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In:Exploring and Exploiting Parallel Corpora of Spanish: The PaCorES corpus collection in language and translation education and research
Edited by Irene Doval and M. Teresa Sánchez Nieto
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 129] 2026
► pp. 42–62

Tryna learn English

Two use cases for parallel corpora in the classroom

 | University of Santiago de Compostela
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter explores the potential of parallel corpora in the language-learning classroom within the context of Data-Driven Learning (DDL), a student-centered approach to language learning that involves the use of electronic corpora or corpus-based materials. We detail two use cases of the English-Spanish Parallel Corpus, PaEnS, for Spanish-speaking learners of English with the aim of showcasing the potential of parallel corpora in language pedagogy. Both use cases center on the verb try. The first explores how students can study the lexico-grammatical variation between try and and try to to better understand its use and limitations, while the second presents a phonological use case, the reduction of trying to to tryna. For both cases, learning objectives and previous knowledge are stated, followed by a series of structured exercises involving corpus exploration and questions aimed at inducing discovery learning.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Literary fiction in the classroom
    • 1.2Where this chapter fits in
  • 2.A lexico-grammatical use case: Try and
    • 2.1The use case: Try and vs. try to
      • 2.1.1Objectives
      • 2.1.2Previous knowledge
      • 2.1.3The activity
  • 3.A phonological use case: Tryna
    • 3.1The use case: Tryna
      • 3.1.1Objectives
      • 3.1.2Previous knowledge
      • 3.1.3The activity
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
References (21)
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