Corpus approaches to issues in second language acquisition
Sep 12, 2019 — 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL) warmly invites you to its next research forum about Corpus approaches to issues in second language acquisition presentedby Randy Appel, ssistant professor at the Global Education Center of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
Dr. Appel’s research talk explores corpus approaches to linguistic inquiry and the usefulness of corpora in various areas of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. Methodological issues in corpus studies will be discussed, as well as related methods that can be used to push the field forward and improve methodological rigor, particularly through increased corpus comparability in studies adopting Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA; Ganger, 2015). Through a review of his recent publications, Dr. Appel will highlight how corpora can be used to address various issues second language (L2) English learners face when attempting to gain proficiency in the target language. Main areas of focus in this research talk include the role of formulaic sequences (i.e., repeated multiword structures, such as on the other hand and the fact that) in L2 English writing, methods of improving the identification of psycholinguistically valid and pedagogically useful formulaic sequences, lexical assessments of L2 English speech, and the role of the first language in L2 acquisition and use.
Randy Appel
Assistant professor at the Global Education Center of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.
Dr. Appel is an assistant professor at the Global Education Center of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He is responsible for the Academic Writing and Discussion in English Program (AWADE) which accepts approximately 1,000 English learners each year. His research focuses primarily on examinations of second language (L2) English academic writing by way of corpus analyses. Specific topics of interest include, the role of formulaic sequences in assessments of L2 English proficiency, methods of improving identification and extraction of pedagogically valuable formulaic sequences, first language (L1) related differences in L2 English, and the role of explicit discourse markers in L2 English academic writing. His research has been published in Language Assessment Quarterly, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, System, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics.