Corpus Approaches to Discourse: A Critical Review

315 Pages·2018·4.16 MB·English

by  Charlotte Taylor, Anna Marchi

CORPUS APPROACHES
TO DISCOURSE
‘In this welcome new contribution to the emerging field of meta-reflection on
corpus linguistic methodology, the editors expertly bring together a range of stud-
ies that address “dusty corners” (for example, neglected aspects such as similarity
and absence) and “blind spots” (for example, the omission of non-verbal elements)
as well as the pitfalls of research design. A convincing argument for accountability,
self-reflexivity and triangulation, this volume is a must-read for any researcher in
corpus-based discourse analysis and corpus linguistics more generally.’
Monika Bednarek, University of Sydney, Australia
‘Readers interested in corpora and discourse will find that this book is a new
departure. Insightful and thought-provoking, each chapter deals with a key meth-
odological issue. Under the headings of “dusty corners”, “blind spots” and “pit-
falls”, the volume addresses under-researched topics, genres and analytical tools. It
is a prime example of self-reflexive research.’
Gerlinde Mautner, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
Corpus linguistics has now come of age and Corpus Approaches to Discourse equips
students with the means to question, defend and refine the methodology. Looking
at corpus linguistics in discourse research from a critical perspective, this volume is a
call for greater reflexivity in the field. The chapters, each written by leading author-
ities, contain an overview of an emerging area and a case-study, presenting practical
advice alongside theoretical reflection. Carefully structured with an introduction by
the editors and a conclusion by leading researcher, Paul Baker, this is key reading
for advanced students and researchers of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis.
Charlotte Taylor is Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex. She is author
of Mock Politeness in English and Italian (2016), c o-author of Patterns and Meanings
in Discourse (with Alan Partington and Alison Duguid, 2013) and The Language of
Persuasion in Politics (with Alan Partington, 2017) and co-editor of Exploring Silence
and Absence in Discourse (with Melani Schroeter, 2018).
Anna Marchi is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Bologna She is the author
of Self-reflexive Journalism: A Corpus Study of Journalistic Culture and Community in The
Guardian (Routledge, forthcoming).
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CORPUS APPROACHES
TO DISCOURSE
A Critical Review
Edited by Charlotte Taylor and Anna Marchi
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Charlotte Taylor and Anna
Marchi; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Taylor, Charlotte, 1977- editor. | Marchi, Anna, (Professor of
linguistics) editor.
Title: Corpus approaches to discourse: a critical review / Charlotte
Taylor and Anna Marchi [editors].
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge,
2018. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017043814| ISBN 9781138895782
(hardback) | ISBN 9781138895805 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Corpora (Linguistics) | Discourse analysis.
Classification: LCC P128.C68 C655 2018 | DDC 410.1/88–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017043814
ISBN: 978-1-138-89578-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-89580-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-17934-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
List of figures vii
List of tables x
Contributors xii
Acknowledgements xv
1 Introduction: partiality and reflexivity 1
Anna Marchi and Charlotte Taylor
PART A
Overlooked areas (checking the dusty corners) 17
2 Similarity 19
Charlotte Taylor
3 Absence: you don’t know what you’re missing. Or do you? 38
Alison Duguid and Alan Partington
4 Overlooked text types: from fictional texts to real-world discourses 60
Alon Lischinsky
PART B
Triangulation (identifying blind spots) 83
5 Analysing the multimodal text 85
Helen Caple
vi Contents
6 Using multiple data sets 110
Sylvia Jaworska and Karen Kinloch
7 Interdisciplinary approaches in corpus linguistics and CADS 130
Clyde Ancarno
PART C
Research design (avoiding pitfalls/re-examining the
foundations) 157
8 The role of the text in corpus and discourse analysis: missing
the trees for the forest 159
Jesse Egbert and Erin Schnur
9 Dividing up the data: epistemological, methodological and
practical impact of diachronic segmentation 174
Anna Marchi
10 Visualisation in corpus-based discourse studies 197
Laurence Anthony
11 Keyness analysis: nature, metrics and techniques 225
Costas Gabrielatos
12 Statistical choices in corpus-based discourse analysis 259
Vaclav Brezina
13 Conclusion: reflecting on reflective research 281
Paul Baker
Index 293
FIGURES
2.1 Comparison of immigrant 24
2.2 Sketch Thesaurus for immigrant 25
2.3 Naming choices 30
2.4 Percentage of collocates of refugees 32
