Reducing fossilization among advanced language learners through introspection, online corpora, and targeted exercise
Academic Year:
2010 - 2011 (June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011)
Funding Requested:
$2,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
Overview of the Project:
The goal of the proposal is to find my participation as a presenter at the AILA [International Association of Applied Linguistics] World Congress in Beijing at the end of August 2011. The workshop is part of the Learner Autonomy in Language Learning strand. The focus of the workshop will be on identifying difficulty areas that advanced language learners have and showing how the use of freely available online language corpora (e.g. MICASE/MICUSP, COCA) can help learners decide which forms to use based on native speaker preferences. Presenting at AILA provides an exceptional professional development opportunity: (1) I will be able to use materials developed for the workshop in my classes; (2) as I become more proficient using the online corpora myself, I will be better able to guide my students in their use; (3) I will gain experience converting my materials to PowerPoint and incorporating online links into the presentation; (4) I will be immersed for one week in the most current key issues in the field of Applied Linguistics; (5) I will be able to network with applied linguists and English language teachers from around the world; and (6) experiencing the Chinese language and culture will enrich my experience as a teaching at the ELI, where most students in my classes are from China.