Combining learner corpora and experimental methods

Gilquin, Gaëtanelle [UCL]

This chapter deals with the combined use of learner corpus data and experimental data to gain a better understanding of learner language and how it is acquired. It presents the advantages of such a combination and some of its challenges. It also describes the experimental methods that have most often been combined with learner corpus analyses. Examples of studies that have successfully combined learner corpus data and experimental data are provided. The chapter advocates the use of more – and more diversified – multimethod approaches and suggests that this could contribute to the theoretical rapprochement between learner corpus research and second language acquisition.