This tutorial contains various activities to help you get familiar with what you can learn from corpora, such as learning which prepositions to use after certain words, the difference between -ING and -ED words, the meanings of words and phrases and so on. 

Activities - you should look up ALL instances of these words (first do the basic search, which prints 40 instances taken at random, then click the link in the top right corner to show all instances)

Prepositions: 

What preposition can go in the spaces? (There may be more than one possible answer).

1. Interactive activities were organised to raise students' awareness _______ global warming.

 Look up 'awareness' with the basic search using the HKFSC.

Answer

2. A detailed study ________ energy efficiency is due out this week.

Look up 'study' (all instances) with the basic search using the HKEC. 

Answer

3. Banks must comply _______ the new rules or face stiff penalties.

Look up 'comply' with the basic search using the HKFSC. 

Answer

4. The office has employed an accounting firm to conduct a review ______ the NGOs.

Look up 'conduct' as first search word with 'review' as additional word using the basic search for the HKFSC. 

Answer

5. ...... independent organization whose concern _______ the welfare of the needy is very close to Towngas.

Look up 'concern' with the basic search using the HKFSC. 

Answer

6. To enhance the employees' knowledge ______ health and safety.

Look up 'knowledge' with the basic search using the HKFSC. 

Answer

7. The Director explained that the new procedures will be different ______ those currently used.

Look up 'different' with the basic search using the HKEC. 

Answer

8. Companies should set up proper procedures _______ dealing with complaints.

Look up 'procedures' with the basic search using the HKFSC. 

Answer

Collocation, colligation, semantic preference and semantic prosody:

The objectives of these exercises are:

• to search different parts of speech of a centred word

• to become skilful in reading and analyzing concordance lines

• to better understand collocation, colligation, semantic preference and semantic prosody

Collocation

9. Using the HKFSC basic search, what do you have the right to demand? (v + n)

Answer

10. There is a growing demand ______ investment products focusing on China.

Look up 'demand' with the basic search using the HKFSC (v + p).

Answer

11. Using the HKFSC basic search, what are the other most common right collocates for demand?

Answer (sample)

12. Using the HKFSC basic search, what kinds of 'evidence' (a + * + 'evidence'), ('evidence' + * + a), ('evidence' + p + n) are there?

Answer (sample)

13. Using the HKEC basic search, what can be vast? ('vast' + n)

Answer (sample)

Colligation

Colligation is a type of collocation, but where a lexical item is linked to a grammatical one. It indicates how the word typically behaves grammatically, and what the grammatical patterning/meaning correlations are.

14. Search for the word 'evidence' using the HKEC basic search and list the main word patterns (eg n + p) which occur.

Answer (sample)

Semantic preference

'Sometimes in the structure of a phrase there is a clear preference for words of a particular meaning.  The word class is not important, and any word with the appropriate meaning will do (though there are often collocational patterns within semantic preference). While the majority of the choices will show the preference clearly, there may be a small number of marginal cases where the preferred meaning has to be interpreted in a rather elastic fashion, and some which appear to be exceptions' (Sinclair, 2004: 178).

15. Using the HKFSC advanced search, analyse the concordance lines for 'possibility/possibilities' and 'opportunity/opportunities'.  (Use the 'More searches' function, set the dropdown box to 'Starts with' and type 'possibilit' and 'opportunit' in the edit box. This will get both singular and plural forms.

Answer

Semantic Prosody

'A corpus enables us to see words grouping together to make special meanings that relate not so much to their dictionary meanings as to the reasons why they were chosen together. … it has been recognized in part as connotation, pragmatic meaning and attitudinal meaning. … a prosody is a meaningful event that is not necessarily located in a particular unit of expression, but may spread over several' (Sinclair, 2004: 178)

We can thus say that a 'semantic prosody' is a tendency for words to be co-selected with words that are semantically related to create an overall meaning.

16. Using the HKEC basic search, search for the word 'commit' and the phrase 'committed to' and describe how they differ in meaning based on their co-selections.

Answer

The Use of Metaphor:

A metaphor is an expression which describes a person or object in a literary way by referring to something that is considered to possess similar characteristics to the person or object you are trying to describe.

eg 'The mind is an ocean' and 'The city is a jungle'.

Mapping of business metaphors

 Mapping refers to a conceptual (mental) connection between the elements in one domain and elements is another domain.

17. Study the following concordance lines (from the HKFSC) and consider what metaphors are used and the concepts involved.

1     The Minimum and Maximum Partial Surrender Value are 10 per cent and 90 per cent of your
2            on the Company's current surrender value basis and current dividend scales, both of which
3           surrender period, if your surrender value is not lower than the minimum  surrender value
4       where the policy is partially surrendered or the monies are switched out from the Fund during
5         surrender. If the policy is surrendered within 12 months  from inception, the Surrender Value
6       yen as well as maturities and surrenders on the declining block of policies acquired from
7          account after the minimum  surrender period.

Answer (sample)

18. Study the following concordance lines for 'shrug'.  Which are used literally and which are used metaphorically?

1 I will resist the urge - at this point - to shrug my shoulders or throw up my hands in despair.
2 broadly higher in the month as investors shrugged off a further 25 basis points hike in US interest
3 markets made good progress in the month, shrugging off concerns about the US economy, as well as

Answer

19. Study the following concordance lines for 'plough' and for 'seed'.  Which are used literally and which are used metaphorically?

1    Benches that were viewed had just been ploughed after a  maize crop had been harvested.
2  from the property element, will first be ploughed back to develop the project. Only when the full
3    in Northern Asia, for example, will be ploughing increasing savings into institutionalized

1   investments arising from the sale of seed capital  holdings in 2004. Wealth and Tax Advisory
2     Cdn$319 million of segregated fund seed capital deposited this quarter. Funds under management
3  fresh fruit, fresh  vegetables, plant seed, fodder,  malt for wine production,  consumer
5  the provision of business mentors and seed funds, this programme presents a perfect
6     Programme two years ago to provide seed money on a matching basis of up to 2 million dollars
7       this first fruit and replant its seeds for a much larger harvest.  When I noticed the stock
8  this misdirected response carries the seeds of danger too. Every year as we in the Administration,

Answer

The corpus-driven approach to language learning:

20. Using the HKFSC basic search, analyse the concordance lines for 'incurred'.  Based on the words which appear as the objects or subjects of 'incurred',  what can you say is the semantic preference of 'incurred'?

Answer

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