Key methods in media linguistics. Useful approaches from early traditions to the state-of-the-art

Abstract

This paper explores various methods and useful approaches to the study of media. These range from traditional heuristic methods (content analysis, contrastive text and discourse analysis) to computer-based data-mining methods (corpus linguistics) and, finally, to state-of-the-art high-tech research (eye-tracking experiments). After an initial overview of ten different approaches to media studies, some of them are further explained, illustrated with relevant studies, and ultimately evaluated. The paper demonstrates how various methods can be applied in relation to different media texts and media types and how they can be studied from linguistic, cultural and multimodal perspectives.