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Corpus-Informed Instruction and Its Impact On Academic Writing Proficiency in Tertiary Institutions
Subject area: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities · Area of research: Language
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I12-1718830
Abstract
Academic writing proficiency remains a significant challenge among undergraduate students in tertiary institutions, particularly in contexts where English serves as a second language. This study investigated the impact of corpus-informed instruction on students’ academic writing proficiency in tertiary institutions. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design involving 80 undergraduate students selected from two intact academic writing classes. Forty students constituted the experimental group and received corpus-informed instruction through the use of corpus tools, concordance analysis, and data-driven learning activities, while forty students in the control group received conventional writing instruction. Data were collected using academic writing tests administered before and after a twelve-week instructional intervention and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. The findings revealed that students exposed to corpus-informed instruction achieved significantly higher academic writing scores than those receiving traditional instruction. The experimental group recorded an increase in mean score from 52.48 to 76.83, while the control group improved from 51.96 to 61.25. Results of the paired-sample t-test showed a significant improvement in the academic writing performance of the experimental group (t = 15.64, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the independent-sample t-test indicated a significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups (t = 9.94, p < 0.05). The study also found that corpus-informed instruction enhanced students’ lexical sophistication, collocational accuracy, coherence, and rhetorical organization. In addition, participants reported positive perceptions toward the use of corpus tools in academic writing instruction. The study concludes that corpus-informed instruction is a highly effective pedagogical approach for improving academic writing proficiency among undergraduate students. It recommends the integration of corpus-based learning activities into academic writing curricula and the provision of training for instructors in corpus-informed pedagogy.
Keywords
Corpus-Informed Instruction, Academic Writing Proficiency, Corpus Linguistics, Data-Driven Learning, Lexical Sophistication, Tertiary Institutions.
How to cite this paper
@article{1718830,
author = {Landi Amos Gideon},
title = {Corpus-Informed Instruction and Its Impact On Academic Writing Proficiency in Tertiary Institutions},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {12},
pages = {1349-1359},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1718830.pdf},
abstract = {Academic writing proficiency remains a significant challenge among undergraduate students in tertiary institutions, particularly in contexts where English serves as a second language. This study investigated the impact of corpus-informed instruction on students’ academic writing proficiency in tertiary institutions. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design involving 80 undergraduate students selected from two intact academic writing classes. Forty students constituted the experimental group and received corpus-informed instruction through the use of corpus tools, concordance analysis, and data-driven learning activities, while forty students in the control group received conventional writing instruction. Data were collected using academic writing tests administered before and after a twelve-week instructional intervention and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. The findings revealed that students exposed to corpus-informed instruction achieved significantly higher academic writing scores than those receiving traditional instruction. The experimental group recorded an increase in mean score from 52.48 to 76.83, while the control group improved from 51.96 to 61.25. Results of the paired-sample t-test showed a significant improvement in the academic writing performance of the experimental group (t = 15.64, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the independent-sample t-test indicated a significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups (t = 9.94, p < 0.05). The study also found that corpus-informed instruction enhanced students’ lexical sophistication, collocational accuracy, coherence, and rhetorical organization. In addition, participants reported positive perceptions toward the use of corpus tools in academic writing instruction. The study concludes that corpus-informed instruction is a highly effective pedagogical approach for improving academic writing proficiency among undergraduate students. It recommends the integration of corpus-based learning activities into academic writing curricula and the provision of training for instructors in corpus-informed pedagogy.},
keywords = {Corpus-Informed Instruction, Academic Writing Proficiency, Corpus Linguistics, Data-Driven Learning, Lexical Sophistication, Tertiary Institutions.},
month = {June},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I12-1718830}
}