ghoti

How to make a frequency word list in AntConc

First open some files. To make a word list: load files; click on the ‘Word List’ tab, and; click ‘Start’. The list in ordered by most frequent first. Types with the same frequency are ordered alphabetically within. Total number of types and tokens are shown between the tabs and work window.
What has Zen got to do with English language teaching?

Everything. “Revisiting” my master in Zen on YouTube the other day I was compelled to think about what it means to be a language student and how it relates to Zen. It seems to me many of the students I teach unnecessarily limit themselves with a psychological barrier – they believe they will never achieve…
Posters and Infobesity

Do you have an infobesity problem? Here at the Corpora Institute we have the solutions. For more information see this website or a paper app poster near you.
Manage your extensive reading lending library with BookBuddy

Do you run an extensive reading (ER) course? Do you have trouble keeping track of book in your lending library? If you said yes, to both questions then this may be the solution for you. BookBuddy 4.0 is an iPhone and iPad, iPod Touch app. Features include: barcode scanning online ISBN search and save backup…
Learning languages: the importance of motivation, repetition, authenticity, proportion of time

Yesterday’s Hiroshima JALT monthly meet was a good one. Four non-native speakers of English talked about their experience and how they went about learning the language. One point was common to all four speakers: motivation. And three of the speakers had repetition and authentic material use as a commonality. Motivation is ultimately a most factor…
Do Japanese really need compulsory English?

In today’s Daily Yomiuri there was an article about the results from a survey of 3,225 middle school students on their perception about English. The survey conducted by the National Institute for educational Policy Research found only eleven percent of students want to find work which requires English. But seventy percent also said they believed…
Thinking about writing an etextbook

Thinking about writing a textbook? Then why not write an etextbook. Apple has released iBook Author to help people write their own books for the iBook and iPad. Haven’t tried it yet but will in the near future to give an update.
Three things Tokyo University students have in common

I was reminded by Stephen Krashen’s post on reading, access to books, and school performance about the three things Tokyo University students have that help them get into the University – bookshelves (with books of course, and the more the better), a globe (to help them see the world differently (or is it correctly)), and…
Occupy – the trek from a verb to a compound proper noun

One of the key words of 2011 was ‘occupy’, or to be exact Occupy X. It is said to have begun in New York in September but was inspired by the Arab Spring and camp protests in Spain in May. Words have the ability to fill a space in a language’s lexicon if one is…
Respect for teachers – Japan at the bottom of the heap

According to a quiz question on Sekai no Hate Made Itte Q (The Quiz Show that Goes to the Ends of the Earth [for answers]) Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, The Philippines and Romania rank first (with 100%) as countries in which their tecahers are respected most by their students. Second was Italy and Third was…