Corpus linguistics and the discursive construction of migrants

Online talk November 9, 12:00 (Madrid time) / 11:00 (UK time)

Dr Charlotte Taylor, University of Sussex

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

Free registration link.

Abstract

The ways in which migration is framed in our public spaces influence who we think of when we think of migration, how we think about those people, and what kinds of responses are considered appropriate to their movement. In this paper, I want to show how corpus linguistics can be used to build a fuller picture of how migration is framed. I will start by addressing how corpus linguistics can help determine ‘who’ we should analyse when investigating the discursive construction of migrant groups. Then I will move on to what corpus linguistics, combined with discourse analysis can tell us about ‘how’ they are represented. Finally, I will discuss how we can use corpus linguistics to compare such representations across cultures and languages. 

Charlotte Taylor is Senior Lecturer in English Language & Linguistics at the University of Sussex. Her work is broadly concerned with language and persuasion and the rhetorical uses of language. Her current project examines the role of memory in migration discourses and unpicks the ways in which our contemporary public discourses both recycle past frames, and elide and re-shape past experiences. She also has a keen interest in methodological issues in corpus and discourse work. Her book-length publications include Corpus Approaches to Discourse (with Anna Marchi), Exploring Absence and Silence in Discourse (with Melani Schroeter), Patterns and Meanings in Discourse (with Alan Partington & Alison Duguid) and Mock Politeness in English and Italian. She is working on a new monograph titled Migration Discourses and Memory which will be coming out in 2023.

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).