Gaëtanelle Gilquin is a Professor of English language and linguistics at the University of Louvain, Belgium. She is a co-director of the Centre for English Corpus Linguistics and the coordinator of several corpus projects. Her research interests include the use of (native and learner) corpora for the description and teaching of languages, as well as the comparison of Learner Englishes and New Englishes. She is also interested in the combination of corpus and experimental data, and more generally in the integration of corpus and cognitive linguistics.

ABSTRACT

CORPUS AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA: THE (ALMOST) PERFECT PAIR IN LINGUISTIC RESEARCH

Empirical approaches to the study of language include corpus linguistics and experimentation. Each of these approaches has often been used by linguists, but less often in combination with each other. In this talk, I will show how and why corpora and experiments can usefully be combined with each other in linguistic research. I will start by briefly describing the two types of data as well as their similarities and differences, emphasizing the fact that they represent a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy. I will then outline the main advantages of using them in combination with each other, by showing how this makes it possible to capitalize on the strengths of each approach and to compensate for their respective limitations. The challenges linked to the combined use of corpora and experimentation will also be highlighted, followed by suggestions as to how these challenges can be met. Finally, relying on Gilquin & Gries (2009), I will present some tendencies about the way corpus and experimental data are combined with each other (by whom? on what topics? with what experimental methods? etc.).

Reference

Gilquin, G. & Gries, S.T. 2009. Corpora and experimental methods: A state-of-the-art review. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 5(1), 1-26.