Corpora in applied linguistics:Broadening the agenda

Abstract

In April 2021, Aston University hosted the BAAL/Cambridge University Press seminar, Corpora in Applied Linguistics: Broadening the Agenda. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the seminar, originally scheduled to take place at the Aston University campus, was hosted online. It was organised by Robbie Love (Aston University), Gavin Brookes (Lancaster University) and Niall Curry (Coventry University). The aim of the seminar was to bring together researchers who are using corpora in Applied Linguistics (broadly defined); to facilitate discussion of the ways in which corpora are used in contemporary Applied Linguistics research, and how these may be used in future; and to explore the opportunities and challenges of engaging with stakeholders and achieving impact within applied corpus linguistic research. There were over 200 registered participants from around the world, and the programme featured two plenary talks, 12 research papers and a panel discussion. The topics represented by the presentations in the programme included education, forensic linguistics, health (including Covid-19), oral histories, social media, and tourism.