Comparison of 2 Gram List

The present work selected all the 1,576 types of 2 grams from the basketball English teaching material to build the teaching material 2 gram list and the most frequent 3,000 types of 2 grams from the basketball English web corpus to build the web corpus 2 gram list. After comparing the 2 gram lists, the present study found that there are 595 common items in the web corpus 2 gram list and the teaching material 2

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gram list. On the other hand, there are 2,405 types of 2 grams appearing only in the web corpus. From the 2,405 types of 2 grams, the present work first eliminated meaningless items such as and I, be the and about the. Then, 2 grams of general English such as a few and because of were also excluded. As shown in Table 12, the current research selected 45 items related to basketball English with the help of concordance tool.

Table 12 : Basketball English 2 Grams Appearing only in the Web Corpus but not in the Teaching Material.

2 gram (45 items) Chinese Translation Frequency

1.the floor 場上 16,539

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43.three-point range 三分線外距離 1,950

44.the deficit 比分差距 1,890

45.in transition 在攻守轉換的時候 1,812

In the table, 2 grams related to basketball English appearing only in the web corpus are listed. Additionally, each item‟s Chinese translation and frequency in the web corpus are provided. The following paragraphs will discuss ten items and explore their meanings in basketball English. They are head coach, free agent, big man, the hosts, first team, for two, check out, both ends, the table and in transition.

The first 2 gram discussed is item number 2 head coach, which appears for 14,239 times in the web corpus. Head coach means the leading coach in the coach staff. For example, “Appreciation for Bosh came from no less than Chicago head coach, Tom Thibodeau, who said Bosh was terrific right from the start of the game.”

This phrase is considered highly frequent and important in basketball English.

The second 2 gram is item number 7 free agent. This phrase indicates a player who is currently not in a contract relationship with any basketball team and he can

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sign up a new contract with a new team if he wants. During the offseason, this phrase is often mentioned since all the teams pay attention to some potential and good free agents to strengthen their teams. For example, “Williams was the best free agent point guard left, and he fit well in Dallas last season.”

The third 2 gram discussed by the present study is item number 10 big man.

What is interesting about this phrase is that big man does not mean strong or fat man.

In basketball English, big man actually means tall player with long arms who can grab the rebounds very well. Big man usually plays the center position and controls the paint area near the basket. Take an example sentence from the web corpus for

example, “the Memphis big men, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, patrolled the paint better keeping the Spurs to just 21-from-71 in that area.

The fourth item is item number 16 the hosts. The definition of host in general English is someone who invites guests and provides drinks at a party. In basketball English, however, the hosts are the team and players that play on their home court who gain the home court advantage from their fans. One sentence from the web corpus can serve as an example. “In the third quarter, the visitors flipped the game to their side as they won it with nine points ahead. However, the hosts were able to recover back to the game in the last quarter where they were in a better shape, and managed to win the game with only one point ahead.”

The fifth item is number 21 first team. First team is an interesting phrase used in basketball English. It is not related to the team who wins the championship. First team is actually an honor given to five best players voted by the coaches. For example,

“LeBron James enters tonight fresh off earning a spot on the All NBA First Team.”

The sixth phrase discussed is item number 27 for two. For two appears for 3336 times in basketball English web corpus. It is usually used to present the idea of successfully making the two-point shot. For instance, “Pierce can roam a bit more

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freely, and when they triple him, he can lob up a pass to a guy tall enough to catch it and put it in for two.”

The seventh item is 2 gram number 29 check out. In basketball English, check out means to get off the court as can be shown in the sentence generated from the web corpus. “Howard and Bryant checked out of the game with 4:11 left in the third quarter and the Lakers leading, 82-46.”

The eighth item discussed is number 38 both ends. This phrase appears for 2,212 times in the web corpus. In basketball English, both ends mean both the offensive aspect and the defensive aspect in a basketball game. For instance, “the honor tonight goes to Dwight Howard. He showed great energy at both ends of the floor en route to 21 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks in less than 30 minutes of playing time. The sentence generated from the web corpus shows that the player Dwight Howard not only scored many points on the offensive end but also had many rebounds and three blocks when he did his job well to defend his opponents.

The ninth 2 gram discussed is item number 39 the table. This phrase is used to represent the team‟s general condition. For example, “Jeremy Lamb also got time at shooting guard and performed with his typical timidity, bringing little to the

table besides a decent jumper.” From that sentence, it can be inferred that the player Jeremy Lamb contributed little to his team.

The last phrase discussed here is item number 45 in transition, which appears for 1,812 times in the web corpus. In transition means the time when a team switches from offense to defense or from defense to offense. Take a sentence in the web corpus for example, “Why does Gordon commit so many turnovers in transition? He tends to force the issue and put the pressure of scoring squarely on his shoulders.”

In sum, 45 items of 2 grams in the web corpus 2 gram list are related to basketball English. It is suggested that the teaching material also include those 2

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grams to strengthen its content of phrase.