Cover not available
Article published In:
Constructions in Applied Linguistics
Edited by Susan Hunston and Florent Perek
[International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 24:3] 2019
► pp. 291–323

Construction Grammar and the corpus-based analysis of discourses

The case of the WAY IN WHICH construction

| University of Birmingham

Construction grammar (CxG) initially arose as a usage-based alternative to nativist theoretical accounts of language, and remains to this day strongly associated with cognitive linguistic theory and research. In this paper, however, I argue that CxG can be seen as offering an equally viable general framework for socially-oriented linguists whose work focuses on the corpus-based analysis of discourses (CBADs). The paper begins with brief reviews of CxG and CBADs as distinctive research traditions, before going on to identify synergies (both potential and actual) between them. I then offer a more detailed case study example, focusing on a usage-based analysis of a newly identified construction, the WAY IN WHICH construction, as it occurs in corpora representing six different academic discourses. The paper concludes by rebutting some anticipated objections to the approach advocated here, and by proposing a new conceptual model for constructionist approaches to CBADs.

Keywords: Construction Grammar, discourse analysis, discourses, phraseology
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Construction Grammar
  • 3.The corpus-based analysis of discourses
  • 4.Previous applications of CxG to CBADs
  • 5.Case study: Epistemological variation and the WAY IN WHICH construction
    • 5.1A closer look at the WAY IN WHICH construction
    • 5.2Data and methods
    • 5.3Quantitative analysis
    • 5.4Qualitative analysis
  • 6.Remaining issues and objections
    • 6.1Terminological issues
    • 6.2Objections to CxG’s ‘cognitive commitment’
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 August 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.00014.gro
References
Aijmer, K.
(2015) General extenders in learner language. In N. Groom, M. Charles & S. John (Eds.), Corpora, Grammar and Discourse: In Honour of Susan Hunston (pp. 211–234). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) Pragmatic markers as constructions. The case of anyway . In G. Kaltenböck, E. Keizer & A. Lohmann (Eds.), Outside the Clause: Form and Function of Extra-clausal Constituents (pp. 29–58). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018) Corpus pragmatics: From form to function. In A. H. Jucker, K. P. Schneider & W. Bublitz (Eds.), Methods in Pragmatics (pp. 555–586). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anthony, L.
(2018) AntConc (Version 3.5.0 for Mac OSX). [Computer software]. Retrieved from [URL] (last accessed July 2019).
Antonopoulou, E., & Nikiforidou, K.
(2011) Construction grammar and conventional discourse: A construction-based approach to discoursal incongruity. Journal of Pragmatics, 43 (10), 2594–2609. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, P.
(2006) Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Baker, P., & McEnery, T.
(Eds.) (2015) Corpora and Discourse Studies: Integrating Discourse and Corpora. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Becher, T., & Trowler, P.
(2001) Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Culture of Disciplines (2nd ed.). Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.Google Scholar
Bergs, A., & Diewald, G.
(Eds.) (2009) Contexts and Constructions. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Connor, U., & Upton, T. A.
(2007) Discourse on the Move: Using Corpus Analysis to Describe Discourse Structure. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Cortes, V.
(2004) If you look at … : Lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks.’ Applied Linguistics, 25 (3), 371–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E.
(1999) The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Biglan, A.
(1973a) The characteristics of subject matter in different scientific areas. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57 (3), 195–203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1973b) Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57 (3), 204–213. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boas, H. C.
(2013) Cognitive Construction Grammar. In T. Hoffman & G. Trousdale (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar (pp. 233–252). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Boas, H. C., & Sag, I.
(Eds.) (2012) Sign-based Construction Grammar. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Brookes, G., & Harvey, K.
(2016) Examining the discourse of mental illness in a corpus of online advice-seeking messages. In L. Pickering, E. Friginal, & S. Staples (Eds.) Talking at Work: Corpus-based Explorations of Workplace Discourse (pp. 209–234). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cappelle, B.
(2006) Particle placement and the case for ‘allostructions’. Constructions. Retrieved from [URL] (last accessed April 2019).
Charles, M.
(2006) Phraseological patterns in reporting clauses used in citation: A corpus-based study of theses in two disciplines. English for Specific Purposes, 25 (3), 310–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cortes, V.
(2004) Lexical bundles in published and student disciplinary writing: Examples from history and biology. English for Specific Purposes, 23 (4), 397–423. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cowie, A. P.
(1998) Phraseology: Theory, Analysis and Applications. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Croft, W., & Cruse, D. A.
(2004) Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Durrant, P.
(2017) Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation in university students’ writing: Mapping the territories. Applied Linguistics, 38 (2), 165–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C.
(2003) Constructions, chunking, and connectionism: The emergence of second language structure. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 63–103). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C., Römer, U., & O’Donnell, M. B.
(2016) Usage-based Approaches to Language Acquisition and Processing: Cognitive and Corpus Investigations of Construction Grammar. Malden, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Evans, V., & Green, M.
(2006) Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J.
(2013) Berkeley Construction Grammar. In T. Hoffmann & G. Trousdale (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar (pp. 111–132). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J., & Kay, P.
(1995) Construction Grammar. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J., Kay, P., & O’Connor, M. C.
