Exploring English with Online Corpora [Paperback]

This is an essential guide to using digital resources in the study of English language and linguistics. Assuming no prior experience, it introduces the fundamentals of online corpora and equips readers with the skills needed to search and interpret corpus data. Later chapters focus on specific elements of linguistic analysis, namely vocabulary, grammar, discourse and pronunciation. Examples from five major online corpora illustrate key issues to consider in corpus analysis, while case studies and activities help students get to grips with the wide range of resources that are available and select those that best suit their needs.

Perfect for students of corpus linguistics and applied linguistics, this engaging and accessible guide opens the door to an ever-expanding world of online resources. It is also ideal for anyone who is curious about how the English language works and has a desire to explore its many written and spoken forms.

1. Introducing online corpora.-?2. Interpreting corpus data.-?3. Contextualising corpus texts.-?4. Exploring lexis with corpora.-?5. Exploring grammar with corpora.-?6. Exploring discourse with corpora.-?7. Exploring pronunciation with corpora.-?8. Issues in the use of corpora in teaching and research.-?Appendix: online corpora.

Wendy Anderson is Reader in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests lie in corpus linguistics, semantics, metaphor and intercultural language education. Between 2004 and 2008 she was a researcher for the Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech and Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing projects, led by John Corbett. More recently, between 2012 and 2016, she was Principal Investigator of two Digital Humanities projects: 'Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus', which sought to trace the place of metaphor across the history of English, and the follow-on project 'Metaphl“G