A language corpus is a collection of language texts, which can be both written and transcribed spoken, that is usually stored as a text file on a computer or a web server. The plural form of corpus is corpora. Often a concordancing program is used to search the corpus for language use patterns which can be helpful in language teaching and learning. The theoretical underpinnings of using corpora in the classroom can be attributed to the early work of Hymes (1966) and later Canale and Swain (1980) and Canale (1983) in their Communicative Competence models and usage-based approaches to second language learning and pedagogy (see Tyler, 2010). These approaches are based on the idea that the primary purpose for learning language is communication and using real target language in the classroom should be central to classroom language instruction. Coupled with this approach is the multidimensional nature of real language use and the various ways in which language forms connect to language meanings. Corpus-based pedagogy helps the learners understand and work through sometimes subtle meaning differences in language structure. This presentation focuses on the development of an OER corpus which can be used in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms for teaching and materials development. The OER-EAP corpus was created by the presenter using OpenStax academic texts and is freely available for EAP teachers and linguistic researchers.
