Multi-Dimensional Analysis, text constellations, and interdisciplinary discourse
Paul Thompson | University of Birmingham
Susan Hunston | University of Birmingham
Akira Murakami | University of Cambridge
Dominik Vajn
| University of Central Lancashire
Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) has been widely used to explore register variation. This paper reports on a project using MDA to explore the features of an interdisciplinary academic domain. Six dimensions of variation are identified in a corpus of 11,000 journal articles in environmental studies. We then focus on articles in one interdisciplinary journal, Global Environmental Change (GEC). It is expected that these articles will diverge sufficiently to produce differences that are analogous to register differences. Instead of identifying these “registers” on external criteria, we use the dimensional profiles of individual texts to identify ‘constellations’ of texts sharing combinations of features. Six such constellations are derived, consisting of texts with commonalities in their approaches to research: the development of predictive models; quantitative research; discussions of theory and policy; and human-environment studies focusing on individual voices. The identification of these constellations could not have been achieved through an a priori categorisation of texts.
Keywords: interdisciplinary discourse, text constellations, Multi-Dimensional Analysis
Published online: 16 October 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22.2.01tho
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22.2.01tho
References
References
Ackermann, K., & Chen, Y-H.
(2013) Developing the Academic Collocation List (ACL): A corpus-driven and expert-judged approach. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(4), 235–247. 
Alsop, S., & Nesi, H.
(2009) Issues in the development of the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus. Corpora, 4(1), 71–83.
Biber, D.
(1985) Investigating macroscopic textual variation through multifeature/multidimensional analyses. Linguistics, 23(2), 337–360.
(1988) Variation Across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(1989) A typology of English texts. Linguistics, 27(1), 3–43.
(1990) Methodological issues regarding corpus-based analysis of linguistic variation. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 5(4), 257–269.
(1995) Dimensions of Register Variation: A Cross-linguistic Comparison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(2006) University Language: A Corpus-based Study of Spoken and Written Registers. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Reppen, R.
(1998) Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biber, D., Egbert, J., & Davies, M.
(2015) Exploring the composition of the searchable web: A corpus-based taxonomy of web registers. Corpora, 10(1), 11–45.
Biglan, A.
(1973) The characteristics of subject matter in academic areas. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), 195–203.
Breiman, L. E. O.
(2001) Random forests. Machine Learning, 45(1), 5–32.
Charles, M.
(2006) The construction of stance in reporting clauses: A cross-disciplinary study of theses. Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 492–518.
Conrad, S., & Biber, D.
(2001) Multi-dimensional methodology and the dimensions of register variation in English. In S. Conrad & D. Biber (Eds.), Variation in English: Multi-dimensional Studies (pp. 13–42). Essex: Pearson Education.
Csomay, E.
(2002) Variation in academic lectures: Interactivity and level of instruction. In R. Reppen, S. Fitzmaurice & D. Biber (Eds.) Using Corpora to Explore Linguistic Variation (pp. 203–224). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Durrant, P.
(2015) Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation in university students’ writing: Mapping the territories. Applied Linguistics, 38(2), 165–193.
(2017) Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation in university students’ writing: Mapping the territories. Applied Linguistics, 38(2), 165–193.
Egbert, J., Biber, D., & Davies, M.
(2015) Developing a bottom-up, user-based method of web register classification. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(9), 1817–1831.
Friginal, E., & Weigle, S.
(2014) Exploring multiple profiles of L2 writing using multidimensional analysis. Journal of Second Language Writing, 26, 80–95.
Gardner, S., Biber, D., & Nesi, H.
(2015) MDA perspectives on discipline and level in the BAWE corpus. Paper presented at the Corpus Linguistics 7th Conference, Lancaster, UK.
Giannoni, D.
(2010) Mapping Academic Values in the Disciplines: A Corpus-based Approach. Bern: Peter Lang.
Gray, B.
(2013) More than discipline: Uncovering multi-dimensional patterns of variation in academic research articles. Corpora, 8(2), 153–181.
(2015) Linguistic Variation in Research Articles: When Discipline Tells Only Part of the Story. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Grieve, J., Biber, D., Friginal, E., & Nekrasova, T.
(2010) Variation among blogs: A multidimensional analysis. In A. Mehler, S. Sharoff & M. Santini (Eds.), Genres on the Web: Corpus Studies and Computational Models (pp. 45–71). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Groom, N.
(2005) Pattern and meaning across genres and disciplines: An exploratory study. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4(3), 257–277.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R.
(1990) Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Martin, J.
(1993) Writing Science: Literacy and Discursive Power. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Hardy, J., & Friginal, E.
(2016) Genre variation in student writing: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 22, 119–131.
Hardy, J., & Römer, U.
(2013) Revealing disciplinary variation in student writing: A multi-dimensional analysis of the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP). Corpora, 8(2), 183–207.
Hu, G., & Wang, G.
(2014) Disciplinary and ethnolinguistic influences on citation in research articles. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 14, 14–28.
Huckin, T., Leslie, A., & Olsen, L.
(1984) The need for professionally oriented ESL instruction in the United States. TESOL Quarterly, 18(2), 273–294.
Hyland, K.
(2000) Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow: Longman.
(2001a) Bringing in the reader: Addressee features in academic writing. Written Communication, 18(4), 549–574.
(2001b) Humble servants of the discipline? Self-mention in research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 20(3), 207–226.
(2008) As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 4–21.
Kanoksilapatham, B.
(2007) Rhetorical moves in biochemistry research articles. In D. Biber, U. Connor & T. A. Upton (Eds.), Discourse on the Move: Using Corpus Analysis to Describe Discourse Structure (pp. 73–119). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V.
(2014) The Sketch Engine: Ten years on. Lexicography ASIALEX, 1(1), 7–36.
Kuhn, M., & Johnson, K.
(2013) Applied Predictive Modeling. New York: Springer.
Mauranen, A.
(2006) Speaking the discipline: Discourse and socialisation in ELF and L1 English. In K. Hyland & M. Bondi (Eds.) Academic Discourse across Disciplines (pp. 271–294). Bern: Peter Lang.
McGrath, L.
(2016) Self-mentions in anthropology and history research articles: Variation between and within disciplines. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 21, 86–98.
Poos, D., & Simpson, R.
(2002) Cross-disciplinary comparisons of hedging: Some findings from the Michigan Corpus of Spoken Academic English. In R. Reppen, S. Fitzmaurice & D. Biber (Eds.) Using Corpora to Explore Linguistic Variation (pp. 3–24). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Cited by
Cited by other publications
Biber, Douglas & Susan Conrad
2019.
In Register, Genre, and Style,
Clarke, Isobelle, Jack Grieve & Christopher M. Danforth
2019. Stylistic variation on the Donald Trump Twitter account: A linguistic analysis of tweets posted between 2009 and 2018.
PLOS ONE 14:9 ► pp. e0222062 ff.
Conrad, Susan
2019. Register in English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes.
Register Studies 1:1 ► pp. 168 ff.
Esimaje, Alexandra U. & Susan Hunston
2019.
In Corpus Linguistics and African Englishes [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 88],
► pp. 8 ff.
Kaufhold, Kathrin & Lisa McGrath
2019. Revisiting the role of ‘discipline’ in writing for publication in two social sciences.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 40 ► pp. 115 ff.
Pan, Fan
2018. A multidimensional analysis of L1–L2 differences across three advanced levels.
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 36:2 ► pp. 117 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 june 2020. 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.