Teacher-student cooperation boosting grammar in the age of Big Data

Abstract

The article focuses on the new language teaching and learning strategies offered by the use of corpora-based method. It gives an insight into how a corpus-based research incorporated into English grammar classroom activities not only clarifies the debatable aspects of traditional grammar rules but challenges students to launch their own language investigation, enlarging their professional scope and contributing to the development of their general and linguistic competences. The background for the pedagogical experiment was the need for a shift in the teacher–student model of interaction. To prove the benefits of semi-independent student’s research, the article covers four research cases performed by 3rd year students at Moscow State Linguistic University under the guidance of their English grammar lecturers. While working at their respective tasks, the students tried their hand at a proper piece of scientific study and mastered their skills at a new research instrument. Corpus data obtained, they worked in cooperation with their lecturers to arrive at conclusions reviving textbook materials. Thus, the rules and tendencies verified were no longer offered to the class as ready-made answers. The results of the experiment foreground the positive effect of students’ getting access to novel technologies transforming the traditional roles assigned in class.