- Lexical Studies Month – 9th February to 13th March
- Lexical Studies Conference 1 – 19th-20th February
- Lexical Studies Conference 2 – 10th-11th March
- Corpus Research Day – Thursday 12th March
- Conference slides – RESTRICTED ACCESS
Lexical Studies Month 2015 (PDF)
For more information on the Lexical
WHEN/WHERE♠ |
EVENTS/DETAILS |
ORGANISER♣ |
OPEN TO… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tues 10th Feb 16.30-17.00 JP 3.66 |
INTRODUCTIONS, COFFEE AND CAKES | Tess Fitzpatrick | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors |
| Weds 11th Feb 11.00-12.00 JP1.52 |
READING GROUP:∗ “Speaking our minds” by Thom Scott-Phillips |
Liz Irvine | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors (by arrangement with organiser) |
| Weds 11th Feb 12.10-13.00 JP 3.58 |
CLCR RESEARCH SEMINAR: “Phonological dyslexia as a reading specific impairment: Evidence, current debate and future directions for an old hypothesis” – Jeremy Tree (Swansea University) |
Tereza Spilioti | ALL |
| Mon 16th Feb 14.00-16.00 JP 2.04a/b |
DISCUSSION/READING GROUP: “Why stop at imagability? The role of the senses in word knowledge”♥ |
Tess Fitzpatrick and Peter Thwaites | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors [preparatory reading required!] |
| Tues 17th Feb 15.00-17.00 JP 3.58 |
DISCUSSION/READING GROUP: “How much can the body and the senses tell us about language processing? Simulation-based models.”♦ |
Tess Fitzpatrick and Peter Thwaites | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors [preparatory reading required!] |
| Weds 18th Feb 11.00-12.00 JP1.52 |
READING GROUP:∗ “Speaking our minds” by Thom Scott-Phillips |
Liz Irvine | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors (by arrangement with organiser) |
| Weds 18th Feb 12.10-13.00 JP 3.58 |
CLCR RESEARCH SEMINAR: “Incidental Vocabulary Learning Through Watching Television” Michael Rodgers (Nottingham University) |
Tereza Spilioti | ALL |
| Weds 18th Feb 14.30-17.30 JP 3.58 |
WORKSHOP: “Modelling lexical acquisition and attrition” Alison Wray (Cardiff University) |
Alison Wray | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors |
| 19th-20th Feb St Michael’s College, Llandaff, Cardiff |
CONFERENCE 1 Guest speakers – Chris Hall (York St John University) Paul Meara (Cardiff University). See separate programme |
Tess Fitzpatrick | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors; registered conference delegates (registration fee applies) |
| Mon 23rd Feb 10.30-13.00 JP102 |
WORKSHOP: Visualising data workshop (Gephi) Paul Meara (Cardiff University) |
Paul Meara and Dawn Knight | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors |
| Weds 25th Feb 12.10-13.00 JP 3.58 |
CLCR RESEARCH SEMINAR: “Power law or plateau: In pursuit of syllable similarities” Todd Bailey (Cardiff University) |
Tereza Spilioti | ALL |
| Tues 26th Feb 10.00-10.50 (lecture) 12.10-13.00 (Q&A) JP 2.48 |
UNDERGRADUATE LECTURE: Language Learning and Teaching lecture Aran Jones (Say Something in…) |
Tess Fitzpatrick | UGs taking module SE1329; Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors (by arrangement with organiser) |
| Weds 4th March 11.00-12.00 JP1.52 |
READING GROUP:∗ “Speaking our minds” by Thom Scott-Phillips |
Liz Irvine | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors (by arrangement with organiser) |
| 10th-11th March St Michael’s College, Llandaff, Cardiff |
CONFERENCE 2: Guest speakers – Mike McCarthy (Nottingham University), Paul Meara (Cardiff University). See separate programme |
Tess Fitzpatrick | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors; registered conference delegates (registration fee applies) |
| Thurs 12th March St Michael’s College, Llandaff, Cardiff |
CORPUS RESEARCH DAY: Dawn Knight (Cardiff University), Laurence Anthony (Waseda University), Mike McCarthy (Nottingham University), Paul Thompson (University of Birmingham) |
Dawn Knight | Cardiff University staff, PGRs and academic visitors |
♠ JP = John Percival Building, Cardiff University (number 16 on the map at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/locations/ )
♣ The default contacts for Lexical Studies Month events are Helen Clifford cliffordh@cf.ac.uk and Tess Fitzpatrick fitzpatrickt@cf.ac.uk
♥ In advance of this session, participants should read Connell, L., and Lynott, D. (2012). Strength of perceptual experience predicts word processing performance better than concreteness or imageability. Cognition, 125(3), 452-465.
