B9701 - WORKSHOP ON CORPUS-ASSISTED LITERARY STUDIES

Learning outcomes

The student knows the basic elements (terms, concepts, methods and techniques) necessary for the construction and analysis of literary text corpora; s/he is able to understand, analyze and evaluate the textual organization and stylistic aspects of simple literary texts in English; s/he is able to employ the knowledge gained through the empirical analysis of texts to develop guided reading activities and text comprehension exercises.

Course contents

The workshop is based on a collaboration with the French publishing house Bélin Education and involves the use of corpus-based  methods for the production of paratexts for school editions of classics of English literature to be included in the “Not So Classic” series, specifically short stories and novels by Arthur Conan Doyle.

The course focuses on two main applications of corpus-based methods, namely:
- Literary Analysis
- Language teaching and learning

The first sessions are devoted to perfecting the methodology, then, under the guidance of the lecturers (S. Bernardini, N. Tedesco), participants are invited to produce outputs related to literary analysis and learning activities based on the text under analysis.

Readings/Bibliography

Participants will read the texts by Arthur Conan Doyle which make the object of the analysis. Furthermore, the following texts may offer relevant contextualisation on the themes of corpora and language learning and literary analysis respectively:

On corpora and language learning:

• Beresova, J. (2015) Authentic Materials – Enhancing Language Acquisition and Cultural Awareness, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,Volume 192.
• Johansson, S. (2009). Some thoughts on corpora and second language acquisition. In K. Aijmer (Ed.), Corpora and language teaching (pp. 33-44). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/scl.33.05joh
• Krashen, S., 1989. We Acquire Vocabulary and Spelling by Reading: Additional Evidence for the Input Hypothesis. Modern Language Journal, 73, pp. 440-463.
• Osborne, J. (2000). What can students learn from a corpus?: building bridges between data and explanation, in Rethinking Language Pedagogy from a Corpus Perspective. Papers from the third international conference on Teaching and Language Corpora (ed. by Bounard, McEnery). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

On corpora and literary analysis:

• Biber, D. (2011). Corpus linguistics and the study of literature: Back to the future? Scientific study of literature, 1(1), 15-23
• Cheng, W., (2009). Using internal criteria to determine the aboutness of a text, in Corpora and Language Teaching (ed. by Aijmer). Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
• Hoey, M., 2007. ‘Lexical Priming and Literary Creativity’ in Text, Discourse and Corpora (ed. by Hoey et al.). London: Continuum.
• Mahlberg, M. (2007). Corpus stylistics: bridging the gap between linguistic and literary studies.Text, discourse and corpora: Theory and analysis,8, 219-246.
• Römer, U. (2006). Where the computer meets language, literature, and pedagogy: Corpus analysis in English studies.How Globalization Affects the Teaching of English: Studying Culture Through Texts, 81-109.

Other readings will be agreed upon based on the themes discussed during the workshop.

Teaching methods

Classes are organized as informal seminars and workshops to which participants are invited to actively contribute, bringing their own ideas and working with the data. They will carry out group projects, make proposals to be discusses in the workshop sessions and participate in discussions with the Bélin editor.

Assessment methods

Verification of learning will take place through coursework, by means of internal (peer and teacher) and external (publishing house) assessment of group work. The assessment will reflect both the quality of the work performed and the independence, autonomy and creativity demonstrated in carrying out the activities, as follows:

- Excellent work, performed with advanced levels of independence, autonomy and creativity: 27-30L

- Good-quality work, performed with adequate levels of independence, autonomy and creativity: 26-22

- Work of insufficient quality and/or performed with inadequate levels of independence, autonomy and creativity: Insufficient

Teaching tools

The workshop will take place in a computer laboratory, using computational tools for corpus analysis (Sketch Engine, NoSketch Engine, AntConc).

Office hours

See the website of Silvia Bernardini