17.12.21 – Guest lecture: Prof. Dr. Ute Römer (Georgia State University, USA)

Phraseology research in applied corpus linguistics: The power of patterns

Freitag, 17. Dezember 2021, 10 bis 12 Uhr, Raum A9/A10

Abstract:

Over the past fifty years, corpora and corpus-analytic techniques have enabled insights into the nature of language that no other type of data or methodology had before. Corpora have profoundly changed the ways in which we see and describe language. As John Sinclair observed in his seminal monograph Corpus Concordance Collocation, “the language looks rather different when you look at a lot of it at once” (1991, p. 100).

In this talk, I provide an overview of some of my recent research in applied corpus linguistics with a focus on language patterns. I will share findings from studies in usage-based second language acquisition, corpus-based language assessment, and empirical legal language analysis. In almost all of these studies, collaborative work with colleagues in linguistics and other disciplines has been essential.

Since a particular strength of corpus linguistics lies in allowing us to uncover the patterned nature of language, the studies showcased in this talk will focus on central concepts in phraseology and formulaic language, including constructions, n‑grams, and phrase-frames. I will also share suggestions on how to expand our research agendas in applied corpus linguistics. I will conclude my talk by highlighting the importance of inter-disciplinary work, and of collaboration in general, for a sustainable and impactful future of applied linguistics.