♦ In advance of this session, participants should read Bergen, B., Lau, T. T. C., Narayan, S., Stojanovic, D., & Wheeler, K. (2010). Body part representations in verbal semantics. Memory & cognition, 38(7), 969-981
∗ In advance of these sessions, participants should read the relevant section of Thom Scott-Phillips ‘Speaking our Minds’. http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/speaking-our-minds-thom-scottphillips/?K=9781137334565 . Please contact Liz Irvine at elizabethirv@gmail.com to arrange attendance at these events.
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Lexical Studies Conference 1
Keynote speakers:
 Chris Hall (York St John University) |
| Parasitic connections in the multilingual lexicon In this presentation I review evidence for the Parasitic Model of lexical development, a conceptual framework for understanding the cognitive processes and representations involved in the earliest stages of word learning in a second or subsequent language (cf. Hall, 2002; Sills & Hall, 2005; Hall et al. 2009; Hall & Reyes, 2009; Ecke, 2014). In the model, the grammatical frame (or “lemma”) level of lexical knowledge plays a key role, as the default ‘hub’ around which learning (and loss) typically pivot. I present evidence from the analysis of written L2 production, patterns of inter-generational loss, and grammaticality judgement tests in L2 and L3 learning. I consider also the role of cognate forms, typological proximity, and proficiency level. I conclude with some remarks about teaching implications and ontological challenges. References Ecke, P. (2014). Parasitic vocabulary acquisition, cross-linguistic influence, and lexical retrieval in multilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, first view. doi:10.1017/S1366728913000722. Hall, C. J. (2002). The automatic cognate form assumption: Evidence for the Parasitic Model of vocabulary development. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 69-87. Hall, C. J., Newbrand, D., Ecke, P., Sperr. U., Marchand, V. & Hayes, L. (2009). Learners’ implicit assumptions about syntactic frames in new L3 words: The role of cognates, typological proximity and L2 status. Language Learning, 59, 1, 153-202. Hall, C. J. & Reyes, A. (2009). Cross-linguistic influence in L2 verb frames: the effects of word familiarity and language proficiency. In Benati, A. & Roehr, K. (Ed.), Issues in second language proficiency (pp. 24-44). London: Continuum. Sills, R. & Hall, C. J. (2005). Cambios léxicos en el véneto: una perspectiva psicolingüística. Lingüística Mexicana, II, 2, 277-293. |
 Paul Meara (Cardiff University) |
|
Lexical Choices: an Exploration of Aizawa’s Problem This paper describes some of my recent work on minimal vocabulary tests. Specifically it describes a test of Lexical Originality – the unique lexical choices that people make when they use words. The paper decribes some of the thinking that went into developing a simple test for Originality and some of the issues that this test format raises.
The paper is designed to stimulate a discussion around these wider questions. |
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Lexical Studies Conference 2
 Michael McCarthy (The University of Nottingham) |
| Collocation and the learner: wading into the depths In this talk, I use evidence from the error-coded segment of the Cambridge Learner Corpus to examine three persistent problem areas under the general heading of collocation: (1) delexical verb collocations (verbs such as make, take, get and their nominal complements), where progress in depth of knowledge can be observed among learners at the different levels of the CEFR, but where interesting problems remain, even at the highest levels (2) binomial ordering, where problems with the ordering of fixed binomial expressions (e.g. safe and sound, peace and quiet) persist among learners at the various levels of the CEFR (3) tautological collocations, where (near-)synonymous words are collocated in unexpected ways (e.g. a stench smell, urban cities), which also persist at the higher levels. I discuss possible approaches to these different issues in teaching. |
 Paul Meara (Cardiff University) |
| ABSTRACT – COMING SOON |
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Corpus Research Day
Programme and Book of Abstracts – available here.
