Abstract:

This research focuses on the versatility of ways in which corpus analysis tools such as Sketch Engine can be used when teaching foreign languages.
The authors share their experience and base their research results on teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) and RFL (Russian as a Foreign Language) to students of law and linguists at RUDN University.

Sketch Engine is a user-friendly web-based corpus analysis system that supports over 90 languages. The users have access to contemporary and historical corpora in these languages, which presents a multitude of opportunities that can be used in various ways, ranging from proofreading to conducting diachronic linguistic research.

Along with being able to explore the preloaded multibillion-word corpora of written and spoken languages, the users can also create their own multi-document corpora. This function helps them to learn more about their specific area of studies, discover word frequency data and its geographic distribution, find contextual examples of vocabulary use, verify the accuracy of translations, study the newest linguistic trends which have not yet been reflected in the academic literature, etc.

The authors analyze their teaching experience and explore the methodology of successfully including Sketch Engine and other corpus analysis tools in curricula by providing the essential training and offering both individual and group projects to their students.

The research findings demonstrate that using modern corpus analysis software in foreign language teaching significantly improves students’ linguistic intuition and self-awareness, provides them with simple, yet powerful research tools while also improving their technical expertise.

Keywords:

Corpus linguistics, ESL, corpus management, linguistic intuition, Sketch Engine.