English 806: Seminar in Linguistics: Corpus Linguistics
W 4:30-7:10, CRT 108
Patricia Mayes
Office Hours: W 2:30-3:30 & by appointment
Office: 486 Curtin Hall, ext. 6992
e-mail: mayes@uwm.edu
Required Materials:
1. Biber, Douglas, Conrad, Susan, and Reppen, Randi. 1998. Corpus linguistics:
Investigating language structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Meyer, Charles F. 2002. English corpus linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge:
Cambridge Universtiy Press.
3. Course Reader (Clark Graphics, 2915 N. Oakland Ave. Phone first: 962-4633)
4. Barlow, Michael. 2000. MonoConc Pro 2.0. Houston: Athelstan.
The first two items are textbooks that are available at Panther Bookstore. The third is a
reader, available at Clark Graphics. The last item is a software package for
concordancing. You will need to order this from me. The cost is $45.
Course Description and Objectives:
This course is an introduction to corpus-based analysis of language structure and
use. There are three main goals: 1) to present corpus-based analysis as a new approach to
traditional issues in lexicography and grammar, showing how this approach enables
investigation of previously intractable research questions; 2) to provide some basic
background and guidelines for building corpora for different research purposes; and 3) to
examine some basic methodological tools for corpus-based analysis and practice using
some of those tools.
There will be a number of smaller assignments, designed to help you become
familiar with the tools for corpus-based analysis. There will also be a group project (and
presentation) and a final research paper. The final paper should include a corpus-based
analysis of data and interpretation of the findings in grammatical and functional terms.
Course Requirements
1. Reading and Participation: A significant part of this course is based on the readings
and in-class discussions. You will be expected to actively engage in the learning
experience by doing the readings and participating in the class discussions. As you are
reading, make notes of any questions or comments so that we can discuss those in
class. Note: Readings are due on the date they are listed on the schedule.
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2. Short Assignments: These will be given in class the week before they are due.
3. Group Project: Using your own data or some of the data made available in class, you
will use one of the corpus-based methods we have covered to analyze the data. You
are encouraged to work in groups. Findings will be presented in class as well as
handed in.
4. Final Paper: This is based on a term project. Requirements for the paper are as
follows:
 length – about 15 double-spaced pages
 data – use corpus data (class data, a corpus you purchased or otherwise
downloaded, or a corpus you constructed)
 method – corpus-based methods (discussed in class or researched outside of
class)
 analysis – include a functional interpretation of the findings
Grading
Class Participation
Short Assignments
Group Project
Final Paper
10%
35%
20%
35%
Tentative Schedule
BCR = Biber, Conrad, and Reppen
Week/date
1 (1/22)
2 (1/29)
Topic
Course Introduction
Issues in Corpus Design
Readings
BCR Ch 1; Meyer Ch 1
Meyer Ch 2, Appendix 1;
BCR Ch 6, Meth Box 1-2
3 (2/5)
Corpus Design
(continued)/MICASE
Meyer Ch 3; Davies;
Powell & Simpson
4 (2/12)
Lexicography and
Concordancing
5 (2/19)
Concordancing
(MonoConc Pro)
More Advanced
Concordances
Concordancing
(continued)
BCR Ch 2; Meyer pp.
100-119, Appendix 2;
Hockey
Barlow Ch 1-6
5 (2/26)
6 (3/5)
7 (3/12)
Grammar and Tagging
3/19
Spring Break
2
Assignments
Discuss questions 1-4,
Meyer, pp. 53-54;
report to the class on
your assigned web
site(s)
Discuss questions 2-5,
Meyer, p. 80;
Assignment 1 due
Report to class on your
assigned web site(s)
Barlow Ch 7-10
Assignment 2 due
Practice with advanced
searches/discussion of
group projects
Meyer Ch 4; BCR Ch 3,
Meth Boxes 3-5
Proposal for group
projects due
8 (3/26)
9 (4/2)
10 (4/9)
11 (4/16)
12 (4/23)
13 (4/30)
14 (5/7)
15 (5/12)
Grammar and Tagging
(continued)
Collocations
McEnery & Wilson Ch. 2
(handout)
BCR Ch 4; Barlow 11-12
Collocations/Using
Corpora to Analyze
Discourse/BNC
Statistical Analysis of
Corpus Data/BNC
Language Acquisition and
Pedagogical Implications
Corpus Linguistics and
Language Teaching
Corpora Across Languages
Exam Week
Barlow (Reader); BCR
Ch 5
Presentation of group
projects
Presentation of group
projects
Assignment 3 due;
Meyer pp. 119-137; BCR
Meth Boxes 6-7, 9
BCR Ch 7 & CHILDES
Proposal for final paper
due
Hunston Ch 7-8; Lawson;
Burdine
Tognini-Bonelli
Assignment 4 due
Final Papers due
Reader Contents
1. Davies, Mark. 2001. Creating and using multimillion-word corpora from web-based
newspapers. Corpus linguistics in North America, ed. by Rita C. Simpson and John M.
Swales, 58-75. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
2. Powell, Christina and Rita C. Simpson. 2001. Collaboration between corpus linguists
and digital librarians for the MICASE web search interface. Corpus linguistics in North
America, ed. by Rita C. Simpson and John M. Swales (eds.), 32-47. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
3. Hockey, Susan. 2001. Concordance programs for corpus linguistics. Corpus linguistics
in North America, ed. by Rita C. Simpson and John M. Swales, 76-97. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
4. Barlow, Michael. 2000. Usage, blends, and grammar. Usage based models of language,
ed. by Michael Barlow and Suzanne Kemmer, 315-345. Stanford: CSLI.
5. Chapters 7 and 8 from Hunston, Susan. 2002. Corpora in applied linguistics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Lawson, Aaron. 2001. Rethinking French grammar for pedagogy: The contribution of
spoken corpora. Corpus linguistics in North America, ed. by Rita C. Simpson and John
M. Swales, 179-194. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
7. Burdine, Stephanie. 2001. The lexical phrase as pedagogical tool: Teaching
disagreement strategies in ESL. Corpus linguistics in North America, ed. by Rita C.
Simpson and John M. Swales, 195-210. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
8. Chapter 7 from Tognini-Bonelli, Elena. 2001. Corpus linguistics at work. Amsterdam:
John Benjamins.
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