St Michael’s College, Llandaff, Cardiff – all sessions will be held in the Old Library unless stated otherwise.
| 0930-1030 | KEYNOTE 1: “Key concepts in spoken grammar” Michael McCarthy (The University of Nottingham) |
| 1030-1100 | Tea/coffee break |
| 1100-1200 | KEYNOTE 2: “Corpus approaches to the language of interdisciplinary research articles” Paul Thompson (The University of Birmingham) |
| 1200-1230 | DISCUSSION |
| 1230-1330 | Lunch |
| 1330-1500 | WORKSHOP 2: “Analyzing Corpora with AntConc: From Basics to Best Practice” Laurence Anthony (Waseda University, Japan) |
| 1500-1530 | Tea/coffee break |
| 1530-1630 | WORKSHOP 2: Details to follow Dawn Knight (Cardiff University) |
| 1630-1700 | FINAL DISCUSSION/CLOSE |
Keynote speakers and contributors:
 Michael McCarthy (The University of Nottingham) |
| Key concepts in spoken grammar It is now 20 years since the first articles calling a shift of emphasis towards spoken grammars in language teaching began to appear in the applied linguistics literature. In this talk, I consider some of the main findings of corpus investigations into spoken grammar, focusing on several core interactive features of everyday conversation and examine these in terms of how they differ from typical written forms. Spoken grammars reveal a distinct set of features relating to the interpersonal stratum which underlies successful face-to-face communication. It is this stratum which, in the past, was often absent from language teaching materials and approaches to the teaching of speaking and the teaching of grammar. |
 Paul Thompson (The University of Birmingham) |
| Corpus approaches to the language of interdisciplinary research articles Investigating interdisciplinary research discourse: the case of Global Environmental Change’ (IDRD) is a cooperation between the Centre for Corpus Research, University of Birmingham and the international scientific publisher, Elsevier, and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK). The project focuses on the discourse of interdisciplinary research. We are employing a number of data-driven approaches to our corpus, which is made up of articles from eleven journals, six journals representing interdisciplinary research and five representing discipline-specific research. We are interested to find out, among other things, what can be found out by building up linguistic feature profiles and then seeing how the texts cluster. How do the texts cluster, and how can we account for the clustering? Do they cluster by research approach, by topic, or by discipline?In this talk, I will discuss the results of a topic modelling exercise that we carried out on the data. Topic modelling is a machine learning technique that identifies ‘topics’ in a given corpus. We assume that a document consists of multiple topics with varying probability, and topic modelling estimates the distribution of topic probability in each document. From a topic model, we can then extract keywords of each topic, as well as the distribution of topics in each document, and we can cluster texts along different parameters. I will describe the procedures and then evaluate the results, both in terms of what they tell us about research discourse and in terms of how effective the technique is as a way of identifying useful keywords.We also hypothesise that interdisciplinary research is typically ‘outward-facing’ in the sense that writers show an awareness of the needs of a readership that extends beyond their own discipline. To investigate this, we are looking at the uses of what have been called signalling nouns (Flowerdew and Forest 2015) or labelling nouns (Francis 1986); we do this first by determining their frequency and then analysing the ways that they are used, in one particular interdisciplinary journal, ‘Global Environmental Change’. The analyses indicate that writers generally are concerned to provide textual signals for their readers and that one of the more frequently used such nouns in this journal is ‘example’. |
 Laurence Anthony (Waseda University, Japan) |
| Analyzing Corpora with AntConc: From Basics to Best Practices In this workshop, I will first provide a short history on corpus linguistics tool development highlighting the role that tools have played in the advancement of the field. Next, I will demonstrate some of the basic tools that corpus linguists use to analyze language data, including Key Word in Context (KWIC) concordancing, KWIC concordance plotting, cluster, n-gram, and collocate analyses, as well as word and keyword frequency generation. In real-world corpus linguistics studies, researchers often struggle to get corpus tools to provide the results they need. This may be because of mixed character encodings in the text files, the lack of part-of-speech tags in a corpus, or a host of other issues. To overcome these problems, the last part of the workshop will focus on some best practices in corpus linguistics research that will help researchers to quickly and easily analyze corpora in the way they want. For all the demonstrations and explanations of best practices, I will use the freeware, multiplatform corpus toolkit AntConc and several other freeware tools that I have developed. |
 Dawn Knight (Cardiff University) |
| WORKSHOP/PAPER DETAILS – COMING SOON |