Corpora and New Technologies in the Linguistics Classroom: A Pedagogical Use of a Clause Pattern Database

Several corpus-based studies have suggested that the observation of real instances of language production is a valuable methodological approach in the description of language. In this respect, the use of computer technology tools has recently become commonplace in the teaching and learning of second and foreign languages. This paper presents the pedagogical use of a clause pattern database which has been designed as a resource to create corpus-based teaching materials to be applied in the linguistics classroom. More specifically, the Clause Pattern Database (CPDB) provides a wide representative sample of clause patterns in context. The task derived from it and described in this paper illustrates the effectiveness of the CPDB as a methodological tool that contributes not only to improving students' understanding of the mechanisms of English syntax but also to integrating new information and communication technologies (NICTs) in the linguistics classroom.