EXPLORING DIGITAL LIBRARY POSSIBILITIES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Over the last decade or so, a substantial amount of research has been accumulating exploring ways in which corpora can be exploited for language teaching and learning. This has particularly been stimulated by the accessibility of computer-based technology and the web. Few studies however have made use of digital library software. A digital library is made up of a set of collections. Each collection of information comprises several (typically several thousand, or even several million) documents, which can be selected for particular content or language features. Digital libraries thus have untapped potential for supporting language learning and teaching. This paper describes a number of specific ways in which digital library software (Greenstone, http://www.greenstone.org) has been used. While empirical data from a number of evaluations is limited at this stage, the paper presents these, but also provides a theoretical rationale for why we can claim benefits for language learners. To do this it draws on the research work on noticing, the concept of involvement load, and the pedagogical principles of recycling, and presenting language items in multiple contexts. The features of the digital library system described in the paper can be adopted in other systems to provide a context for language learning, but also to support learners in their strategic use of digital resources.