Training L2 writers to reference corpora as a self-correction tool

Corpora have the potential to support the L2 writing process at the discourse level in contrast to the isolated dictionary entries that many intermediate writers rely on. To take advantage of this resource, learners need to be trained, which involves practising corpus research and referencing skills as well as learning to make data-based generalizations within the context of their own essays. This article reports on a corpus training module that was implemented in an intermediate-level EFL writing course and which taught students how to refer to corpora for the purpose of self-correcting teacher-coded errors. After reviewing the full training sequence, the article concludes with students’ reactions to the overall process. A major aim of this article is to guide teachers in preparing intermediate L2 writers for learner concordancing, so they can offer students an alternative reference to traditional dictionary searches.