The English Teacher Corpus (ETC) is a spoken learner corpus that includes spontaneous and semi-spontaneous speech tasks performed by Czech teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL). These tasks include monologues, dialogues, picture-based narratives, reading assignments, and interviews conducted in the teachers’ native language (L1). The corpus also has a reference counterpart featuring native English teachers based in the Czech Republic, mirroring the ETC’s structure and task design. The ETC as it stands contains 12.5 hours of recorded and transcribed text, with 76,122 tokens for the L2 (Czech teachers) and 31,898 tokens for the L1 (native English teachers) subcorpus.
ETC represents a pioneering project as it is the first of its kind to compile a spoken learner corpus specifically focused on EFL teachers’ language use. This innovative endeavour provides an unprecedented resource for the empirical study of teacher language and teacher language proficiency (TLP), offering valuable insights into the linguistic characteristics and pedagogical implications of the English used by non-native and native EFL teachers alike. By filling a significant research gap, the ETC sets a new standard for corpus-based studies in applied linguistics and teacher education.
What are its aims?
The aims of the ETC are multifaceted but primarily include:
To fill the gap in the understanding of the linguistic parameters of English used by EFL teachers, which is a primary source of English exposure for students.
To engage L2 teacher-trainees in the process of corpus compilation as part of their pre-service university teacher training, providing them with practical experience and insights into their future profession.
To provide a comprehensive understanding of teacher language proficiency (TLP) and its impact on learners’ language acquisition and the quality of instruction.
Our initial analyses show a relatively high degree of teacher language proficiency approximately at levels C1 and C1+.
