-
Systemic
Functional Linguistics
-
The
noun phrase/nominal group
-
Referring
expressions (see below)
-
Electronic
language production (see KeyStroke
Project)
-
Computer-mediated
communication
-
Corpus
Linguistics
If
you are interested in coming to Cardiff to explore one (or more) of
these topics, please contact me
to discuss the opportunities offered at Cardiff University in terms of
MA studies, PhD research or collaboration.
Teaching
My teaching and research
interests (see
below) are in the fields of
Linguistics and Computer-mediated Communication. Whenever possible, I
like to merge these interests.
Currently
I teach the following
modules:
Functions
of Grammar (formerly
Describing Language)
This module presents a functional model of linguistic description:
Systemic Functional Linguistics. We develop an analytical
method of exploring particular lexical and grammatical choices and how
speakers use language as a resource for creating meaning. The main aim
of the module is to better understand both the meaning potential
available to speakers and how particular choices in meaning affect the
text.
If you
are interested in learning more about Systemic Functional Linguistics;
you can follow the links below. I won't reproduce a list of useful
links here since Mick O'Donnell's site has just about everything you
might want to know and I'll add a link here to some of the work that's
been done here at Cardiff University.
Mick
O'Donnell's SFL site
Some
writings on the Cardiff Grammar
(and more links)
Corpus Linguistics
This module
examines a variety of approaches to the study of language
behaviour in texts including: word meaning and use; grammatical
patterns; register description and variation. The module builds on
foundations developed in Year 2 in the areas of lexicology and
functional grammar. In this module, language corpora are explored as a
means of discovering linguistic patterns and relations and to test
existing theoretical views about language. The module also offers
students the opportunity to gain experience using basic tools and
resources in corpus linguistics.
Computer-Mediated
Communication
This module explores all forms of Computer Mediated
Communication
(CMC), or electronic language, from a variety of perspectives including
text analysis and Mode of Discourse. We consider the various
features of different types of CMC (including email, webpages,
Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and the main variables that influence this
digital form of text. In addition, the module covers a range of issues
in CMC, including the semiotic resources available as well as the
relationship between text, meaning and technology. No computer background is necessary
for this module and
students have the opportunity to learn things in the computer lab where
we do things like build web pages and create powerpoint presentations.
We do a lot of hands-on Internet exploring, learning about searching
online and stuff like that. I see much of CMC as a special kind of
multi-modal discourse.
I've
been an avid and eager
online
citizen since 1996 but my first introduction to computers was way back
in the early 1980s. I actually started out in Engineering and Computer
Science when I left high school, but when I discovered
Linguistics, I felt I had found my academic 'home'. I
am very interested in new technologies and Human-Computer
Interaction. So one of the things we look at is how we can
use some of the existing work on Multimodality.
We
also consider CMC in its
social
context which, for me, includes studying access and accessibility, the
screen as a visual space and its effect on reading, the notion of Time,
and Legal Issues and CMC crimes.
Research
Recently
I have become interested in cognitive processes and their relationship
to language choice. I'm pursuing this in two areas: keystroke logging
of spontaneous online chat and NLP (neuro-linguistics processing).
My main research
focus has been on
referring expressions, which includes personal reference. These
expressions are typically realized as nominal groups in the
lexicogrammar and so my research focusses on the unit of the nominal
group. I take a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem of how
Speakers refer to 'objects'. For me, this includes related fields of
linguistics study such as: corpus linguistics, computational
linguistics, lexis, lexicogrammar, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics
and psycholinguistics. Since the study of referring expressions is vast
and complex, my chosen area is post-modification in the nominal group,
or complex referring
expressions.
Information about
my PhD
Dissertation is
available here
REX:
a database of tagged Referring EXpressions
This database is still
largely
underconstruction, but follow the link for more information.
Fontaine, L. (2006) REX,
a database of
Referring EXpressions tagged with both functional and syntactic labels.
CD-ROM. Centre for Language and Communication Research, ENCAP, Cardiff
University.
