KAMOKO: KAssel MOrgenstern KOrpus

The text examples collected in KAMOKO are organized into teaching units according to linguistic topics, in which linguistic structures are explained using authentic text examples. Each unit is dedicated to a topic of language use in the form of a structured sequence of examples that lead step by step from simple usages to increasingly complex functions. While the first example sentences of a teaching unit reproduce typical usages, the end of the teaching unit contains usages that are no longer just about linguistic correctness, but about subtle nuances that are often crucial for understanding the text.

In addition to the original text, each text example offers variations of the original in which forms are exchanged, text elements are added or removed. All variations are accompanied by evaluations and comments from native French speakers. In this way, you can clearly see what the different variations do and how they change the text.

The corpus originates from an extensive collection of examples by the linguist and language teacher Claus Morgenstern (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich), which was digitized and expanded at the University of Kassel. It consists of 22 units, each of which deals with central structures of French in a phenomena-based manner based on authentic examples. These text examples come from fictional (novels, novellas) and non-fictional texts (journalistic texts, travel guides).

Language practice in schools and universities:

The first option is the use for language practice at universities as well as the use of the simpler text examples in French classes at schools. The basic didactic idea is that students first evaluate the variants themselves and then check their decisions against the native language evaluations and correct them if necessary. KAMOKO can be used by advanced students, but it also provides rich material for the creation of teaching materials.

Linguistic Research:

The second option is to see KAMOKO as a linguistic corpus annotated with native language assessments, which can be used to elaborate semantic-pragmatic profiles of forms and structures in a corpus-based way. Of particular relevance for this access are the more complex usages that go beyond typical usages and explore nuances of language use that are of interest for linguistic analysis.

The KAMOKO corpus can be used free of charge.

KAMOKO at CLARIN/LINDAT http://hdl.handle.net/11372/LRT-3261