means of teaching innovation techniques

Compiling and annotating a learner corpus for a morphologically rich language: CzeSL, a corpus of non-native Czech

Learner corpora, linguistic collections documenting a language as used by learners, provide an important empirical foundation for language acquisition research and teaching practice. This book presents CzeSL, a corpus of non-native Czech, against the background of theoretical and practical issues in the current learner corpus research. Languages with rich morphology and relatively free word order, including Czech, are particularly challenging for the analysis of learner language. The authors address both the complexity of learner error annotation, describing three complementary annotation schemes, and the complexity of description of non-native Czech in terms of standard linguistic categories. The book discusses in detail practical aspects of the corpus creation: the process of collection and annotation itself, the supporting tools, the resulting data, their formats and search platforms. The chapter on use cases exemplifies the usefulness of learner corpora for teaching, language acquisition research, and computational linguistics. Any researcher developing learner corpora will surely appreciate the concluding chapter listing lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid

The emotional weight of "I love you" in multilinguals' languages

The present paper considers the perceived emotional weight of the phrase I love you in multilinguals’ different languages. The sample consists of 1459 adult multilinguals speaking a total of 77 different first languages. They filled out an on-line questionnaire with open and closed questions linked to language behavior and emotions. Feedback on the open question related to perceived emotional weight of the phrase I love you in the multilinguals’ different languages was recoded in three categories: it being strongest in (1) the first language (L1), (2) the first language and a foreign language, and (3) a foreign language (LX). A majority of speakers felt I love you was strongest in their L1. Participants offered various explanations for their perception. Statistical analyses revealed that the perception of weight of the phrase I love you was associated with self-perceived language dominance, context of acquisition of the L2, age of onset of learning the L2, degree of socialization in the L2, nature of the network of interlocutors in the L2, and self-perceived oral proficiency in the L2

English-language abstracts written by Czech linguists: how are we doing?

Article abstracts may be among the most efficient means of disseminating research results if certain basic principles regarding their content and structure are followed. No research outcomes have yet been made available on the structure of abstracts published in Czech linguistic periodicals. The current study presents a survey of 120 such abstracts collected from four journals and, on the basis of rhetorical moves analysis, describes their shared features, strengths and shortcomings. The results show that many of these abstracts fail to include moves which are generally considered obligatory (results, data and method description) and that their informative value is consequently lower than sufficient. The study concludes by recommending that awareness of rhetorical principles amongst Czech academics be raised e.g. through instructional texts or courses

Integrating machine translation into MOOCS

This paper presents TraMOOC (Translation for Massive Open Online Courses), a European research project developed with the intention of empowering international learners in the digital multilingual world by providing reliable machine translation (MT) specifically tailored to MOOCs from English into 11 languages (Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian). The paper describes how the project is addressing the challenges involved in developing an innovative, high-quality MT service for producing accurate translations of heterogeneous multi-genre MOOC materials, encompassing subtitles of video lectures, assignments, tutorials, and social web text posted on student blogs and fora. Based on the results of a large-scale and multi-method evaluation conducted as part of the TraMOOC project, we offer a reflection on how to best integrate state-of-the-art MT into MOOC platforms. The conclusion summarizes the key lessons learned, that can be applied by the wider community of international professionals with an interest in the multilingual aspects of innovative education and new learning technologies

Genre Analysis of Argumentative Essays of Pakistani EFL Learners

Argumentative essay is an important but difficult genre for non-native learners. There is a dearth of research in Pakistan that describes the nature of argumentative writing from genre-analytical perspective. The current study aimed at finding rhetorical patterns of argumentative essays written by Pakistani college and university students at ICLE (International Corpus of Learner English). A corpus of thirty three argumentative essays has been made. Hyland's model (1990) has been used as the analytical framework to analyze the move-step structure of the essays. In this corpus-based study Ant Mover software as well as human coders have identified and coded the moves. Results have shown that most of the argumentative essays followed the three stages given in the model and they also have obligatory moves set in the model. Findings have revealed that these essays also include some new moves which are not part of the model. The results of this study have pedagogical implications for the teaching and learning of ESP/EFL. It also provides the teachers with better information that can help to improve their teaching approach and materials for academic writing. Key words: argumentative essays, corpus-based, genre analysis, move-step structur

Data-driven learning of collocations: Learner performance, proficiency, and perceptions

This study explores the effects of Data Driven Learning (DDL) of German lexico grammatical constructions (verb preposition collocations) by North American college students with intermediate foreign language proficiency. The study compares the effects of computer based and paper based DDL activities as evidenced in learners’ immediate and delayed performance gains, and explores changes in learners’ proficiency and DDL perceptions as well as the influence of these factors on performance. The results show that both DDL types were equally effective for all learners, independent of their proficiency and perceptions, although gains measured by a more controlled production test (gap-filling) were superior to and longer lasting than gains measured by a less controlled production test (sentence writing). Furthermore, immediate performance gains on different tasks were differently affected by learner proficiency and perceptions, while delayed gains showed no such effects. Finally, the study found that overall learner proficiency increased and that DDL was well received by learners and they expressed an intention to use it for independent learning in the future. This study fills gaps existing in DDL research by focusing on a second language other than English, comparing different DDL types, measuring delayed learning gains, and combining different outcomes measures in a multilevel modeling design