26.5515, Review: Applied Ling; Ling Theories; Text/Corpus Ling: Jones, Waller (2015)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-26-5515. Fri Dec 11 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.5515, Review: Applied Ling; Ling Theories; Text/Corpus Ling: Jones, Waller (2015)

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Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:02:16
From: Sabina Tabacaru [sabina.tabacaru at laposte.net]
Subject: Corpus Linguistics for Grammar

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-2257.html

AUTHOR: Christian  Jones
AUTHOR: Daniel  Waller
TITLE: Corpus Linguistics for Grammar
SUBTITLE: A guide for research
SERIES TITLE: Routledge Corpus Linguistics Guides
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Sabina Tabacaru, Université Lille - Nord de France

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

INTRODUCTION

The volume “Corpus Linguistics for Grammar” provides a practical introduction
to the use of corpus linguistics to analyze grammatical and lexico-grammatical
patterns, providing evidence of language in use. It is conceived as a “how-to
guide for those who are interested in using corpora to research grammar” (p.
2). It is divided into three parts and nine chapters, each section being
followed by try-it-yourself exercises or/and sample exercises. Suggested
answers are included at the end of the book. 

SUMMARY

Part I, entitled ‘Defining grammar and using corpora’, is divided into three
chapters. Chapter 1 (‘What is a corpus? What can a corpus tell us?’) defines
the concept of corpus, types, and tokens and provides descriptions of how they
can be dealt with in corpus linguistics. The authors acknowledge the use of a
descriptive approach, one that focuses on language in use and the rules that
follow, as opposed to a prescriptive approach, one that is based on intuitive
rules. They point out the fact that words cluster together “in predictable
rather than random patterns” (p. 14) and that analyses of corpora will show
that syntax and lexicon are not independent components of English (see also
Biber et al. 1999). Although a corpus can tell a lot about the use of
language, it cannot show why certain patterns happen. The authors explain that
it is the role of the researcher to interpret the data and the uses of it.
Chapter 2 (‘Definitions of a descriptive grammar’) defines descriptive
grammar, which first looks at aspects of language in a corpus and then
comments on these frequencies providing rules for the patterns used (following
Biber et al. 1999; Carter and McCarthy 2006; Halliday and Matthiessen 2004,
2013; Hymes 1972, and Sinclair 1991). Seeing grammar at the word, sentence and
text level is essential for corpus linguistics because it explains how
language is used in context. The authors also argue on the distinction between
spoken and written language, underlining that “speech has a grammar that is
often distinct from writing” (p. 27). An example would be the verb “marry”
that is used differently in written and spoken corpora. In a newspaper corpus,
the past form “married” is most frequently used and it collocates with the
verb “to be” or “to get” whereas in the spoken corpus (chat shows or news
shows), it will be used mostly in the future tense (i.e., “going to get
married”) and it will collocate primarily with “to get.” Chapter 3 (‘What
corpora can we access and what tools can we use to analyze them?’) supplies
information about the corpora that can be accessed for such analyses and the
tools to analyze them. A practical table of the available corpora is provided,
with names, numbers of tokens, description, and advantages of each corpus
presented by the authors. Examples are provided on how to search and analyze
these tools. Furthermore, the authors suggest tools that help to compile your
own corpus.

Part II, entitled ‘Corpus linguistics for grammar’, is divided into three
chapters dealing with different areas of investigation: frequency, chunks and
colligation, and semantic prosody. Chapter 4 (‘Frequency’) examines “how often
the target of a search occurs, whether this is words or structures” (p. 63).
Several examples follow, providing evidence of frequency of modals or certain
expressions in different kinds of corpora. The context in which these
expressions are found tells more about their grammatical or lexico-grammatical
patterns and functions, thus proving useful to investigate the use of
language. The authors show that different texts can produce different results
for the same input. In Chapter 5 (‘Chunks and colligation’), the authors
explain how words cluster together in particular sequences, having their own
particular grammatical properties. These phenomena can give essential
information about how texts are patterned. Quantitative measures can be used
to analyze how these patterns make meaning, and it is the role of the
researcher to explain why these patterns occur in a certain way and with a
certain frequency. Chapter 6 (‘Semantic prosody’) lays out the connotations
(positive, negative, or neutral) carried by language use. Lexis and grammar
are equally important to express an idea (for instance, the use of the passive
voice represents a more objective tone than the active voice). Context, then,
plays an essential role in grammatical choice, as is shown from data taken
from spoken and written texts (academic writing). The authors conclude that
“grammar is far more than simply a skeleton upon which we hand meaning via
lexis” (p. 114). 

