Seminar: The Use of Corpora in Academic Writing: Research and Practice

The Use of Corpora in Academic Writing: Research and Practice

Professor Lynne Flowerdew
Honorary Research Fellow
School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication at Birkbeck
University of London

December 2, 2024 (Monday)
12:45 – 14:00
Room 408-410, Meng Wah Complex, HKU
Chair: Professor Clarence Green

Registration:https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=97631 

Abstract:
In this presentation, I will discuss the main ways in which corpora, including both freely available corpora and small, specialised corpora compiled by the classroom tutor, have been used for research and practice in academic writing. Learner/apprentice corpora of student writing also have a role to play and are often compared with expert corpora from the same discipline or genre. The following four key academic written genres representing a range of disciplines will be the focus of attention: report writing (at undergraduate and postgraduate level), thesis writing, writing for publication and research grant proposal writing. However, the use of corpora for academic writing research and instruction is not without drawbacks and these will also be discussed. A key consideration is how generative AI/ChatGPT is now impacting corpus research and practice.

About the speaker:
Lynne Flowerdew is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, Birkbeck, University of London. Prof. Flowerdew holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Liverpool, UK. Her main research and teaching interests include corpus linguistics, ESP/EAP (English for Specific Purposes/English for Academic Purposes), discourse analysis, genre analysis and L2/multilingual academic writing. She has published widely in these areas in international journals and edited volumes and has also authored and co-edited several books on corpus linguistics. She has served as a member of several international conference scientific committees and as an editorial board member of international journals in her fields of expertise.

~ All are welcome ~
For enquiries, please contact the Office of Research, Faculty of Education at hkchow@hku.hk