Elena Semino

This concise volume spotlights an innovative computer-aided approach to linguistic analyses of HPV vaccination discourse on Twitter. The book features a new corpus linguistic technique, developed by the lead author, to studying patterns of language use in large datasets over time, otherwise known as Keyword Co-Occurrence Analysis. The authors explore the potential of social media platforms as rich areas of study for health communication and vaccination discourse, with this particular methodology allowing for detailed analysis of over half a million tweets from nearly 15 years of data. Given the increasingly influential role of social media platforms such as Twitter in shaping vaccine hesitancy, the volume offers readers a more nuanced understanding of their influence on attitudes around important health issues and a valuable resource in facilitating increased vaccine uptake. This book will be key reading for students, scholars, and policymakers interested in the intersection of language and health, in such areas as corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, health communication, and applied linguistics.

Communication is central to the experience of illness and the provision of healthcare. This book showcases the insights that can be gained into health communication by means of corpus linguistics – the computer-aided linguistic analysis of large datasets of naturally occurring language use known as 'corpora'. The book takes readers through the stages that they must go through to carry out corpus linguistic research on health communication, from formulating research questions to disseminating findings to interested stakeholders. It helps readers anticipate and deal with different kinds of challenges they may encounter, and shows the variety of applications of the methods discussed, from interactions in Accident and Emergency departments, to online discussions of mental illness, and press representations of obesity. Providing the reader with a wide range of clear case studies, it makes the relevant methods and findings accessible, engaging and inspiring. This title is also available open access on Cambridge Core.

Communication is central to the experience of illness and the provision of healthcare. This book showcases the insights that can be gained into health communication by means of corpus linguistics – the computer-aided linguistic analysis of large datasets of naturally occurring language use known as 'corpora'. The book takes readers through the stages that they must go through to carry out corpus linguistic research on health communication, from formulating research questions to disseminating findings to interested stakeholders. It helps readers anticipate and deal with different kinds of challenges they may encounter, and shows the variety of applications of the methods discussed, from interactions in Accident and Emergency departments, to online discussions of mental illness, and press representations of obesity. Providing the reader with a wide range of clear case studies, it makes the relevant methods and findings accessible, engaging and inspiring. This title is also available open access on Cambridge Core.

Researching Language and Health explores key topics in illness and healthcare contexts through multiple linguistic lenses. This book highlights key themes, guides readers through the design stages of research and the ethical considerations specific to linguistic health research, and brings methods and methodologies to life by demonstrating how these can be applied to specific issues in context. Covering a wide range of health conditions, healthcare contexts, and data types, with an emphasis on those most accessible to students and new researchers, the authors foreground the ‘so what?’ of research and the impact that linguistic studies can have. Both a guide to key elements of the research process and a holistic view of research projects that have been successful, insightful, and impactful in different contexts, this is an essential text for advanced students and researchers in healthcare communication and applied linguistics.

Researching Language and Health explores key topics in illness and healthcare contexts through multiple linguistic lenses. This book highlights key themes, guides readers through the design stages of research and the ethical considerations specific to linguistic health research, and brings methods and methodologies to life by demonstrating how these can be applied to specific issues in context. Covering a wide range of health conditions, healthcare contexts, and data types, with an emphasis on those most accessible to students and new researchers, the authors foreground the ‘so what?’ of research and the impact that linguistic studies can have. Both a guide to key elements of the research process and a holistic view of research projects that have been successful, insightful, and impactful in different contexts, this is an essential text for advanced students and researchers in healthcare communication and applied linguistics.

This book presents the methodology, findings and implications of a large-scale corpus-based study of the metaphors used to talk about cancer and the end of life (including care at the end of life) in the UK. It focuses on metaphor as a central linguistic and cognitive tool that is frequently used to talk and think about sensitive and subjective experiences, such as illness, emotions, death, and dying, and that can both help and hinder communication and well-being, depending on how it is used. The book centers on a combination of qualitative analyses and innovative corpus linguistic methods. This methodological assemblage was applied to the systematic study of the metaphors used in a 1.5-million-word corpus. The corpus consists of interviews with, and online forum posts written by, members of three stakeholder groups, namely: patients diagnosed with advanced cancer; unpaid carers looking after a relative with a diagnosis of advanced cancer; and healthcare professionals. The book presents a range of qualitative and quantitative findings that have implications for: metaphor theory and analysis; corpus linguistic and computational approaches to metaphor; and training and practice in cancer care and hospice, palliative and end-of-life care.

