Applications of corpora in applied linguistics

Abstract

The application of corpora expected to have most relevance to readers of this book – language teaching – is dealt with in chapters of its own (chapters 6–8). In this chapter, other applications are described. These are: The production of dictionaries and grammars, that is, reference books for language learners and translators. The use of corpora in critical linguistics, illuminating items of importance to the study of ideologies. The use of corpora in translation. The contribution of corpora to literary studies and stylistics. The use of corpora in forensic linguistics. The use of corpora in designing writer support packages. Dictionaries and grammars Introduction Corpora have so revolutionised the writing of dictionaries and grammar books for language learners (or rather, for learners of English) that it is by now virtually unheard-of for a large publishing company to produce a learner's dictionary or grammar reference book that does not claim to be based on a corpus. As a result, this is probably the application of corpora that is most far-reaching and influential, in that even people who have never heard of a corpus are using the product of corpus investigation. Accounts of using corpora to write dictionaries are found in Sinclair (ed.) 1987; Summers 1996; Baugh et al 1996; Clear et al 1996.