week 5 Using corpus analysis software to analyse specialised texts

What is a corpus?

          Corpus is a collection of naturally-occuring texts in a computer-readable format which can be retrieved and analyzed using corpus analysis software.    

Sources of specialized texts

-Printed materials

-Word document texts

-CD-Roms

-Texts on the web

-Online databases

Getting started with Antconc

1. Run the program

2. Open file (browse and select targeted files) or open Dir (to select targets files)

3. Choose the function.

4. Clear all Tool and Files before selecting opening new files.

5. Save Output to Text File to save output e.g. concordance lines.

Analyzing Specialized Corpus

1. Terminologies and collocation

2. Local grammar

3. Style

          - personification

          - use of passive structure 

4. Content knowledge

          - use of acronyms

          - use of 'known as'  and  'to be defined as'  to clarify terms.