A critical review of research and practice in data-driven learning (DDL) in the academic writing classroom

Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the direct application of corpora, or data-driven learning (DDL), in language education. This relatively novel teaching approach has been particularly applied in the teaching and learning of English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/academic writing, especially since the turn of the century. This paper synthesizes and evaluates the research progress in the field of EAP/academic writing since the year 2000 by critically reviewing 37 empirical studies focussing on applications of DDL in this context. Based on the critical review and a discussion of some contentious issues, a set of five recommendations for the way forward in DDL research and practice for EAP/academic writing is presented.