PALA 2007 Pre-Conference Workshop, 29-30 July 2007, Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan

Co-sponsored by: Kansai Gaidai University, the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC), the Oxford University Press (OUP), the Japan Association for English Corpus Studies (JAECS), and the Japan Association for College English Teachers (JACET)

Corpus Studies: Methods and Applications

Target audience and goal of workshop

Are you interested in

• learning about using a corpus?

• building a corpus on your own?

• applying corpus techniques and tools to your research interests?

then come and join us!

This two-day workshop is a sequel to the one entitled ‘Corpus Approaches to the Language of Literature’ held at the PALA 2006 conference in Joensuu. It is open for anyone interested to learn about corpus methodologies and applications. Basic computer literacy is desirable, but beginners are most welcome. Don't feel intimidated by the words corpus and computer any more!

The goal of this workshop is to raise awareness of how we use corpus techniques and tools for the study of style and communication. Lectures by invited speakers will provide the theoretical background to corpus linguistics in general as well as fine specimens of its literary or stylistic application. Hands-on workshop exercises are intended to give you an opportunity to acquire some practical skills and try out some of the resources and techniques demonstrated in the lectures. Discussion sessions will be held to complement the lecture and hands-on sessions. It is also possible to receive expert advice by taking advantage of this opportunity.

The materials for lectures and exercises (Username/password required)

Background

The role of computer corpora is becoming increasingly important for language studies, both theoretical and applied: lexis, lexicography, grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, stylistics, language teaching, translation, etc. Findings and methodologies of corpus-based studies can usefully be applied to the kinds of enquiries pursued in the PALA community as well.

Fee and registration

The cost of the registration for the workshop is ¥10,000 (JPY), including lunch (30 July) and course materials. A reduced rate (¥7,000 JPY) is applicable to students. Online registration is now closed. But you can register by sending e-mail to contact@pala2007.com. Don't forget to book your travel and accommodation so that you arrive on the 28th or on the morning of the 29th July.

Invited speakers:

Geoffrey Leech (Lancaster, UK) : Style on the Move: Changing Stylistic Norms of Written English in the Twentieth Century

Lisa Lena Opas-Hänninen (Oulu, Finland) : Using statistical methods to investigate style and authorship

Mick Short (Lancaster, UK) : Using WMatrix to analyse character in Harold Pinter's ‘Betrayal’

Martin Wynne (Oxford, UK) : Resources and methods for corpus stylistics

Hands-on exercises:

Tomoji Tabata: Warm-up exercises using AntConc 3.2.1 and regular expressions (grep)

Martin Wynne: Practical exercises on corpus stylistics

Mick Short & Brian Walker: Further work on ‘Betrayal’ using WMatrix

Lisa Lena Opas-Hänninen: Using statistical methods to investigate style and authorship

Timetable

Day 1 (29 July 2007)

*Sponsored by the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC) and the Oxford University Press (OUP).

Day 2 (30 July 2007)

Enquiries concerning this workshop should be sent to contact@pala2007.com