Corpus Linguistics, Learner Corpora, and SLA: Employing Technology to Analyze Language Use

Online talk. October 5, 18:00 (Madrid time) / 17:00 (UK time)

Prof Tony McEnery, University of Lancaster

This talk is part of the Corpus & applied linguistics research 2022 online event.

Free registration link.

Abstract

In this talk I will explore the relationship between learner corpus and second language acquisition research. I begin by considering the origins of learner corpus research, noting its roots in smaller scale studies of learner language. This development of learner corpus studies will be considered in the broader context of the development of corpus linguistics. I then consider the aspirations that learner corpus researchers have had to engage with second language acquisition research and explore why, to date, the interaction between the two fields has been minimal. By exploring some of the corpus building practices of learner corpus research, and the theoretical goals of second language acquisition studies, I will identify reasons for this lack of interaction and make proposals for how this situation could be fruitfully addressed.

Tony McEnery is distinguished professor of Linguistics and English Langauge in the Department of English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University and Changjiang Chair at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. He has published widely on corpus linguistics and is the author of Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice (with Andrew Hardie, Cambridge University Press, 2011). His latest book, Fundamental Principles of Corpus Linguistics (with Vaclav Brezina) is due out from Cambridge University Press soon.

You can check out the 2021 talks here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKjKIIQL6u1mXD2V9ZaT-_Q/featured

This online event is organized by the Universidad de Murcia and the E020-07 research group (Lenguajes de especialidad, corpus lingüísticos y lingüística inglesa aplicada a la ingeniería del conocimiento).