Using Computer Concordancing for the Learning of French as a Second Language

Abstract

The present thesis describes an experiment in the use of computer concordancers with undergraduates learning French as a second language in the United Kingdom. The main hypothesis to be tested by the project was that working with a concordancer would make students more autonomous as well as enrich their learning experience. Evaluation of this hypothesis would focus on student reaction rather than on actual results and would require qualitative data based upon the students’ own assessment of the value of the concordancer and the level of autonomy achieved. The original intention was that students should use the software themselves to create their own concordances which they would then analyse, individually or in groups, as part of a process of personal rule derivation, in order to make them more autonomous as language learners. Technical problems and the reluctance of the students to adopt the learning methods proposed meant that the experiment could not be completed as originally conceived. The original student-centred approach was then replaced by a more tutor-centred approach leading to a much greater integration of computer generated concordances into course materials used in the teaching of French to first and second year undergraduates. The description of the experiment is preceded by a survey of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), language teaching methodology and the various uses of concordancers in language teaching in order to provide a context for an evaluation of the experiment. In the conclusion, the experiment is evaluated both in terms of its own outcomes and in the framework of other research into the use of concordancers and the encouragement of autonomous learning.