Cover not available

Article published In: Corpus Linguistics and Second Language Studies
Edited by Dilin Liu, Xiaofei Lu and Isaiah WonHo Yoo
[Journal of Second Language Studies 7:2] 2024
► pp. 295–319

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Modeling expression of the research gap in text-based reading instruction

A corpus-based approach

 | Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember, Indonesia
ORCiD logo with link | Flinders University, Australia
Published online: 6 January 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.00042.fer
Abstract
This small-scale intervention aimed to prepare students to express a particular academic writing feature (the research gap) through a structured intervention in corpus reading tasks. Four undergraduate (second year) students majoring in English education participated in a collaborative corpus-based analysis of selected published articles. They then drew on the corpus exemplars to develop their own gap statements. Data were collected from focus group interviews, students’ learning journals, and learning artifacts. There were two key findings. First, the students indicated that corpus-based analysis helped them become critical readers to recognize lexis used to show the research gap in the corpus-based database. Secondly, students learned from the collocation patterns in the corpus to express the research gap in their own contexts. The study has practical implications for language teaching demonstrating how corpus-based text-based language teaching can be a catalyst for students to become active and critical meaning makers.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Data-driven learning and corpus studies in English for academic purposes
    • 2.2Text-based academic reading and meta-discourse markers
  • 3.Research design
    • 3.1Research context and participants
    • 3.2Data collection
    • 3.3Trustworthiness
    • 3.4Data analysis
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Corpus-based analysis mediated critical reading
    • 4.2Collocation patterns-informed research gap statement
    • Discussion
  • 5.Limitations and implications
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Reference
References (55)
Reference
Alsehibany, R. A. & Abdelhalim, S. M. (2023). Overcoming academic vocabulary errors through online corpus consultation: the case of Saudi English majors, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barton, E. L. (1995). Contrastive and Non-Contrastive Connectives. Written Communication, 12(2), 219–239. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, L. & Lygo-Baker, S. (2019). Student-centred learning: a smallscale study of a peer-learning experience in undergraduate translation classes, The Language Learning Journal, 47(3), 299–312, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D. (2015). Corpus-Based and Corpus-Driven Analyses of Language Variation and Use’, in B. Heine, and H. Narrog (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charles, M. (2012). “Proper vocabulary and juicy collocations”: EAP students evaluate do-it-yourself corpus-building. English for Specific Purposes, 31(2), 93–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, H. J. H., Lai, S. L., Lee, K. Y. & Yang, C. T. Y. (2023). Developing and evaluating an academic collocations and phrases search engine for academic writers, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(4), 641–668, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coffin, C., & Donohue, J. P. (2012). Academic Literacies and systemic functional linguistics: How do they relate? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(1), 64–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cortes, V. (2013). The purpose of this study is to: Connecting lexical bundles and moves in research article introductions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(1), 33–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crosthwaite, P. (2017). Retesting the limits of data-driven learning: feedback and error correction, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 30(6), 447–473, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dong, J., & Lu, X. (2020). Promoting discipline-specific genre competence with corpus-based genre analysis activities. English for Specific Purposes, 581, 138–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, K. E., Rakes, G. C., & Rakes, T. A. (2014). Influence of academic self-regulation, critical thinking, and age on online graduate students’ academic help-seeking. Distance Education, 35(1), 75–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckstein, G., Miner, S., Watkins, K., James, J., Sims, M., Baker, A. W., & Grahl, L. (2020). Reading academic citations: How professors and graduate students read for different purposes. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 20(1), 1–19.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Sorting out the misunderstandings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19(3), 221–246. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farahani, M. V. & Ghane, Z. (2022). Unpacking the function(s) of discourse markers in academic spoken English: A corpus-based study. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 451, 49–70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibson, W. J., & Brown, A. (2009). Working with qualitative data. SAGE Publications, Ltd, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ha, M.-J. (2016). Linking adverbials in first-year Korean university EFL learners’ writing: a corpus-informed analysis, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(6), 1090–1101, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hammer, S. J. & Green, W. (2011). Critical thinking in a first year management unit: the relationship between disciplinary learning, academic literacy and learning progression. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(3), 303–315. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Howard, P. J., Gorzycki, M., Desa, G., & Allen, D. D. (2018). Academic Reading: Comparing Students’ and Faculty Perceptions of Its Value, Practice, and Pedagogy. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 48(3), 189–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Academic publishing and the myth of linguistic injustice. Journal of Second Language Writing, 311, 58–69. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johns, T. (1991). Should you be persuaded: two examples of data-driven learning. English Language Research Journal, 41. Department of English, University of Birmingham, pp. 1–16.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1993). Data-driven learning: an update. TELL & CALL, 31, 23–32.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laminack, L. (2017). Mentors and mentor texts: What, why, and how? The Reading Teacher, 70(6), 753–755. