Tove Larsson

By building knowledge in a deliberate and systematic manner, we can gain a more complete understanding of a given research area relevant to corpus linguists. Specifically, empirically informed hypotheses (i.e., hypotheses that result from a synthesis of findings from all relevant prior studies) play a key role in this endeavor in that they enable us to test to what extent generalizations from previous research are consistent with our results, or if we need to make adjustments to our existing knowledge or theory. In this Element, we aim to provide a practical and accessible introduction to select statistical methods for evaluating such empirically informed hypotheses. In particular, we illustrate techniques from the broader null-hypothesis significance testing framework (e.g., equivalence testing), and structural equation modeling framework (e.g., measured variable path analysis), with the goal of encouraging knowledge building in a more principled and systematic manner in corpus linguistics.

By building knowledge in a deliberate and systematic manner, we can gain a more complete understanding of a given research area relevant to corpus linguists. Specifically, empirically informed hypotheses (i.e., hypotheses that result from a synthesis of findings from all relevant prior studies) play a key role in this endeavor in that they enable us to test to what extent generalizations from previous research are consistent with our results, or if we need to make adjustments to our existing knowledge or theory. In this Element, we aim to provide a practical and accessible introduction to select statistical methods for evaluating such empirically informed hypotheses. In particular, we illustrate techniques from the broader null-hypothesis significance testing framework (e.g., equivalence testing), and structural equation modeling framework (e.g., measured variable path analysis), with the goal of encouraging knowledge building in a more principled and systematic manner in corpus linguistics.

/LÄTTLÄST/De lättlästa novellerna i Minnen och fantasier är skrivna av sju deltagare i skrivargruppen på Kulturcentrum Skåne i Lund, en kreativ kulturarbetsplats för personer med intellektuell eller kognitiv funktionsvariation. Gruppen har under flera år fördjupat sig i skrivande i olika genrer. Det senaste året har de fokuserat på noveller och arbetat utifrån olika teman som minnen, kärlek, rädsla, sorg och fantasi. Skrivargruppen har letts av kulturpedagogen Jenny Friman, författare till boken Bokcirkel i lättläst, och skrivpedagogen Åsa Söderling. Resultatet är nio noveller med tydliga författarröster och stor bredd i både stil, genre och lättlästnivå. En samling där de flesta läsare kan hitta något som väcker läslust! "Vår övertygelse är att personer med kognitiva/intellektuella funktionsvarianter har mycket att tillföra kulturlivet och att konstnärligt skapande befrämjar kreativitet och utveckling hos var och en." Kulturcentrum Skåne. Boken innehåller även korta texter där varje författare ger sina tankar om skrivande och tips till andra som vill börja skriva. Författarna i gruppen är Malin Andersson, Jossan Antonsson, Peter Arneson, Elias Edén, Eva Henriksson, Tove Larsson och Alice Lundh Papiernik. Lättlästnivå 3 (1 är lättast och 6 svårast)

Paradoxically, doing corpus linguistics is both easier and harder than it has ever been before. On the one hand, it is easier because we have access to more existing corpora, more corpus analysis software tools, and more statistical methods than ever before. On the other hand, reliance on these existing corpora and corpus linguistic methods can potentially create layers of distance between the researcher and the language in a corpus, making it a challenge to do linguistics with a corpus. The goal of this Element is to explore ways for us to improve how we approach linguistic research questions with quantitative corpus data. We introduce and illustrate the major steps in the research process, including how to: select and evaluate corpora, establish linguistically-motivated research questions, observational units and variables, select linguistically interpretable variables, understand and evaluate existing corpus software tools, adopt minimally sufficient statistical methods, and qualitatively interpret quantitative findings.