ELT Journal Advance Access originally published online on March 12, 2008
ELT Journal 2009 63(1):23-32; doi:10.1093/elt/ccn011
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
Can a graded reader corpus provide ‘authentic’ input?
Rachel Allan has worked as an English language teacher in Asia and Europe, and is currently working in teacher education and research into vocabulary acquisition at the Applied Language Centre, University College Dublin, Ireland. The research reported was carried out as part of the Daedalus Vocabulary Acquisition Project
Email: Rachel_Allan{at}alc.ucd.ie
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Abstract |
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In addition to their intended purpose, graded reader texts can be made into a corpus appropriate for use with lower-level learners. Here I consider using such a corpus for data-driven learning (DDL), to make this approach more accessible to intermediate level students. However, how far does grading the corpus in this way compromise the authenticity of the language learners are exposed to? The simplified nature of such corpora may limit learners' exposure to lexical chunks, which are fundamental to the acquisition of natural and fluent language. This paper compares lexical chunks in graded corpora and the British National Corpus, examining frequency, type, and composition, to evaluate the ‘authenticity’ of graded input. Despite some differences, it is argued that the scale and type of lexical chunks are sufficient to provide input that reflects authentic language, suggesting that graded readers may offer an acceptable balance of accessibility and authenticity.