Ní Mhocháin, R (2015) ‘…you can’t say that at work…’: discourse community influences on language. In: Invited talk: Universidad EAN, Bogota, Colombia.
Abstract
This paper, which is part of a data driven study utilising ESL (English as a Second Language) focus group data, explores the language used by the participants and asks the question can discourse communities influence language choice? The focus group discussion revolved around the participants’ experiences in both their language learning journey and their language use in Ireland. Participants were encouraged to share stories of their experiences, both the good and the bad, and detail their language learning influences as they saw them. Four focus groups were held each lasting between 60-90 minutes with 4-6 participants in each group totalling 20 participants overall. Two focus groups involved participants who were continuing to take language classes in Ireland as they felt their language was not sufficiently proficient for them to live a ‘normal’ life. The other two groups were made up of participants who were no longer taking language classes and living a ‘normal’ life in Ireland with little difficulty i.e. holding jobs, rearing children and socialising in the community. The length of time they had all been in Ireland varied from 6 months to 9 years with an average of 5 years. Corpus Linguistics (CL) is a key approach used in this study and is combined with Discourse Analysis (DA) in an iterative process which is aided by using Wmatrix, an online corpus tool. The paper introduces CL analysis and the online corpus analysis tool, Wmatrix, using data and initial findings from this study to illustrate its use.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PE English |
| Divisions: | School of Education |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2015 21:08 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Aug 2021 09:39 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/5625 |
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