DDL learning in ESP teaching: an exploratory study on multi-word unit usage in business letters

Abstract

The present research explores the potential benefits that corpus-based instruction might have on the acquisition and usage of multi-word units (MWUs) in business English. To that end, a data-driven learning (DDL) methodology was designed and implemented to teach such units to a group of 55 informants divided into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was taught about the usage of MWUs in business letter writing through the exposure and management of an ad hoc corpus of such expressions, while the control group went through the traditional sessions designed to that purpose. The comparison between the pre- and post-test results suggests that the experimental group excelled the control one in the proportion of correct MWUs used in their letters (48.19% of the units retrieved against 20.15%, respectively). On a qualitative level, the variety of MWUs used by the former was also greater, covering a larger number of functional categories than the control group, where we found almost 3/4 of the expressions falling under one single category. Finally, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was also run on the data related to individual achievement, pointing at the statistical significance (p≤0.001 for both groups) of the differences found on a global level and supporting our perception on the benefits of corpus-based instruction.