THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING (TELL) AND CORPUS TOOLS IN IMPROVING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Abstract

Many ESL learners at the BS level have problems in accurate and natural use of English, particularly in vocabulary, grammar, collocations, sentence structure and academic writing despite being in a second language (L2) classroom. In the traditional classroom settings, students may have limited exposure to genuine language use, relying primarily on textbooks and memorization, and secondarily on teacher explanation. For this reason, this mixed method study examined the effect of the use of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) and corpus tools on second language acquisition by ESL students at the BS-level. The study focused on the three types of digital corpus tools: Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), American National Corpus (ANC), and British National Corpus (BNC), and their assistance in this respect for learners of authentic English and their achievement of the above goals. The subjects consisted of 50 ESL undergraduate students (students at the BS-level) who were conveniently sampled from a university/college environment. The method used for data collection was corpus-based learning tasks, 5-point likert scale attitude questionnaire, open-ended questions, and short interviews. The quantitative data were analysed in terms of frequencies and percentage and the qualitative responses were analysed in terms of thematic analysis. The results indicated that students' perceptions of the corpus-based TELL activities were positive. The students reported that the Corpus tools helped them to understand real English usage (82%), to improve vocabulary learning in context (86%), to develop grammar awareness (80%), to learn collocations (84%), and to improve academic writing skills (82%). Concerning TELL, 84% of students indicated that technology increased the interaction in the learning of language and enabled them to get learning resources outside the classroom. COCA was the most common corpus tool due to its many examples of contemporary American English. Qualitative results showed that themes of Vocabulary development, Grammar awareness, Collocation learning, Writing development, Learner autonomy, TELL as supportive learning environment and Teacher guidance emerged. The guided practice minimized issues with difficult interfaces, lack of prior knowledge of the material, and understanding concordance lines. The study shows that using TELL and corpus tools is an effective way of supporting second language learning for the following reasons: 1) they can serve as means of providing authentic input; 2) they can be used to promote active learning; 3) they can be used to foster learner autonomy; 4) they can help bridge the gap between classroom language and natural language.