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This paper uses corpus data to analyse spoken expressions and discourse markers in Czech, applying these findings to corpus-based exercises for learners of Czech as a foreign language. The analytical section highlights the usefulness of parallel corpus in identifying suitable translation equivalents for prevalent Czech spoken vocabulary in English, French, and Polish as native languages from the learner’s perspective. The methodology outlines the process of finding appropriate translation equivalents in film subtitles, considering both meaning and spoken register. The pedagogical section introduces three corpus-based exercises designed to improve conversational skills, featuring authentic texts that familiarise learners with spoken vocabulary. This research builds on previous studies of the English language that did not use parallel corpora to identify translation equivalents in learners’ native languages — an essential factor for understanding a foreign language. In addition, tailor-made corpus-based exercises can be seamlessly integrated into everyday classroom activities to enhance language awareness among non-native speakers.

This contribution introduces the Swiss learner corpus SWIKO and provides examples on how this rich and near-authentic collection can be utilized in foreign language education, while also addressing some critical issues that corpus linguistic applications face in pedagogical contexts. SWIKO is a multilingual corpus currently being developed at the Institute of Multilingualism in Fribourg. The corpus contains written and spoken productions by Swiss lower secondary school students, both in their language of schooling and foreign languages learnt at school (English, French, and German). Participating students completed eight communicative tasks which systematically vary by rhetorical type (descriptive or argumentative), topic (personal or academic), and structure (more or less restrictive input). The resulting productions were analysed with a focus on linguistic features (e.g., Karges et al., 2022) and in relation to human ratings according to the levels of the CEFR (e.g., Studer & Hicks, 2022). Based on our findings, we present two scenarios on how SWIKO can be used in educational settings, i.e., teacher training and material development. First, the productions can serve as an illustration of learners’ abilities at the end of mandatory schooling. Our findings show how the length, complexity, and accuracy of learner texts heavily depend on the task, which can be addressed in teacher training. Second, an analysis of frequent errors in foreign language productions can shed light on challenging structures, while the language of schooling sub-corpus can serve as a peer-reference in the development of corresponding material. We exemplify this process focusing on negation in German, offering differentiated teaching material suitable for the secondary school classroom.

Despite considerable discussion in the literature (Flowerdew & Peacock, 2001; Hyland, 1998; Tang, 2012) competent English academic writing is still a problem which needs to be solved. English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching often focuses on specialized lexis, which may, however, be the area where academic writers need least help. The study of a small corpus of C2 level academic writing which consisted of the sub-genres of summary and discussion writing revealed that one key area which is problematic is collocation. This paper presents the results of this small corpus investigation into learner language and how it informed the classroom implementation of data-driven learning (DDL) to increase learner awareness of and ability to use collocations effectively in written academic English. The article briefly describes the corpus and the resulting teaching procedure adopted. The first step of this procedure is familiarization followed by experimentation using Sketch Engine (SkeLL).

MONOGRAFÍA: ENSEÑANZA DE LA GRAMÁTICA EN ELE: RESULTADOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN Y NUEVAS PROPUESTAS Este artículo tiene por objeto reflexionar sobre los usos del pretérito perfecto compuesto en el ámbito de la enseñanza y aprendizaje del español, contexto en el que se tiende a simplificar la dimensión real de los tiempos del pasado y donde suele ignorarse la variación existente en su uso. Para ello, presentaremos los resultados de un análisis basado en datos provenientes del Corpus de aprendices de español (Rojo y Palacios, 2014). Tras una descripción sociolingüística de los fenómenos de variación a los que están sujetos las formas del pasado en el español actual, describiremos sus efectos en el ámbito del español no nativo, examinando un total de 2228 contextos en que los estudiantes de español del corpus utilizan el pretérito perfecto en tareas de expresión escrita. A través de un análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo, nos interrogaremos sobre las causas de los usos encontrados para entender su distribución, el grado de corrección en el empleo de las formas, la coherencia contextual, así como otras implicaciones aspectuales o estilísticas que se puedan extraer, y que no necesariamente reflejen la manera en que se enseñan y se categorizan los tiempos verbales del pasado en libros de texto, planes de enseñanza y exámenes. ABSTRACT In this article, I carry out a detailed analysis of some of the linguistic features of the Spanish pretérito perfecto compuesto (present perfect tense) in order to show its implications within the Spanish Second Language teaching and learning context, where this particular tense is usually explained in a very simplistic way. I will present the results of the analysis of the present perfect tense using a data-driven methodology, analysing data from a Spanish learner’s corpus, the Corpus de aprendices de español (Rojo & Palacios 2014). After having described the unstable sociolinguistic landscape of the present perfect in the Spanish-speaking world nowadays, I will track the effects of grammar variation in the context of Spanish language learning by examining 2,228 sentences that Spanish students have written using the present perfect. With this analysis, I aim to study some morphological features and aspectual representations to explore quantitative and qualitative differences between native and non-native uses of this particular tense and aspect. The results of this analysis will help us understand that the use of the target language by the learners contradicts some beliefs, learning processes and contents that are generally associated to the grammar structures that teachers of Spanish normally deal with in textbooks, language reference curricula and assessments

La mancanza di competenze nel linguaggio accademico-disciplinare costituisce spesso un ostacolo alla mobilità degli studenti. Questo è particolarmente vero nel campo dell’Architettura e delle Costruzioni (AC), in cui il percorso formativo comprende una serie di sotto-domini tecnici che sono spesso definiti da pratiche professionali, tradizioni culturali e quadri giuridici specifici di un dato paese. Con l’obiettivo di favorire la partecipazione ai programmi di scambio, il progetto Erasmus+ SEAH (Sharing European Architectural Heritage: Innovative language teaching tools for academic and professional mobility in Architecture and Construction) mira a creare corpora specializzati nel campo dell’AC e moduli linguistici open access basati sui suddetti corpora in lingua francese, tedesca, italiana, russa e spagnola. Il contributo presenta il quadro teorico di riferimento, le metodologie e le finalità del progetto SEAH, soffermandosi sui criteri e sulle procedure generali del corpus design, con esemplificazioni della compilazione e impiego dei corpora per la lingua spagnola, italiana e russa.

This paper argues for an approach to LSP in which teachers and students compile their own do-it-yourself corpora using specialised texts in their area of study and teaching. I show that it is relatively easy to build a rough and ready corpus of this type and illustrate how it can be used both indirectly in the construction of materials forGerman reading course and directly by EAP students taking a course on editing doctoral theses. It is suggested that both LSP teachers and students can benefit from such a corpus due its specificity and relevance to their needs. For teachers, a DIY corpus provides a means of familiarising themselves with the discourse of a specialised area and a source of authentic examples for materials production, while students particularly value the corpusa lexico-grammatical reference resource.

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Two techniques are examined for teaching 10 Phrasal Verbs (PVs) to two groups of university students: dictionary presentation and concordance-based Data-Driven Learning (DDL). After checking their prior knowledge, 5 PVs were introduced via DDL, 5 via dictionary entries. The two techniques were compared, as well as the two groups of students, towards an assessment of DDL as a motivating and effective teaching aid. The results show that DDL can be a productive way to teach new lexical items and to consolidate old ones. The difference was statistically significant for the group which was smaller in size, more mature and working with corpus samples on screen rather than on paper. DDL, independently of classroom attendance, was a positive aid, whereas dictionary presentation was detrimental for some of the verbs involved.