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, T., & Gablasova, D. (2023). Data-driven learning of collocations by Chinese learners of English: a longitudinal perspective. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, X. & Read, J. (2020). General skill needs and challenges in university academic reading: Voices from undergraduates and language teachers, Journal of College Reading and Learning, 50(2), 70–93, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Love, R. (2020). Overcoming Challenges in Corpus Construction: The Spoken British National Corpus 2014. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lu, X., Casal, J. E., & Liu, Y. (2020). The rhetorical functions of syntactically complex sentences in social science research article introductions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 441, 100832–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyman, B. G., & Collins, M. D. (1990). Critical reading: A redefinition. Reading Research and Instruction, 29(3), 56–63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ma, Q., Yuan, R., Cheung, L. M. E., & Yang, J. (2022). Teacher paths for developing corpus-based language pedagogy: a case study, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ma, R. & Qin, X. (2017). Individual factors influencing citation competence in L2 academic writing, Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Macalister, J. (2007). Implementing extensive reading in an EAP programme. ELT Journal, 62(3), 248–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Implementing extensive reading in an EAP programme. ELT Journal, 62(3), 248–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markos, A. & Buss, R. R. (2022). Using mentor texts to develop disciplinary literacy of scholarly practitioners through dissertations in practice. Impacting Education, 7(1), 9–15.
Mickan, P. (2017). Text-based research and teaching from a social semiotic perspective: Transformative research and pedagogy. In P. Mickan and E. Lopez (Eds.). Text-based Research and Teaching: A Social Semiotic Perspective on Language in Use. pp. 15–36. Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moon, R. (1998). Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: A Corpus-based Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mur Dueñas, P. (2011). A corpus-based analysis of two crucial steps in business management research articles: The creation of a research space and the statement of limitations. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 11(1), 55–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mur-Dueñas, P. (2012). A corpus-based analysis of two crucial steps in Business Management research articles: The creation of a research space and the statement of limitations. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 11(1), 55–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nelson, T. S., & Albakry, M. (2020). Building a Corpus-Based Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Model in University Reading Support Courses. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 51(1), 17–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nelson, T. S. & Albakry, M. (2021). Building a corpus-based interdisciplinary vocabulary model in university reading support courses, Journal of College Reading and Learning, 51(1), 17–33, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ng, Q. R., Renandya, W. A., & Chong, M. Y. C. (2019). Extensive reading: Theory, research, and implementation. TEFLIN, 3(2), 171–186. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nhapulo, M. A., Simon, E. & Van Herreweghe, M. (2017). Enhancing academic reading skills through extensive reading, Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 35(1), 17–40, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (1999). Enhancing the quality and credibility of qualitative analysis. HSR: Health Service Research, 34(5), 1189–1208.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peels, R., & Bouter, L. (2023). Replication and trustworthiness, Accountability in Research, 30(2), 77–87, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poole, R. (2020). “Corpus can be tricky”: revisiting teacher attitudes towards corpus-aided language learning and teaching. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(7), 1620–1641. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). “Corpus can be tricky”: revisiting teacher attitudes towards corpus-aided language learning and teaching, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(7), 1620–1641, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reynolds, B. L. (2015). Helping Taiwanese graduate students help themselves: Applying corpora to industrial management English as a foreign language academic reading and writing, Computers in the Schools, 32(3–4), 300–317, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ro, E. (2016). Exploring teachers’ practices and students’ perceptions of the extensive reading approach in EAP reading classes. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 221, 32–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tribble, C., & Wingate, U. (2013). From text to corpus — A genre-based approach to academic literacy instruction. System, 41(2), 307–321. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wahyudi, R. (2017). The generic structure of the call for papers of predatory journals: A social semiotic perspective. In P. Mickan and E. Lopez (Eds.). Text-based Research and Teaching: A Social Semiotic Perspective on Language in Use. pp. 117–136. Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wald, N., Harland, T., & Daskon, C. (2024). The gap statement and justification in higher education research: an analysis of published articles, European Journal of Higher Education, 14(2), 308–323, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Y., & Lu, X. (2023). Conceptualizing corpus-based genre pedagogy as usage-inspired second language instruction. Corpus-based Studies across Humanities, 1(1), 133–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ward, B., Collet, V., & Eilers, L. (2021). Using published authors as mentors to teach grammatical conventions. Research Papers in Education, 37(5), 667–685. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilcox, B., Morrison, T. G., & Oaks, D. D. (1999). Computer corpora and authentic texts: Toward more effective language teaching, Literacy Research and Instruction, 38(4), 415–423, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yafele, S. (2021). Translanguaging for academic reading at a South African university, Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 39(4), 404–424, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zare, J. & Delavar, K. A. (2023). A Data-driven Learning Focus on Form Approach to Academic English Lecture Comprehension, Applied Linguistics, 44(3), 485–504, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue