Language is a multifaceted system comprising diverse components that interconnect across multiple levels, necessitating a certain degree of user awareness to ensure smooth functionality. While this concept is widely recognized in the context of foreign or second language (L2) teaching and learning, it becomes significantly less scrutinized when addressing a first language (L1) and its various nuances. This entry demonstrates the potential of DDL to fill this educational void, offering a detailed exploration of how corpus-based methods can be integrated into L1 teaching. Language corpora can be used across various domains of linguistic research and pedagogy, contributing to students’ comprehension of linguistic patterns and their ability to categorize words based on shared features (e.g., grammatical class, functional roles, and semantic properties). This process is supported by an exploratory learning approach that involves analysing concordances and frequency data, which is particularly effective when engaging with subject-specific language that may appear obscure and challenging to understand due to its specialized nature. Through empirical evidence and practical examples, the entry illustrates how DDL can enhance students’ linguistic awareness, enabling them to navigate the complexities of their L1, especially in specialized genres to improve their academic outcomes. (This entry was written with the help of ChatGPT to revise and reformulate the language according to the prompt: ‘Reformulate in EAP…’)