What is Representativeness

Although corpus linguistic methods and research have had a considerable impact on language teaching in the last few decades, the corpus is still mostly regarded as a device in the hands of the teacher rather than the students. This is most probably due to a number of serious problems that need to be considered when allowing students unlimited access to the wealth of corpus-linguistic data. In this chapter it is argued that these problems are to be taken seriously and that a fundamental prerequisite for student use of corpora is what I call ‘corpus competence.’ Such a corpus competence will not only help students to make use of corpora in the classroom but will also prepare the grounds for use of corpora in noninstitutionalized contexts and as a tool for life-long learning.