A corpus-based investigation of native speaker and learner student profiles

This paper is part of a wider corpus-based study that aims to draw up a profile of how language majors at an Italian University introduce themselves in English to peers in an online environment, and how approaches to teaching and learning can be enhanced. The study focuses on various aspects of convergence and divergence between learner and native speaker production, rather than merely on learner errors, as other studies in the field have done. The paper first considers why it is important that language majors aim to write in a way that is appropriate to a given genre, rather than merely focusing on lexicogrammatical accuracy. To do this, students should to be made aware of the lexical choices, collocational patterns and phraseology used by native speakers. The corpora in question are made up of self-presentation messages in on-line forums. A comparison of learner and native speaker use of the word student in these texts will be the focus of this paper.