Corpus Linguistics & Disciplinary Literacies Lab
Mission
The Corpus Linguistics and Disciplinary Literacies lab conducts research on discipline- and profession-specific genre practices, second language writing, and technology-based writing pedagogies. Founded in 2023, our lab draws on a variety of corpus linguistic and discourse analysis techniques and collaborates across the University of Memphis to apply our findings to pedagogical projects. Faculty-graduate students collaborations lie at the heart of all scholarly and pedagogical activities.
Current Members
Dr. J. Elliott Casal
jecasal@memphis.edu
Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of English
Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Intelligent Systems
Ghadi Matouq
gmlkbkbi@memphis.edu
PhD Student, Applied Linguistics, Department of English
Hana Alqabba
halqabba@memphis.edu
PhD Student, Applied Linguistics, Department of English
Publications and Presentations
Casal, J. E., & Yoon, J. (2023). Frame-based formulaic features in L2 writing pedagogy: Variants, functions, and student writer perceptions in academic writing. English for Specific Purposes, 71, 102-114.
Casal, J. E., Zhang, G., Matouq, G., & Alqabba, H. (Accepted/In Progress). ‘These results are inconsistent’: ‘This/these + shell noun’ patterns in Engineering theses and research articles. Journal of Second Language Studies Special Topic Issue ‘Corpus Linguistics and Second Language Studies.’
Alqabba, H., Matouq, G., & Casal, J. E. (Upcoming, March, 2024). Formulaic language in research articles and public facing summaries: A phrase-frame perspective. Paper to be presented at the 46th annual AAAL Conference, Houston, TX.
Matouq, G., & Casal, J. E. (Upcoming, March, 2024). Linguistic complexity in public-facing summaries of English language Linguistics studies: How researchers 'simplify’ their language. Poster to be presented at the 46th annual AAAL Conference, Houston, TX.
Ruggiero, D., & Casal, J. E. (2023 November). Ayúdame! Multilingualism, access, and health disparities: The importance of Spanish proficiency in the US healthcare system. NED talks, University of Memphis Ned McWherter Library.
Current Scholarly Projects
- Relationship between task complexity and writing complexity in genre-based writing instruction (with Dr. Rebecca Adams)
- Linguistic and rhetorical features of public-facing research summaries
- Cross-linguistic comparison of medical rhetoric and linguistic conventions in English/Spanish medical research (with Dr. Diana Ruggiero and Dr. Tori Thompson Peters)
- Linguistic variation in human and ChatGPT language across finance and medical domains (with Dr. Christopher Stewart and Dr. Alistair Windsor)
- Impacts of Concept-Based Language Instruction on teaching of reporting verbs and intertextuality in multilingual undergraduate student writers (with Dr. Yiran Xu)
Current Pedagogical Projects
- Instructor and student focus groups on GenAI and writing pedagogies in English (with Dr. Will Duffy)
- Data-Driven Learning for vocabulary learning in medical Spanish courses at UofM (with Dr. Diana Ruggiero)
- Graduate student research and language skills in MS programs in Data Science, Computer Science, and Information Systems at UofM (with Ming Cheng and Iratishe Madaki of Applied Linguistics in English; UofM Graduate College; UofM Intensive English for Internationals Program)
- Pedagogical affordances of Generative AI for L2 English writing (with Dr. Jungwan Yoon) and L2 Spanish writing (with Allen Woodall) instruction/learning