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Corpora
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Corpora are large collections of (mainly) written material used by lexicographers to analyse frequency, word patterns and meaning. They usually have sophisticated search tools to glean as much information as possible from the data. Unfortunately access to corpora is often restricted. This short series of articles looks at ways in which teachers and students can explore words using corpus resources available on the Web. The Web is a great source of raw data. However exposure to a large amount of unedited material can be at best a bit daunting or at worst misleading for the learner. Media websites present a safer option: with a little digging around you can come up with enough authentic data to enable students to explore a word in some depth. As well as giving students a real feel for a word, they can practice the all important skill of getting meaning from context. Broadsheet newspapers such as The Guardian and The Telegraph are an up-to-the-minute source of new words, often including examples of words that have yet to reach the dictionaries. The BBC website is also a valuable source of both spoken and written material. Many newspapers charge a fee for searching their archives, although at the time of writing, the BBC, The Times, Telegraph, Scotsman and Guardian websites are free, although you have to register for some of them. The Guardian website includes an archive search where you can sort results in date order. The Times, Telegraph and Scotsman sites have simple search boxes on their homepages.
New words not in the dictionary The most popular new word of 2004 on the Macmillan English Dictionary resource site was metrosexual. The Guardian's archive search (with Sort by Date selected) shows the last use was as recent as 27 March 2005, suggesting that it is still very much in use.
Meanings not in the dictionary Groundhog Day is a phrase whose meaning is clarified
by some media research. Most dictionaries describe it as an American tradition
that takes place every 2nd February. Tradition has it that the groundhog
emerges from hibernation on this day. If it sees its shadow, (i.e. if
the weather is sunny) it returns to its burrow and six weeks more winter
is forecast. If it doesn't see its shadow, then an early spring is predicted.
A search of the BBC and Guardian websites suggests that an alternative
meaning – based on the 1993
film about a weather forecaster trapped in the mind-numbing routine
of the same day – is more widely used. There is even an example of
Groundhog Day used as a verb:
Once you have a selection of sentences, as in the example above, get your students to answer questions like:
Students then work together to provide a definition, or a number of definitions, complete with register labels and an example sentence. While features such as collocation are not immediately obvious, this is an effective way to present new vocabulary. It is important that students focus on the word in question, get a feel for it and not worry about understanding every word in the extract. Links to UK media sites with free search facilities: News Voyager – links to newspaper websites around
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