Corpus Linguistics and English for Aviation: research with didactic application from an extension project

Abstract

Nowadays Corpus Linguistics (CL) is closely related to the use of computers. In Federal Institutes, the use of technology for language teaching and learning is a constant practice. Here we present an extension project that generated didactic materials to meet the demand for English-language training in a local aviation company for reading manuals of aircraft maintenance. The partnership company/Federal Institute and the work of a student in the Electronics Technical Course made it feasible, based on a field research to collect data; a didactic treatment of texts with AntConc concordance; linguistic frames for semantics, lexis and structure analysis; and then the instructional design of the course. The contribution is to corroborate CL as a theoretical-methodological framework that enables applications in teaching, empirically guiding pedagogical material production, which also reveals the possibility of fruitful work under the teaching-research-extension triad.