Part III, entitled “Applications to research”, is divided up into three
chapters as well, investigating the different research areas in which corpora
can be used. Chapter 7 (‘Applications to English language teaching’)
investigates the grammatical aspects that a corpus reveals in areas such as
EFL, ESL, and first language learning. Comparing certain patterns in syllabi
shows how frequently these sequences are used and in which type of discourse
they are more often encountered so teachers can focus their attention on these
aspects when teaching English. Regarding first language learning, the use of
corpora can be extended to develop awareness of grammar, vocabulary, and
phonology (p. 133) in primary and secondary schools. The authors also
acknowledge the limitations of such requirements (time-consuming for teachers,
for example) but argue in favor of corpus-informed syllabi and methodologies,
adding that “it is far more desirable to have the information a corpus can
provide us than not have it” (p. 136). Chapter 8 (‘Wider applications. Data
driven journalism and discourse analysis’) explores frequencies at word,
sentence, and text level in different kind of speeches. The authors describe
the use of certain pronouns in political speeches and the writing techniques
in business letters (taken from Vergaro 2005) that could account for
‘Intercultural Discourse’. They then investigate the use of “hereby” by
exploring the GloWbe corpus (a 1.9-billion-word collection of web-pages from
around the world) in order to examine the intercultural differences. Lastly,
Chapter 9 (‘Research projects’) explores potential research projects using the
techniques outlined in the book: frequency, collocations and colligation, and
colligation and semantic prosody. The authors provide research questions and
hypotheses from different perspectives in order to show how research can be
undertaken using corpus data. 

This volume also contains a list of figures, a list of tables,
acknowledgements, and a list of abbreviations. The sample exercises at the end
of the book are followed by a glossary and an index. 

EVALUATION 

This volume provides useful insight into the use of grammar today. The sample
exercises included in each chapter and section are practical for the purpose
at hand. The bibliography for each section is placed at the end of each
chapter instead of at the end of the book, which makes this volume useful in
any (grammar) class, as students are prompted to learn more about the topics,
without having to search through a full bibliography at the end of the volume.

The book is practical and accessible for students and teachers of grammar in
particular and linguistics in general. Chapter 3, dealing with the use and
analysis of corpora, provides short explanations and comparisons of
statistical methods to investigate the data. Exercises are provided that
students can try themselves (or that can be used in class by teachers). The
answers at the end of the volume allow students and researchers to compare 
their findings to the ones given by the authors. Several potential research
projects are also described in Chapter 9 where authors underline the facility
of using corpus analysis tools in order to investigate language. 

The arguments provided by the two authors are also seen from different
perspectives, and limitations to such methodologies are often given at the end
of sections. This contributes to an analytical view of corpus-informed
teaching that is aware of the advantages and disadvantages of such techniques.
However, the authors’ description of such tools convincingly argues for the
improvements brought by corpora in language teaching. 

Although the volume is accessible, the exercises at the end of each section
can be seen as a drawback as they interrupt the reading. Placing them at the
end of each chapter instead of inside each section would have provided a
volume more suitable for students and teachers inside a classroom, dealing
with one topic at a time. Nevertheless, we can see why the authors chose to
place them inside the sections: many of these exercises are explained
afterwards as a step forward into the arguments provided. 

All in all, this volume is highly recommended to students and teachers
interested in grammar and linguistics. It focuses on the advantages offered by
corpus linguistics and the analytical view it provides on language teaching.
Students can also learn how to make and explore their own corpora, which is a
very useful tool of investigating language nowadays. 

REFERENCES 

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S. and Finegan, E. 1999. “Longman
grammar of spoken and written English. London”: Longman. 

Carter, R. and McCarthy M. 2006. “Cambridge grammar of English”. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 

Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, C. 2004. “An introduction to functional
grammar” (3rd edition). London: Routledge. 

Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, C. 2013. “Halliday’s introduction to
functional grammar” (4th edition). London: Routledge. 

Hymes, D.H. 1972. On communicative competence, in J.B. Pride and J. Holmes
(Eds.) “Sociolinguistics, selected readings”. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 269-293.

Sinclair, J. 1991. “Corpus, concordance, collocation: describing English
language”. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Vergaro, C. 2005. ‘Dear Sirs, I hope you will find this information useful’:
discourse strategies in Italian and English ‘For Your Information’ (FYI)
Letters. Discourse Studies 7(1), 109-135.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Sabina Tabacaru recently received her PhD from the University of Lille (France) and K.U. Leuven (Belgium). Her research interests include cognitive linguistics, gesture analysis, and grammar, applied to the study and the understanding of humor in interaction.




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