1st Edition

Triangulating Methodological Approaches in Corpus Linguistic Research

Edited By Paul Baker, Jesse Egbert Copyright 2016
    216 Pages
    by Routledge

    228 Pages
    by Routledge

    Contemporary corpus linguists use a wide variety of methods to study discourse patterns. This volume provides a systematic comparison of various methodological approaches in corpus linguistics through a series of parallel empirical studies that use a single corpus dataset to answer the same overarching research question. Ten contributing experts each use a different method to address the same broadly framed research question: In what ways does language use in online Q+A forum responses differ across four world English varieties (India, Philippines, United Kingdom, and United States)? Contributions will be based on analysis of the same 400,000 word corpus from online Q+A forums, and contributors employ methodologies including corpus-based discourse analysis, audience perceptions, Multi-Dimensional analysis, pragmatic analysis, and keyword analysis.

    In their introductory and concluding chapters, the volume editors compare and contrast the findings from each method and assess the degree to which ‘triangulating’ multiple approaches may provide a more nuanced understanding of a research question, with the aim of identifying a set of complementary approaches which could arguably take into account analytical blind spots. Baker and Egbert also consider the importance of issues such as researcher subjectivity, type of annotation, the limitations and affordances of different corpus tools, the relative strengths of qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the value of considering data or information beyond the corpus. Rather than attempting to find the ‘best’ approach, the focus of the volume is on how different corpus linguistic methodologies may complement one another, and raises suggestions for further methodological studies which use triangulation to enrich corpus-related research.

    Chapter 1 Introduction Paul Baker and Jesse Egbert. Chapter 2 Keywords Rony McEnery.  Chapter 3 Lexical Bundles Bethany Gray. Chapter 4 Semantic Annotation Amanda Potts. Chapter 5 Multi-Dimensional Analysis Eric Friginal and Doug Biber. Chapter 6 Collocation Networks Vaclav Brezina. Chapter 7 Variationist Analysis Stefan Th. Gries. Chapter 8 Pragmatics Jonathan Culpeper and Claire Hardaker. Chapter 9 Gendered Discourses Paul Baker. Chapter 10 Qualitative Analysis of Stance Erez Levon. Chapter 11 Stylistic Perception Jesse Egbert. Chapter 12 Research Synthesis Jesse Egbert and Paul Baker.

    Biography

    Paul Baker is Professor of English Language at Lancaster University. His research involves applications of corpus linguistics and his recent books include Using Corpora to Analyze Gender (2014), Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes (2013) and Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics (2010). He is the commissioning editor of the journal Corpora.

    Jesse Egbert is Assistant Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Brigham Young University. His research focuses on register variation and methodological issues in corpus linguistics. His research has been published in journals such as Corpora, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and Journal of English Linguistics.