INVESTIGATING STUDENT MOTIVATION IN THE USE OF CORPUS CONCORDANCING IN ESP LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Abstract

This article is the qualitative part of a broader research project focusing on teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) via corpus concordancing in a university. A corpus of ten million words was assembled containing texts from the domains of Special Education, General Academic English, and General English. A corpus teaching method (CTM) was compared and contrasted to a traditional teaching method (TTM) in terms of student motivation. I particularly explored what it is that motivates mixed-ability level university students when involved in corpus concordancing compared and contrasted with existing traditional learning practice. Data collection procedures to estimate motivation were item analysis of a motivational questionnaire, an open-ended survey, and a corpus style analysis of the survey. Important features were demonstrated that motivate or demotivate students of three ability levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) when following CTM or TTM. A major finding was that a substantial proportion of beginners suggested corpora be used in learning vocabulary, ascribing high motivational value to it. While this proportion is smaller than those with the other two student ability levels, it suggests they do wish to use corpora in learning vocabulary despite being cautious. Finally, some teaching implications are provided to be considered by ESP teachers at university level. English for specific purposes, corpus concordancing, motivation, corpus teaching, data-driven learning. © 2022. All Rights Reserved.