Benefits of Using Corpus-based 
      References (CBRs)
       CBRs offer authentic text examples from a variety of genres.
       CBRs integrate grammar and vocabulary learning by presenting
       common patterns (e.g., collocations, chunks).
       CBRs promote inductive learning through noticing and discovery.
       Writers can compare patterns of language use in their own  texts 
       to patterns produced by native speakers.
       In developing materials, instructors can discover patterns
       they are not aware of or may not have thought of otherwise!
             
                              
       Challenges of Using CBRs for L2 
       Writing Instruction 
        Authentic examples may be too complex.
        Data shown may not be pedagogically relevant.
        Students can get overwhelmed by “raw data” (e.g., 
         long concordance strings with insufficient context).
        Some available exercises based on CBRs either too 
         complex or too simple for levels of your students. 
        Available exercises may not be directly related to 
         your students’ writing tasks or needs.
        Creating materials can be time-consuming for 
         teachers.
               
                                     
       Addressing Challenges
       In general: Guide students’ use of CBRs through 
         tutorials, exercises and/or adaptation of data.
           Specific Steps:
       Identify common error patterns (grammatical, 
         lexical, lexico-grammatical) in academic writing 
         for your student population in general or a class.
       Respond to questions your students raise about 
         grammar or vocabulary as they work on drafts.
               
                                      
       Addressing Challenges, cont.
       Consider what areas of grammar and vocabulary 
         are best explored by students through CBRs  
         (e.g., article usage, prepositions in phrases 
         commonly used for academic writing, word 
         forms, adjective-noun collocations, syntactic 
         structures after reporting verbs)
       Consider which kind of CBR (dictionary, 
         collocations dictionary, concordancer) might be 
         most appropriate
               
                                     
       Example 1:
        Adapting an Exercise
       Source: Subject-verb agreement exercise in Tim Johns’ 
          Virtual DDL Library
           Steps:
        Select examples that are most relevant
           meaningful for your students
        Delete surrounding text for focus
        Rewrite directions as needed