ERIC Number: EJ731676
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 11
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0889-4906
EISSN: N/A
The Case of Perrin and Thomson: An Example of the Use of a Mini-Corpus
Banks, David
English for Specific Purposes, v24 n2 p201-211 2005
Although recent trends have been towards large corpora, there is a valid place for the study of small corpora. This article is an example of one such study using a corpus of late 19th century texts, consisting of 1783 words in French by Perrin, and 2824 words in English by Thomson. Perrin uses more first person pronouns in a wider range of processes than Thomson. Thomson uses more passives than Perrin, and includes "by"-phrases more frequently. He also uses copula "be" more frequently than Perrin uses copula "etre"; and he uses nominalized verbs to a greater extent. When themes and subjects are considered, Perrin has a bias towards the human category, whereas Thomson's bias is abstract. Perrin uses italics for the purpose of highlighting; Thomson never does this. On all of the parameters studied, Thomson's writing seems closer to the parameters of the contemporary research article. The results of this study of a mini-corpus fit into a paradigm of the development of the scientific research article.
Descriptors: Academic Discourse, Discourse Analysis, French, English, Form Classes (Languages), Verbs, Word Frequency, Scientific Research, Journal Articles
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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