Corpus studies in EAP

Corpora are collections of naturally occurring language data, stored in electronic form, designed to be representative of particular types of text and analysed with the aid of computer software tools. Corpora are now common in English for academic purposes (EAP) research and practice, both to provide quantitative information about discourse, and to corroborate insights derived from more qualitative studies. They also play an increasingly important role in EAP pedagogy, providing syllabus items, examples to illustrate accepted usage, and opportunities for data-driven learning. This chapter will provide an overview of the types of corpora most relevant to EAP practitioners and their students, and will consider some of the many ways in which corpora can inform understanding of academic discourse, from lexical, phraseological, grammatical, and genre perspectives.