Tony McEnery

Bio: Tony McEnery is an academic researcher from Lancaster University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Corpus linguistics & Text corpus. The author has an hindex of 33, co-authored 129 publications receiving 6092 citations. Previous affiliations of Tony McEnery include University of Edinburgh & University of Liverpool.

A useful methodological synergy? Combining critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics to examine discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press

Abstract: This article discusses the extent to which methods normally associated with corpus linguistics can be effectively used by critical discourse analysts. Our research is based on the analysis of a 140-million-word corpus of British news articles about refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and migrants (collectively RASIM). We discuss how processes such as collocation and concordance analysis were able to identify common categories of representation of RASIM as well as directing analysts to representative texts in order to carry out qualitative analysis. The article suggests a framework for adopting corpus approaches in critical discourse analysis.

Corpus-Based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book

Abstract: The corpus-based approach to linguistic analysis and language teaching has come to prominence over the past two decades This book seeks to bring readers up to date with the latest developments in corpus-based language studies In comparison with the existing introductory books in corpus linguistics, Corpus-based Language Studies is unique in a number of ways First, this is a book which covers the 'how to' as well as the 'why' In approaching 'how to', we obviously have to focus on specific concordance packages and corpora which are currently available However, our aim is to embrace a range of corpora and packages, hence hopefully offsetting any problems due to corpora being withdrawn or software radically changed It is the 'how to' focus which in large part makes this book stand out from other available volumes This book includes six case studies, each exploring a particular research question using specific tools This is where the reader learns how to do corpus linguistics, as the process of investigating the data using the package(s) concerned is spelt out step by step, using text and screenshots Thus by the end of each case study, a corpus has been introduced, the reader has learnt how to use a retrieval package and some research questions have been explored Readers are then encouraged to explore a related research question using the same corpus data, tools and techniques As well as explaining 'how to', the book also addresses 'why' While we may expect the reader to consult other books on corpus linguistics, we want this book, for two distinct reasons, to explore what one may do with corpus data and why one should want to do it Firstly, and obviously, if we want the reader to be able to 'become' a corpus linguist having read the book, we clearly have to explain the rationale for corpus-based studies, and to use case studies both to exemplify the worth of corpus linguistics as well as the features of the packages concerned Secondly, we want this book to tie in much more closely with linguistic theory than previous books in corpus linguistics have done Our goal is to engage research questions and theory with corpus linguistics with an increasing depth and intensity as the book progresses Second, this is a book which engages with a range of approaches to the use of corpus data, which makes it different from existing books in corpus linguistics, with each case study focusing on a major approach to the use of corpus data while paying little or no attention to other approaches After reading this volume, readers are expected to understand when and how to combine these approaches with other methodologies Finally, this is a book which is more focused on multilingual corpus linguistics than available corpus books While this volume is concerned mainly with English corpus linguistics, we also cover issues in multilingual corpus linguistics, and have one case study focusing on a language other than English

Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice

Abstract: Corpus linguistics is the study of language data on a large scale – the computer-aided analysis of very extensive collections of transcribed utterances or written texts This textbook outlines the basic methods of corpus linguistics, explains how the discipline of corpus linguistics developed and surveys the major approaches to the use of corpus data It uses a broad range of examples to show how corpus data has led to methodological and theoretical innovation in linguistics in general Clear and detailed explanations lay out the key issues of method and theory in contemporary corpus linguistics A structured and coherent narrative links the historical development of the field to current topics in 'mainstream' linguistics Practical tasks and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter encourage students to test their understanding of what they have read and an extensive glossary provides easy access to definitions of technical terms used in the text

A corpus-based approach to discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UN and newspaper texts.

Abstract: A corpus-based analysis of discourses of refugees and asylum seekers was carried out on data taken from a range of British newspapers and texts from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees website, both published in 2003. Concordances of the terms refugee(s) and asylum seeker(s) were examined and grouped along patterns which revealed linguistic traces of discourses. Discourses which framed refugees as packages, invaders, pests or water were found in newspaper texts, although there were also cases of negative discourses found in the UNHCR texts, revealing how difficult it is to disregard dominant discourses. Lexical choice was found to be an essential aspect of maintaining discourses of asylum seekers — collocational analyses of terms like failed vs. rejected revealed the underlying attitudes of the writers towards the subject.

Collocations in context:a new perspective on collocation networks

Abstract: The idea that text in a particular field of discourse is organized into lexical patterns, which can be visualized as networks of words that collocate with each other, was originally proposed by Phillips (1983). This idea has important theoretical implications for our understanding of the relationship between the lexis and the text and (ultimately) between the text and the discourse community/the mind of the speaker. Although the approaches to date have offered different possibilities for constructing collocation networks, we argue that they have not yet successfully operationalized some of the desired features of such networks. In this study, we revisit the concept of collocation networks and introduce GraphColl, a new tool developed by the authors that builds collocation networks from user-defined corpora. In a case study using data from McEnery’s (2006a) study of the Society for the Reformation of Manners Corpus (SRMC), we demonstrate that collocation networks provide important insights into meaning relationships in language.

Natural Language Processing with Python

Abstract: This book offers a highly accessible introduction to natural language processing, the field that supports a variety of language technologies, from predictive text and email filtering to automatic summarization and translation. With it, you'll learn how to write Python programs that work with large collections of unstructured text. You'll access richly annotated datasets using a comprehensive range of linguistic data structures, and you'll understand the main algorithms for analyzing the content and structure of written communication. Packed with examples and exercises, Natural Language Processing with Python will help you: Extract information from unstructured text, either to guess the topic or identify "named entities" Analyze linguistic structure in text, including parsing and semantic analysis Access popular linguistic databases, including WordNet and treebanks Integrate techniques drawn from fields as diverse as linguistics and artificial intelligence This book will help you gain practical skills in natural language processing using the Python programming language and the Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) open source library. If you're interested in developing web applications, analyzing multilingual news sources, or documenting endangered languages -- or if you're simply curious to have a programmer's perspective on how human language works -- you'll find Natural Language Processing with Python both fascinating and immensely useful.

What is Narrative Analysis

Abstract: Recording of presentation introducing narrative analysis, outlining what it is, why it can be a useful approach, how to do it and where to find out more. Presentation given at methods@manchester seminar at University of Manchester on 4 March 2010.