Corpora in applied linguistics

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Corpus linguistics is leading to the development of theories about language which challenge existing orthodoxies in applied linguistics. However, there are also many questions which should be examined and debated: how big should a corpus be? Is the data from a corpus reliable? What are its applications for language teaching? Corpora in Applied Linguistics exams these and other questions related to this emerging field. It discusses these important issues and explores the techniques of investigating a corpus, as well as demonstrating the application of corpora in a wide variety of fields. It also outlines the impact corpus linguistics is having on how languages are taught in the classroom and how it is informing language teaching materials and dictionaries. It makes a superb and accessible introduction to corpus linguistics and is a must read for anyone interested in corpus linguistics and its impact on applied linguistics.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Series editors' preface (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. xi)
• 1 Introduction to a corpus in use (p. 1)
• What this book is about (p. 1)
• What a corpus can do (p. 3)
• What corpora are used for (p. 13)
• Types of corpora (p. 14)
• Some key terms (p. 16)
• Why corpora? Why not? (p. 20)
• Conclusion (p. 23)
• Note on sources of examples (p. 24)
• 2 The corpus as object: Design and purpose (p. 25)
• Issues in corpus design (p. 25)
• Corpus, text and language (p. 32)
• Conclusion (p. 37)
• 3 Methods in corpus linguistics: Interpreting concordance lines (p. 38)
• Introduction (p. 38)
• Searches, concordance lines and their presentation (p. 39)
• What is observable from concordance lines? (p. 42)
• Coping with a lot of data: using phraseology (p. 52)
• Using a wider context: observing hidden meaning (p. 56)
• Using probes (p. 62)
• Issues in accessing and interpreting concordance lines (p. 65)
• 4 Methods in corpus linguistics: Beyond the concordance line (p. 67)
• Frequency and key-word lists (p. 67)
• Collocation (p. 68)
• Tagging and parsing (p. 79)
• Other kinds of corpus annotation (p. 86)
• Competing methods (p. 92)
• 5 Applications of corpora in applied linguistics (p. 96)
• Dictionaries and grammars (p. 96)
• Studying ideology and culture (p. 109)
• Translation (p. 123)
• Stylistics (p. 128)
• Forensic linguistics (p. 130)
• Help for writers (p. 135)
• Conclusion (p. 136)
• 6 Corpora and language teaching: Issues of language description (p. 137)
• Language as phraseology (p. 137)
• Language variation (p. 157)
• Conclusion (p. 168)
• 7 Corpora and language teaching: General applications (p. 170)
• Data-driven learning (p. 170)
• Reciprocal learning and parallel concordances (p. 181)
• Corpora and language teaching methodology (p. 184)
• Corpora and syllabus design (p. 188)
• Challenges to the use of corpora in language teaching (p. 192)
• Conclusion (p. 197)
• 8 Corpora and language teaching: Specific applications (p. 198)
• Corpora and EAP (p. 198)
• Corpora and language testing (p. 205)
• The evidence of learner corpora (p. 206)
• Conclusion (p. 212)
• 9 An applied linguist looks at corpora (p. 213)
• List of relevant web-sites (p. 217)
• References (p. 218)
• Index (p. 233)