Corpus Linguistics and ELF

Abstract

Corpus Linguistics and English as a Lingua Franca (henceforth respectively CL and ELF) have been strongly interrelated since their early stages; this is largely due to the assumption shared by scholars in both fields that empirical analysis of natural text(s) is an indispensable prerequisite for theoretical discussion – and vice versa. Such prerequisite is even more cogent if we bear in mind that the majority of the world's English users are non-native speakers of English and largely exploit it as their working language. Hence, sheer intuition-based methodology cannot give adequate account of the manifold actualizations of a language that systematically trespasses its national borders, imposing deep sociological, ethnographic and cultural considerations on everyday real-world language use.