This book presents the methodology, findings and implications of a large-scale corpus-based study of the metaphors used to talk about cancer and the end of life (including care at the end of life) in the UK. It focuses on metaphor as a central linguistic and cognitive tool that is frequently used to talk and think about sensitive and subjective experiences, such as illness, emotions, death, and dying, and that can both help and hinder communication and well-being, depending on how it is used. The book centers on a combination of qualitative analyses and innovative corpus linguistic methods. This methodological assemblage was applied to the systematic study of the metaphors used in a 1.5-million-word corpus. The corpus consists of interviews with, and online forum posts written by, members of three stakeholder groups, namely: patients diagnosed with advanced cancer; unpaid carers looking after a relative with a diagnosis of advanced cancer; and healthcare professionals. The book presents a range of qualitative and quantitative findings that have implications for: metaphor theory and analysis; corpus linguistic and computational approaches to metaphor; and training and practice in cancer care and hospice, palliative and end-of-life care.

Language and World Creation in Poems and Other Texts introduces an interdisciplinary and practical approach to the analysis of poetry which focuses on text worlds, namely the contexts, scenarios or types of reality that readers construct in their interaction with the language of texts. The book demonstrates in detail three ways of approaching poetic text worlds, namely as discourse situations, possible worlds, and mental constructs. Clear and detailed introductions to linguistic theories of definiteness and deixis, possible world theory and schema theory are included, making the book accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with these frameworks.

This book brings together methods from discourse analysis and corpus linguistics in a cutting-edge study of figurative language in spoken and written discourse. Figurative Language, Genre and Register brings together discourse analysis and corpus linguistics in a cutting-edge study of figurative language in spoken and written discourse. The authors explore a diverse range of communities from chronic pain sufferers to nursery staff to present a detailed framework for the analysis of figurative language. The reader is shown how figurative language is used between members of these communities to construct their own 'world view', and how this can change with a shift in perspective. Figurative language is shown to be pervasive and inescapable, but it is also suggested that it varies significantly across genres.

This book combines stylistic analysis with corpus linguistics to present an innovative account of the phenomenon of speech, writing and thought presentation - commonly referred to as 'speech reporting' or 'discourse presentation'. This new account is based on an extensive analysis of a quarter-of-a-million word electronic collection of written narrative texts, including both fiction and non-fiction. The book includes detailed discussions of:The construction of this corpus of late twentieth-century written British narratives taken from fiction, newspaper news reports and (auto)biographiesThe development of a manual annotation system for speech, writing and thought presentation and its application to the corpus. The findings of a quantitive and qualitative analysis of the forms and functions of speech, writing and thought presentation in the three genres represented in the corpus. The findings of the analysis of a range of specific phenomena, including hypothetical speech, writing and thought presentation, embedded speech, writing and thought presentation and ambiguities in speech, writing and thought presentation. Two case studies concentrating on specific texts from the corpus. Corpus Stylistics shows how stylistics, and text/discourse analysis more generally, can benefit from the use of a corpus methodology and the authors' innovative approach results in a more reliable and comprehensive categorisation of the forms of speech, writing and thought presentation than have been suggested so far. This book is essential reading for linguists interested in the areas of stylistics and corpus linguistics.

'Metaphor' is the phenomenon whereby we talk and, potentially, think about something in terms of something else. In this book Elena Semino discusses metaphor as a common linguistic occurrence, which is varied in its textual appearance, versatile in the functions it may perform, and central to many different types of communication, from informal interaction to political speeches. She discusses the use of metaphor across a variety of texts and genres from literature, politics, science, education, advertising and the discourse of mental illness. Each chapter includes detailed case studies focusing on specific texts, from election leaflets to specialist scientific articles. Also included is a detailed consideration of corpus (computer-based) methods of analysis. Wide-ranging and informative, this book will be invaluable to those interested in metaphor from a range of disciplines.

This book combines stylistic analysis with corpus linguistics to present an innovative account of the phenomenon of speech, writing and thought presentation - commonly referred to as 'speech reporting' or 'discourse presentation'. This new account is based on an extensive analysis of a quarter-of-a-million word electronic collection of written narrative texts, including both fiction and non-fiction. The book includes detailed discussions of:The construction of this corpus of late twentieth-century written British narratives taken from fiction, newspaper news reports and (auto)biographiesThe development of a manual annotation system for speech, writing and thought presentation and its application to the corpus. The findings of a quantitive and qualitative analysis of the forms and functions of speech, writing and thought presentation in the three genres represented in the corpus. The findings of the analysis of a range of specific phenomena, including hypothetical speech, writing and thought presentation, embedded speech, writing and thought presentation and ambiguities in speech, writing and thought presentation. Two case studies concentrating on specific texts from the corpus. Corpus Stylistics shows how stylistics, and text/discourse analysis more generally, can benefit from the use of a corpus methodology and the authors' innovative approach results in a more reliable and comprehensive categorisation of the forms of speech, writing and thought presentation than have been suggested so far. This book is essential reading for linguists interested in the areas of stylistics and corpus linguistics.