Using Corpora to Analyze Gender

Description

Corpus linguistics uses specialist software to identify linguistic patterns in large computerised collections of text - patterns which then must be interpreted and explained by human researchers. This book critically explores how corpus linguistics techniques can help analysis of language and gender by conducting a number of case studies on topics which include: directives in spoken conversations, changes in sexist and non-sexist language use over time, personal adverts, press representation of gay men, and the ways that boys and girls are constructed through language. The book thus covers both gendered usage (e.g. how do males and females use language differently, or not, from each other), and gendered representations (e.g. in what ways are males and females written or spoken about). Additionally, the book shows ways that readers can either explore their own hypotheses, or approach the corpus from a "naive" position, letting the data drive their analysis from the outset. The book covers a range of techniques and measures including frequencies, keywords, collocations, dispersion, word sketches, downsizing and triangulation, all in an accessible style.

Paul Baker is Professor of English Language in the Department of Linguistics and Modern English language at Lancaster University, UK

The author does a splendid job of providing food for thought for both corpus linguistics and gender researchers alike. The book as a whole is well written and very accessible ... Each chapter provides stimulating research on gender and language (for the corpus linguist) and a useful description of corpus linguistic approaches to language (for the researcher in gender and language). * International Journal of Corpus Linguistics * [In Using Corpora to Analyze Gender] Baker examines very thoroughly the issue of male and female differences in language, perhaps one of the most convincing interrogations of this issue that I have read ... This impressive book gives a thorough introduction to the use of corpora in gender and language research ... and offers insights about data interpretation that are essential for all gender and language research. * Gender and Language * Written in what is now Baker's familiar, accessible style ... [This book] will satisfy corpus linguistics wanting to explore and write about questions relating to language and gender. * Discourse Studies * Strongly recommended ... A range of techniques and measures are discussed in the book ... all in an accessible style with the help of case studies ... [Q]uite manageable and pleasant to read. * Linguist List * Paul Baker's excellent introductory book effectively shows how corpus linguistics can be used to study language and gender. Employing contemporary real-life research case studies Baker shows, on the one hand, how people interested in Gender and Language can make use of corpora in their work, and, on the other hand, how corpus linguists who are not already familiar with Gender and Language studies might examine gender in their corpus work. -- John Flowerdew, Professor, Department of English, City University of Hong Kong If you want to know what corpus linguistics can offer to sociolinguists interested in the relationship between language and gender, this book is the answer. I found it hard to put down. Written in a wonderfully accessible style, it provides detailed examples of the challenging questions, messy data, and satisfying, though often approximate, answers that corpus linguistics can provide. It confronts researchers with the real nitty-gritty of the challenges and rewards of each step of a corpus linguistics project. Researchers and students will both find it invaluable. -- Janet Holmes, Professor of Linguistics, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand