EXPLORING PARALLEL CONCORDANCING

EXPLORING PARALLEL CONCORDANCING IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE

This paper investigates the value of computer technology as a medium for the delivery of
parallel texts in English and Chinese for language learning. An English-Chinese parallel
corpus was created for use in parallel concordancing -- a technique which has been
developed to respond to the desire to study language in its natural contexts of use.
Specific problems of dealing with Chinese characters in concordancing are discussed. A
computer program called English-Chinese Parallel Concordancer was developed for this
research. The operation of the program is demonstrated through screen shots. The
pedagogical application of parallel concordancing in English and Chinese is illustrated
through examples from some teaching and learning experiments, and the Data-Driven
Learning approach is applied and explored. It is hoped that parallel concordancing in
English and Chinese will become a useful and popular tool for both English and Chinese
learners in their second language learning.