Corpus-based Research and Romanian Teachers of EFL. Examining Key Aspects of English Usage

The present paper seeks to highlight the way in which online corpora of English can be employed by Romanian teachers as a valuable tool which provides significant insights into key aspects of English usage. In this respect, the paper will focus on the BYU corpora (https://corpus. byu. edu/corpora. asp) and on the way in which Romanian teachers of EFL at an advanced level can be encouraged to make use of these widely available corpora, turning them into valuable research and teaching resources. In order to illustrate the way in which the BYU corpora can become a useful resource for Romanian teachers, the paper focuses on a key aspect concerning the usage of English, the frequency of and variation between the phrases didn't use to/didn't used to. The issue of employing didn't use to versus didn't used to is a challenging aspect in the teaching of English for upper intermediate/advanced learners, with a number of prescriptive grammars listing the form didn't used to as "incorrect usage". However, it is to be noted that a significant number of descriptive grammars list didn't used to as acceptable, and do not even label it as "non-standard". The paper discusses how further research, in which the use of the BYU corpora is central, can help teachers acquire a nuanced view of the issue and adopt an effective teaching strategy in this respect. The paper attempts to show how the use of the BYU corpora can allow teachers a better understanding of such key aspects of English usage, providing significant guidelines concerning the teaching of English to Romanian students.