[Corpora-List] Summary of responses on corpora and language testing

From: Fiona Barker (Barker.F@cambridgeesol.org)
Date: Wed Nov 16 2005 - 11:03:51 MET

  • Next message: Serge Sharoff: "Re: [Corpora-List] REUTER corpus online?"

    Dear list members

    Further to my recent posting to this and other discussion lists I have
    received a number of responses on corpora and language testing,
    summarised below:

    1) Eric Atwell (Leeds University) directed me to several papers related
    to corpora and language testing in the ICAME Journal, published by the
    International Computer Archive of Modern and medieval English.

    Danny Minn, Hiroshi Sano, Marie Ino and Takahiro Nakamura. 2005. Using
    the BNC to create and develop educational materials and a website for
    learners of English. vol.29 pp.99-115

    Emi Izumi, Kiyotaka Uchimoto and Hitoshi Isahara. 2004. SST speech
    corpus of Japanese learners' English and automatic detection of
    learners' errors. vol.28 pp.31-48

    Eric Atwell, Peter Howarth and Clive Souter. 2003. The ISLE Corpus:
    Italian and German Spoken Learners' English. vol.27 pp.5-18

    Norma A. Pravec. 2002. Survey of learner corpora. vol.26 pp.81-114

    2) Ana Frankenberg-Garcia (Lisbon) mentioned her article:
    Frankenberg-Garcia, A. (2005) "Pedagogical uses of Monolingual and
    Parallel Concordances" ELT Journal 59/3, June 2005, pp 189-198. PDF
    <http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/59/3/189?ijkey=d1JJgTgvyxSLz
    MZ&keytype=ref> .

    3) Chantal Enguehard (Nantes) directed me to her English corpus on metal
    chemestry (CoRRecT). This is used as a bank test to evaluate systems
    that recognize terms in texts.
    http://www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/info/perso/permanents/enguehard/reche
    rche/CoRRecT/CoRRecT.htm

    4) Minako Yamada (Japan) is interested in language assessment from the
    perspective of sociocultural theory and directed me to her study:
    Yamada, Minako (2005). Task proficiency and L1 private speech. IRAL, 43,
    81-108. Task proficiency and L1 private speech
    <http://www.extenza-eps.com/WDG/doi/abs/10.1515/iral.2005.43.2.81>
    (link via Extenza)

    5) DJ Hatch (Belgrade) provided a reference and is currently looking at
    the relationship between the use of corpora based tests and teaching via
    'authentic' (or 'natural language') materials.
    Alderson, J.C. (1996). Do corpora have a role in language assessment? In
    J.A. Thomas & M.H.Short (Eds.), Using corpora for language research
    (pp.248-59). London: Longman.
    You can also read a couple of short articles I have written on this
    subject:
    Ball, F. (2001). Using corpora in language testing. Research Notes 6,
    6-8, http://www.cambridgeesol.org/rs_notes/rs_nts6.pdf
    Barker, F. (2004). Using corpora in language testing. Modern English
    Teacher, 13(2), 63-67.
    I would like to thank everyone who responded to my query and would
    welcome any further information on past, present and future uses of
    corpora in language assessment/testing.
    Best wishes
    Fiona Barker

    Dr Fiona Barker
    Validation Officer
    Cambridge ESOL
    1 Hills Road
    Cambridge
    CB6 1EU
    UK

    Tel. +44 1223 553806
    Fax. +44 1223 553083
    e-mail: barker.f@cambridgeassessment.org.uk

    www.CambridgeESOL.org

    Dr Fiona Barker
    Validation Officer
    Cambridge ESOL
    1 Hills Road
    Cambridge
    CB6 1EU
    UK

    Tel. +44 1223 553806
    Fax. +44 1223 553083
    e-mail: barker.f@cambridgeassessment.org.uk

    www.CambridgeESOL.org

    If you are not the intended recipient, employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination or copying of this communication and its attachments is strictly prohibited.
    If you have received this communication and its attachments in error, please return the original message and attachments to the sender using the reply facility on e-mail.
    Internet communications are not secure and therefore Cambridge Assessment (the brand name for the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, the constituent elements of which are CIE, ESOL and OCR) does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Cambridge Assessment unless otherwise specifically stated.
    The information contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

    This message has been scanned for viruses by BlackSpider MailControl - www.blackspider.com



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 16 2005 - 11:54:09 MET