Other areas of interest:
personal reference, functional grammar, the role of choice in language
production, keyboarded language (as opposed to spoken or written),
computer-mediated communication, systemic functional linguistics.
The
keystroke
project is a study of the human production of electronic language using
a keyboard (e.g. email, chat, Facebook, and other types of spontaneous,
personal computer-mediated communication). In this study, the analysis
would be based on the use of keystroke software (Inputlog)
which records all keystrokes made by the speaker.
The
main
research topics in the project include:
-
the
influence of "typed" language on linguistic choice
-
automatic
(‘online’ or ‘as it happens’)
language processing
-
typographical
errors
-
production
errors
-
evidence of
formulaic sequences
-
effects of
‘online language processing’ (synchronous real time
exchanges, e.g. chat) and ‘reflective language
processing’ (asynchronous exchanges, e.g. email, discussion
forums)
-
other
relevant topics arising from the data.
Student Research
Topics might include:
-
documenting
‘teen-talk’. Since the internet is one of the
primary communication modes for most teenagers/adolescents, the use of
keystroke logging software seems particularly relevant. So just what
are teenagers doing while they type?
-
describing electronic
language
production: What evidence is there of self-correction or repair work in
spontaneous chat? What kinds of ‘errors’ do
speakers make?
-
exploring multi-word
expressions and
collocations in spontaneous language
Publications
(2009) with Yves Kodratoff
and
Jérôme Azé, ''CorTag: a contextual
tagging of words within their sentences" in Information
Retrieval in Biomedicine : Natural Language Processing for Knowledge
Integration Violaine Prince and
Mathieu Roche (eds.) London: IGI Publishing. pp.177-189.
(2007) "The Variability of
Referring
Expressions : an alternative perspective on the noun phrase in
English" in LACUS Forum XXXIII – Variation.,Douglas
Coleman, William Sullivan, and Arle Lommel (eds.) pp. 159-170.
[available upon request]
(2006) “Where do
"we" fit in?
Linguistic Inclusion and Exclusion in a Virtual Community” In
Beyond Misunderstanding, the linguistic reconstruction of intercultural
communication. Kristin Bührig and Jan D. ten Thije (eds.) pp.
319-356, Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN
90-272-5387-0. [draft version]
(2005) “Une analyse
pragmatique des pronoms personnels : Etude d'un discours sur la
propagande raciste dans une communauté virtuelle”
in Linguistic Aspects of the Text of Propaganda Banks, David (Ed)
Harmattan: Paris. ISBN 2-296-00007-X. [pdf]
(2005) with M. Franova,
and Y.
Kodratoff “Une analyse récursive constructive pour
la recherche du sens du texte de
Spécialité” in Revue des Nouvelles
Technologies de l'Information RNTI, special issue on Text Mining.
Toulouse, France. ISBN 2-85428-702-9.
(2005)
“Napoléon
dans ses lettres à Joséphine: quand il la traite
de Vous” in Linguistic Signs of the Author's Presence, Banks,
David (Ed) Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-9083-6. [draft version available here]
(2004) "Textual Challenges
in Recursive
Texts" In Text and Texture: Systemic Functional viewpoints on the
nature and structure of text, Banks, David (ed) pp. 301-328, Paris :
Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-5812-6.
(2003) “Diasporic
Residue in
Québec : the use of personal pronouns in online personal
reviews of the film, 15 février 1839” In Souffles,
Migrations et diasporas, Les
Cahiers du CICLaS, n° 2 pp.
179-197. ISSN 1637-7060 Paris, France.
(2002) with Yves Kodratoff
"Comparaison
du rôle de la progression thématique et de la
texture conceptuelle chez des scientifiques anglophones et francophones
s'exprimant en Anglais" In Asp, La
revue du GERAS, 37-38, 2002,
pp. 59 - 83, 1246-8185 Bordeaux, France. [English
version]
Conference
Presentations
click
here for a list of my conference
presentations
back
to my staff page
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