Corpus linguistics and text analysis at the interface: applications and case studies

This book looks at ways of bringing together two research fields, that of using corpus linguistic tools for analysis of corpora (i.e. collected texts of naturally occurring language data stored on computers), and that of discourse analysis, thus combining quantitative and qualitative techniques for linguistic analyses. These two approaches to text analysis can enable the uncovering of linguistic patterns which allow us to make sense of the ways language and discourse are constructed, providing insight to how individuals construct viewpoints and ideological positions. It is now widely recognized that a corpus-based approach to discourse analysis, following frameworks such as Paul Baker’s (2006) corpus approach to discourse analysis or Partington’s (2003) corpus assisted discourse studies approach (CADS), help provide quantitative evidence of the existence of discourses, sometimes with embedded hidden meanings (Hunston, 2002), which can be identified through lexical items and repetitive linguistic patterns of language use.