Incorporating corpus literacy skills into TESOL teacher training

Abstract

This study is an attempt to explore TESOL trainee teachers’ attitudes towards a corpus literacy component added to a grammar course on a teacher training programme. The main premise behind the investigation is that, before we can reasonably expect ESL teachers to embrace the idea of using corpora in their teaching, they need to develop their corpus literacy skills during their teacher training programmes. The research was carried out to evaluate the amount of time, resources, and support such an endeavour would require. It also offers a description of the course design, which can be easily modified to fit a variety of educational contexts and teacher training programmes. Finally, the discussion of the survey findings highlights the trainee teachers’ perspectives on their experiences of using corpora, and the potential and possible problems of using such an integrated approach to teacher training course design.