A corpus-based analysis of patterned structures and semantic types used by learners of English

Buse Uzuner; Ali Şükrü Özbay; Ceyhun Yükselir

Authors

Buse Uzuner Bahcesehir University (Corresponding author) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9661-3164
Ali Şükrü Özbay Karadeniz Technical University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3421-0650
Ceyhun Yükselir Osmaniye Korkut Ata University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4781-3183

Keywords:

Corpus Analysis, Learner Corpora, Verb-noun patterns, Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis, Corpus Pattern Analysis

Agencies: This work was supported by the Office of Scientific Research Projects of Karadeniz Technical University. Project number: SYL-2023-10667. This work is based on the first author’s Master’s thesis titled “A corpus analysis of learner English from different backgrounds: Investigating verb-noun patterns through the pattern dictionary of English verbs”, which is accessible via National Thesis Center at https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/

Abstract

The use of patterned structures by language learners of different native language backgrounds needs to be investigated to better understand the degree of formulaicity. This mixed-method study investigates how EFL learners with Turkish, Japanese, and Norwegian L1s use verb-noun patterns in argumentation compared to native speakers of English. Data was obtained from the International Corpus of Learner English (version 3), which include essays written by university students with diverse L1 backgrounds and the LOCNESS, a native corpus. The research was conducted between Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 as part of a Master’s thesis. Using Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) and Corpus Pattern Analysis (CPA), the study reveals that accept and allow are statistically significant for further qualitative examination. The qualitative findings indicate inconsistent usage patterns for Turkish and Norwegian learners, while Turkish and Japanese learners showed more consistency. These results highlight the importance of raising learners’ awareness of verb-noun patterns. One pedagogical implication is that teaching materials could integrate verb-noun collocations to enhance formulaic competence in academic writing.

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Author Biographies

Buse Uzuner, Bahcesehir University (Corresponding author)

English Language Instructor at Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye. She is also PhD student in English Language Education programme at the same university. She holds MA in Applied Linguistics and BA in English Language and Literature. Her research interests include corpus linguistics, academic writing, teacher and learner psychology.

Ali Şükrü Özbay, Karadeniz Technical University

Ph.D. from the English Language and Literature department of KTU. His main areas of interest include corpus linguistics and learner corpora, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, translation studies, academic writing and error analysis and phraseology. He has published research articles and book chapters on corpus linguistics, phraseology, data driven learning, meta-discourse, semantic prosody and lexical priming. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özbay is currently the departmental coordinator of Erasmus Exchange Programs and a faculty member at Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.

Ceyhun Yükselir, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University

Professor of English Language Teaching at the Department of English Language and Literature, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Türkiye. His research interests include teacher education, reflective teaching, learner autonomy, technology integration in EFL classes, and applied linguistics with an ELT focus.

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