(1988) Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions: The case of let alone . Language, 64 (3), 501–538. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fischer, K.
(2015) Conversation, construction grammar, and cognition. Language and Cognition, 7 (4), 563–588. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Foucault, M.
(1970) The Order of Things. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
(1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Fried, M., & Östman, J.-O.
(2005) Construction Grammar and spoken language: The case of pragmatic particles. Journal of Pragmatics, 37 (11), 1752–1778. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gabrielatos, C., & Baker, P.
(2008) Fleeing, sneaking, flooding: A corpus analysis of discursive constructions of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK Press 1996–2005. Journal of English Linguistics, 36 (1), 5–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gee, J. P.
(2014) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method (4th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gilquin, G.
(2015) The use of phrasal verbs by French-speaking EFL learners. A constructional and collostructional corpus-based approach. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 11 (1), 51–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gledhill, C.
(2000) Collocations in Science Writing. Tubingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
(2011) The ‘lexicogrammar’ approach to analysing phraseology and collocation in ESP texts. Anglais de Spécialité, 59 1, 5–23.Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E.
(1995) Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Granger, S., & Paquot, M.
(2008) Disentangling the phraseological web. In S. Granger & F. Meunier (Eds.), Phraseology: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (pp. 27–50). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gries, S. T.
(2008) Phraseology and linguistic theory: A brief survey. In S. Granger & F. Meunier (Eds.), Phraseology: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (pp. 3–25). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gries, S. T., & Stefanowitsch, A.
(2004) Extending collostructional analysis: A corpus-based perspectives on ‘alternations’. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 9 (1), 97–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gries, S. T., & Wulff, S.
(2005) Do foreign language learners also have constructions? Evidence from priming, sorting and corpora. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 3 1, 182–200. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Groom, N., & Grieve, J.
(2019) The evolution of a legal genre: Rhetorical moves in British patent specifications, 1711 to 1860. In T. Fanego & P. Rodríguez-Puente (Eds.), Corpus-based Research on Variation in English Legal Discourse (pp. 201–234). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hilpert, M.
(2013) Constructional Change in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Construction Grammar and its Application to English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
(2018) Three open questions in diachronic construction grammar. In E. Coussé, P. Andersson & J. Olofsson (Eds.), Grammaticalization Meets Construction Grammar (pp. 21–39). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hiltunen, T.
(2010) Grammar and Disciplinary Culture: A Corpus-based Study. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.Google Scholar
Hoey, M.
(2005) Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hoey, M., & O’Donnell, M. B.
(2008) Lexicography, grammar, and textual position. International Journal of Lexicography, 21 (3), 293–309. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) Examining associations between lexis and textual position in hard news stories, or according to a study by … In N. Groom, M. Charles & S. John (Eds.), Corpora, Grammar and Discourse: In Honour of Susan Hunston (pp. 117–144). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, S., Evert, S., Smith, N., Lee, D. Y. W., & Berglund, Y.
(2008) Corpus Linguistics with BNCweb: A Practical Guide. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Hoffmann, T., & Bergs, A.
(2018) A construction grammar approach to genre. CogniTextes, 18 1. Retrieved from [URL] (last accessed April 2019). DOI logo
Hoffmann, T., & Trousdale, G.
(Eds.) (2013) The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hunston, S.
(2002) Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyland, K.
(2008) As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes, 27 (1), 4–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jaworska, S.
(2016) Using a corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) approach to investigate constructions of identities in media reporting surrounding mega sports events: The case of the London Olympics 2012. In I. R. Lamond & L. Platt (Eds.), Critical Event Studies: Approaches to Research (pp. 149–174). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Jing-Schmidt, Z.
(2017) What are they good for? A constructionist account of counterfactuals in ordinary Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics, 113 (1), 30–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jing-Schmidt, Z. & X. Peng
(2016) The emergence of disjunction: A history of constructionalization in Chinese. Cognitive Linguistics, 27 (1), 101–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kay, P.
(2002) An informal sketch of a formal architecture for construction grammar. Grammars, 5 (1), 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2004) Pragmatic aspects of grammatical constructions. In L. R. Horn & G. Ward (Eds.), The Handbook of Pragmatics (pp. 675–700). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kerz, E., & Wiechmann, D.
(2016) Second language construction learning: Investigating domain-specific adaptation in advanced L2 production. Language and Cognition, 8 (4), 533–565. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koester, A.
(2012) Corpora and workplace discourse. In K. Hyland, M. H. Chau & M. Handford (Eds.), Corpus Applications in Applied Linguistics: Current Approaches and Future Directions (pp. 47–64). London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Kopaczyk, J., & Tyrkkö, J.
(Eds.) (2018) Applications of Pattern-driven Methods in Corpus Linguistics. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G.
(1987) Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lambrecht, K.
(1994) Information Structure and Sentence Form: A Theory of Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representation of Discourse Referents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linell, P.