2.5 Shared collocates between the Times and Hansard 33
3.1 Mentions of the items Middle East and North Africa
quarter-yearly in 2010 in the US newspapers New York
Times and Washington Post 45
3.2 Mentions of the items Middle East and North Africa
quarter-yearly in 2010 in the UK newspapers the
Guardian and the Telegraph 45
4.1 References to characters per 10,000 words 71
4.2 References to body parts per million words 73
4.3 Pronouns per million words 73
4.4 References to body parts per thousand 3PS references 74
5.1 Instagram posts commenting multimodally on the size of
the ballot paper 90
5.2 An Instagram post showing a classic democracy sausage
and one showing an aberrant version 92
5.3 Number of posts collected using #ausvotes 93
5.4 Total number of Instagram posts per hashtag, June 30 to
July 4, 2016 93
5.5 A topology for situating linguistic research 94
5.6 Examples of political party representations in images 100
5.7 Relational Database Interface for multimodal analysis of
political affiliation in #ausvotes corpus 101
viii Figures
5.8 Fake medicare cards, a negative meme, and the Malcolm
Turnbull Fizza poster all targeting the Liberal party 102
5.9 (Dis)affiliative strategies in Instagram posts made by
members of the public 103
5.10 The semiotic distribution of affiliating strategies
with the Greens 104
5.11 One screen taken from the Kaleidographic view of
political affiliation in the #ausvotes corpus on Instagram 105
6.1 Semantic categories across contexts 121
6.2 Concordance lines of the pattern cause and depression
in MEDLAY 124
6.3 Concordance lines of the pattern cause and depression
in MEDIA 124
6.4 Concordance lines of the collocation cause and depression
in MUMSNET 124
9.1 Diachronic plots of the briefings mentioning egypt*, libya*
and syria* 182
9.2 Word cloud of keywords comparing Spring subset vs
preceding unit 183
9.3 Word cloud of keywords comparison Spring subset vs
following units 184
9.4 Word cloud of keywords comparing February subset vs
preceding months 184
9.5 Word cloud of keywords comparing February subset vs Spring 185
9.6 Mentions of egypt*, libya* and syria* in the WHPB corpus,
by month 185
9.7 Mentions of egypt*, libya* and syria* in the WHPB corpus,
by briefing and area overlap for the months of January
and February 186
9.8 Proportion of mentions of Mubarak preceded by President
over total mentions, using months as time unit 187
9.9 Proportion of mentions of Mubarak preceded by President
over total mentions, using weeks as time unit 187
9.10 Naming of the Libyan administration in the WHPB
during the first months of 2011 188
9.11 Naming of the Syrian administration throughout the corpus 188
9.12 Proportion of mentions of Assad preceded by President
over total mentions 189
9.13 Percentage of so-called mentions of arab spring in the
CNN corpus on a timeline 192
10.1 Example of a Key-Word-In-Context display of language
data appearing in the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 199
Figures ix
10.2 Word cloud variations 201
10.3 Frequency of usage of data visualisations in the
International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 202
10.4 Examples of four main categories of visualisation
appearing in the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 203
10.5 Example of a heat map showing the frequency of
occurrence of data visualisation types in the International
Journal of Corpus Linguistics 204
10.6 Time series charts showing frequency of occurrence
of data visualisation types in the International Journal of
Corpus Linguistics 205
10.7 Custom data visualisations produced using the
R programming language appearing in the International
Journal of Corpus Linguistics 206
10.8 Heat map visualisations produced through the corpus.
byu.edu interface appearing in the International Journal of
Corpus Linguistics 207
10.9 Variations of KWIC concordance displays 211
10.10 ‘KWIC pattern’ concordance displays 212
10.11 ‘Bar-graph’ dispersion plots for the word ‘this’ in three
sub-categories of the Brown Corpus 214
10.12 ‘Bar-graph’ dispersion plots for the ‘he’–‘said’ collocate pair 215
10.13 Network (graph) visualisations of word–word collocation
pairs in the script for Star Wars: A New Hope 216
10.14 Time-series histograms of the frequency of usage of
‘banking crisis’ in two corpora 217
10.15 Growth in usage of the word ‘Yassss’ in the US 219
10.16 Network maps of Twitter activity related to the two main
candidates in the 2016 US Presidential Election 220
10.17 ‘Kaleidographic’ visualisation of news values 221
12.1 Passives in BE06 261
12.2 Development of the form ‘immigrants’ 1800–2000 262
12.3 Research design: key steps 264
12.4 Recycling material in newspapers 267
12.5 Collocates of ‘war’ in BE06 – newspapers 272
12.6 Collocation network: war, terror, troops, Iraq and civil in
BE06 - newspapers 272
12.7 Collocates of war in BE06 – newspapers: MI score, log
likelihood, log Dice and Delta 274
12.8 Output from #LancsBox 276
12.9 Passives in BE06 278