A corpus-based approach to ESL: Textbook and materials development and evaluation

Taking both the advantages and limitations of using a corpus-based approach in language learning into account, I make the claim that corpora are most suitably utilized only if they are used for the purpose of curriculum and textbook development and evaluation. I focus this claim by providing the results of three studies that I have conducted.; The first study provides evidence for one way that corpora may most effectively be utilized (based on empirical data) for the purpose of textbook evaluation. The second study focuses on the ways in which ESL teachers and researchers may develop textbooks based on information (e.g. idioms) gathered from simple corpus concordance searching in relevant corpora, and how to most effectively transform basic search results into communicative teaching materials. The third study focuses on the ways in which a corpus-based approach may be used for the purpose of materials development in an ESP classroom.; Each study is introduced with justifications based on prior research done on communicative teaching methods in ESL. Each study is concluded with further implications and elaboration on how language teachers can easily and most effectively use corpora in their classrooms.