ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how corpora can be used to help teachers and researchers address the development of speaking skills for second language learners. The chapter begins with a discussion of how spoken corpora have been used to investigate both the description and development of language knowledge (e.g., grammar and lexis) as well as issues related to language use/ability (e.g., pronunciation and pragmatics). The following section examines current research in these areas by providing a description of six spoken learner corpora and specific studies that have used these corpora. Next, the chapter includes a discussion of how corpus design impacts research into investigation of both language knowledge and language use. Three representative studies which highlight some of the current issues related to corpora and speaking skills are then presented. The chapter ends with a view toward the future of research in this area, including a list of recommended resources for further exploration of speaking skills and corpora.
