Shelley Staples, Valentina Vinokurova, Mariana Centanin-Bertho, The University of Arizona

This is the fourth session of 2024 CALPER Professional Development Webinar Series: Advances in World Language Pedagogy.

Abstract:

Language corpora can be successfully used for creating pedagogical materials in various contexts and languages. However, engaging with texts from native-speaker corpora can be daunting for language learners. Learner corpora, corpora built from learner texts, can help fill the gap by providing level-appropriate materials. In addition, using learner language helps validate learner language as a legitimate variety.   

This workshop will introduce the Multilingual Academic Corpus of Assignments – Writing and Speech, an open source learner corpus of Russian and Portuguese. Participants will be introduced to the benefits of using corpora in the language classroom, learn to navigate the MACAWS interface, gain access to existing corpus materials, and brainstorm how they can use our materials or create their own corpus-based activities. While the workshop focuses on teaching Russian and Portuguese, participants will gain insight for the teaching of other languages using a learner corpus approach. 

Bio:

Shelley Staples is associate professor of English and second language acquisition and teaching at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the use of corpus-based discourse analysis to investigate language use across spoken and written contexts. Her research aims to inform language teaching and assessment, particularly in the areas of English for Academic and Specific Purposes (EAP/ESP. Her current projects focus on academic writing and health care communication.  

 Valentina Vinokurova is a doctoral candidate in second language acquisition and teaching at the University of Arizona. She specializes in Russian language teaching. Her research focuses on technology-enhanced language learning, multiliteracies and content-based instruction, and learner identity. 

Mariana Centanin-Bertho is a doctoral candidate in second language acquisition and teaching at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the acquisition of L2/L3 Portuguese and phonological acquisition with usage-based data. She is also an instructor of Portuguese and researches the creation and implementation of corpus-based materials in language classrooms.