STATISTICS IN CORPUS LINGUISTICS
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher:
MARCO VENUTI
Expected Learning Outcomes
According to the Dublin descriptors, students, at the
end of the course, will demonstrate:
1) Knowledge and understanding: Understanding basic
concepts in Corpus Linguistics; Understanding basic concepts in statistics in
relation to quantitative approaches to language; Knowing the use of LancsBox
software; Knowing the use of the online Stats Tools
2) Applying knowledge and understanding: Being able to
identify and to use the appropriate tools and statistical measures which better
fit with the necessary quantitative analyses.
3)Making judgements: Being able to collect, analyse
and interpret textual data within a complex context, being able to formulate
efficient solution, motivating necessary choices.
4) Communication skills: Being able to explain and
support the various stages of the analysis and its findings in a structured and
clear way, making use of an appropriate register and style.
5) Learning
skills: Starting from the knowledge, understanding, and competence developed in
the module, being able to continue the graduate programme in a largely self-directed
and autonomous way.Course Structure
Lectures and workshops, which will be held in English.
Attendance of Lessons
Compulsory attendance.
Detailed Course Content
After introducing basic notions about corpora and corpus construction,
the module, and the continuous hands-on sessions, will focus on the use of
software for the statistical analysis of the English language including: a) the
analysis of lexis, with particular emphasis on collocation, keywords and
lexical density, b) a lexico-grammatical approach to language description; c)
the analysis of language variation, focusing on registers; d) sociolinguistic
and stylistic studies; e) Diachronic comparisons.
Textbook Information
Brezina, Vaclav 2018 Statistics in Corpus
Linguistics. A Practical Guide, Cambridge University Press, pp. 296.
Baker, Paul, 2010, “Will Ms ever be as
frequent as Mr? A corpus-based comparison of gendered terms across four
diachronic corpora of British English”. In: Gender and Language. 4/1,
pp.125-149.
Teaching materials for the practical workshop
on corpus querying software will be available on STUDIUM.
Please remember that in compliance with art 171
L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or
journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.
For further information on sanctions and regulations
concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee
Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione
Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian
Association on Copyright).
All
the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.
