Methodological and interdisciplinary stance in Corpus Linguistics

Stefan Th. Gries, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (United States), brings out a challenging notion of Corpus Linguistics. He proposes its understanding should be merged with psycholinguistic and cognitive concerns. Gries has no qualms in classifying Corpus Linguistics as a methodology. This explains his many references to methodological issues, ranging from the design of corpora to their comparison and/or analysis. In addition, Gries also discusses extensively statistical issues, including how much knowledge a corpus analyst needs to have in order to embark on such an investigation. This sharp methodological concern is also expressed in his prospects for the practice in Corpus Linguistics, which, according to him, needs to develop from a statistical standpoint.