Can you see what is missing? printed corpus-based teaching materials can help out with identifying l2 english substitution and ellipsis

Abstract

One of the inspirational forms of integrating technology into Second Language (L2) teaching is using 'corpora'. In this study, corpora were used to develop printed instructional materials to teach grammatical cohesive devices that are not sufficiently represented in L2 English course books. Specifically, the aim was to understand whether the indirect Data-Driven Learning (DDL) application through teacher-prepared corpus-based materials could help out 56 learners with identifying L2 English substitution and ellipsis and also how they would reflect on their experiences by studying with such sources. The change in the learners' proficiencies was measured by comparing their pre and post test scores. In addition, the learners wrote reflections. These reflections were thematically analyzed. Results indicated that the learners improved their skills in identifying L2 English substitution and ellipsis. Considering the subcategories of substitution and ellipsis, it was found that the highest levels of development were observed in substitution clauses and ellipsis verbs. Reflections showed that the learners benefitted from using the printed materials in the learning of the structures. However, they also revealed some pitfalls, such as text difficulty and a lack of thematic cohesion. Some practical suggestions were discussed to promote L2 English learning through printed corpus-based teaching materials.