(2009) Grammatical constructions in dialogue. In A. Bergs & G. Diewald (Eds.), Contexts and Constructions (pp. 97–110). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Michaelis, L.
(2013) Sign-based construction grammar. In T. Hoffmann & G. Trousdale (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar (pp. 133–152). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Michaelis, L., & Lambrecht, K.
(1996) Toward a construction-based model of language function: The case of nominal extraposition. Language, 72 (2), 215–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morton, T., Walsh, S., & O’Keeffe, A.
(2011) Analyzing university spoken interaction: A corpus linguistics/conversation analysis approach. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 16 (3), 326–345.Google Scholar
Nikiforidou, K., & Fischer, K.
(2016) On the interaction of constructions with register and genre. Constructions and Frames, 7 (2), 137–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oakey, D.
(2008) The Form and Function of Fixed Collocational Patterns in Research Articles in Different Academic Disciplines (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.Google Scholar
(2009) Fixed collocational patterns in isolexical and isotextual versions of a corpus. In P. Baker (Ed.), Contemporary Corpus Linguistics (pp. 140–58). London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Orpin, D.
(2005) Corpus Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis: Examining the ideology of sleaze. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 10 (1), 37–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Östman, J.-O.
(2005) Construction discourse: A prolegomenon. In J.-O. Östman & M. Fried (Eds.), Construction Grammars: Cognitive Grounding and Theoretical Extensions (pp. 121–44). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Östman, J.-O., & Trousdale, G.
(2013) Dialects, discourse, and Construction Grammar. In T. Hoffmann & G. Trousdale (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar (pp. 476–490). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Partington, A., Duguid, A., & Taylor, C.
(2013) Patterns and Meanings in Discourse: Theory and Practice in Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Patten, A.
(2012) The English It-cleft: A Constructional Account and a Diachronic Investigation. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phraseology
n.d). In the Oxford Online Dictionary. Retrieved from [URL] (last accessed July 2019).
(2016) Using distributional semantics to study syntactic productivity in diachrony: A case study. Linguistics, 54 (1), 149–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Potts, A., Bednarek, M., & Caple, H.
(2015) How can computer-based methods help researchers to investigate news values in large datasets? A corpus linguistic study of the construction of newsworthiness in the reporting on Hurricane Katrina. Discourse & Communication, 9 (2), 149–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Römer, U., O’Donnell, M. B., & Ellis, N. C.
(2015) Using COBUILD grammar patterns for a large-scale analysis of verb-argument constructions: Exploring corpus data and speaker knowledge. In N. Groom, M. Charles & S. John (eds.). Corpora, Grammar and Discourse: In Honour of Susan Hunston (pp. 43–71). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rühlemann, C.
(2014) Narrative in English Conversation: A Corpus Analysis of Storytelling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
(2018) Corpus Linguistics for Pragmatics: A Guide for Research. Abingdon: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rühlemann, C., & Clancy, B.
(2018) Corpus linguistics and pragmatics. In C. Ilie & N. R. Norrick (Eds.), Pragmatics and its Interfaces (pp. 241–266). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, J. M.
(1991) Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1996) The search for units of meaning. Textus, 9 (1), 75–106.Google Scholar
(2004) Trust the Text: Language, Corpus and Discourse. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A., & Gries, S. T.
(2003) Collostructions: Investigating the interaction between words and constructions. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 8 (2), 209–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stubbs, M.
(1997) Whorf’s children: Critical comments on critical discourse analysis (CDA). In A. Ryan & A. Wray (Eds.), Evolving Models of Language (pp. 100–116). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Tadros, A.
(1994) Predictive categories in expository text. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Advances in Written Text Analysis (pp. 69–82). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. & Marchi, A.
(Eds.) (2018) Corpus Approaches to Discourse: A Critical Review. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Teubert, W.
(2005) My version of corpus linguistics. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 10 (1), 1–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Meaning, Discourse and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toolan, M.
(1997) What is critical discourse analysis and why are people saying such terrible things about it? Language and Literature, 6 (2), 83–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Narrative Progression in the Short Story: A Corpus Stylistic Approach. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, E. C., & Trousdale, G.
(2013) Constructionalization and Constructional Changes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Upton, T. A., & Cohen, M. A.
(2009) An approach to corpus-based discourse analysis: The move analysis as example. Discourse Studies, 11 (5), 585–605. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wulff, S., Stefanowitsch, A., & Gries, S. T.
(2007) Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans: Variety-specific meaning construction in the into-causative. In G. Radden, K. Köpcke, T. Berg & P. Siemund (Eds.), Aspects of Meaning Construction (pp. 265–81). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yoon, J. & Gries, S. T.
(2016) Corpus-based Approaches to Construction Grammar. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Hart, Christopher & Javier Marmol Queralto
2021. What can cognitive linguistics tell us about language-image relations? A multidimensional approach to intersemiotic convergence in multimodal texts. Cognitive Linguistics 32:4 ► pp. 529 ff. DOI logo
Janda, Laura A., Masako Fidler, Václav Cvrček & Anna Obukhova
2023. The case for case in Putin’s speeches. Russian Linguistics 47:1 ► pp. 15 ff. DOI logo
SUNG, MIN-CHANG
2023. Functional idiosyncrasies of suggesting constructions in British English. English Language and Linguistics 27:2 ► pp. 321 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.