Exploring Emerging Issues in Corpus Applications in ELT: A Systematic Review

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 2, 1 - 19

Gamze Emir , Nesli Çiğdem Saral

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.25.16.12.2

Abstract

The incorporation of corpora into language education has garnered a substantial amount of interest particularly within the context of second language and foreign language settings, with regard to language skills, components, and the teacher development. This systematic review explored emerging issues in corpus applications in English Language Teaching (ELT) by examining thirty-eight studies published in prominent journals from 2016 to 2023. In this review, the corpus studies were analysed with reference to the focused research topics, methodological design they employed, and the major findings that were presented. This systematic review provided valuable insights into the current state of corpus applications in ELT. The findings identified a predominance of quantitative research designs, highlighting a need for more qualitative and longitudinal studies to fully understand the dynamics of corpus use in language teaching and learning. Key findings revealed that while corpus applications as a Data-Driven Learning (DDL) tool enhanced learners’ vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, and pragmatic skills, there was limited focus on teachers’ interaction with corpora. Increasing teachers’ corpus literacy and fostering collaborative learning were found to be critical for teachers’ effective integration of corpus tools into classroom practice. The review underscored the importance of comprehensive training and support for teachers to maximize the potential of corpus-based pedagogy.

Keywords

corpora, corpus applications, data-driven learning, English language teaching and learning

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