Representing culture in OpenCourseWare Lectures: A Corpus-based Semantic Analysis

This paper explores the representation of culture in a corpus based on fifteen OpenCourseWare (OCW) lecture transcripts available from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University. The corpus is divided into three components of five lectures each from the broad disciplinary areas of humanities, soft sciences, and hard sciences, thus allowing for a contrastive analysis of cultural references across different domains of specialized knowledge. The analytical approach is based on the concept of a “cultureme”, i.e., a unit of analysis for a culture-specific phenomenon and its linguistic expression. The corpus was processed with the semantic annotation tool of Wmatrix that automatically assigns lexical items in a corpus to pre-established semantic domains. The lexical items in domains associated with human cultural experiences (e.g., education, religion, history, food and drinks, sports, the media, entertainment, geographical names, proper names) were then examined to identify culturemes. Extensive follow-up cross-domain analysis was necessary to tease out culture-specific meanings across the corpus. The results indicate that, although not present in high frequencies, a number of culturemes were dispersed throughout the corpus, with most referring to the domain of education, followed by government & politics and entertainment. The paper concludes with some reflections on the pedagogical implications of the findings in the context of helping L2 learners cope with the comprehension challenges of culture-specific meanings in lecture discourse

Shifting identities: Executives’ use of first person pro-forms in financial Q&A sessions

An important function of company executives is to communicate the corporate identity, or the vision, values, and defining attributes of their organizations. Yet we know that identity is often a multi-faceted phenomenon that is dynamically constructed during interaction, involving aspects of both collective identity as a member of a group and individual identity as the expression of self as a unique person. This study aims to identify the different facets of executive speakers’ identity that emerge during the Q&A sessions of earnings calls as a key oral business genre during which teams of executives interact with financial analysts who participate via teleconferencing. The dialogic Q&A sessions follow prepared monologic presentations delivered by executive team and are relatively impromptu in nature, thus providing for a rich interactional context. The data for the study consist of the transcripts of the Q&A sessions of the quarterly earnings calls of ten major US-based companies. The analytical approach integrates both quantitative and qualitative methods to tease out the linguistic expression of identity in the form of the first person pro-forms we, us, our, ours, I, me, my and mine. Previous research on the pragmatic functions of such pro-forms has suggested that they are important indexical expressions that serve to establish roles and relationships in situated interaction, and therefore act as markers of identity. Text analysis software was used detect first-person pro-forms as particularly prominent features of the Q&A sessions and then to investigate patterns of usage through cluster analysis. Follow-up qualitative analysis of the most frequently used pro-forms in their context of usage revealed a range of nuanced identities that involved both institutional and organizational identities (plural forms), as well as individual and professional identities (singular forms), which allowed the executives to effectively interact with the financial analysts, in order to respond to challenging questions and convey a message that promotes both the company and themselves as successful business leaders. The findings of the analysis can be applied in financial communication courses help aspiring executives acquire competence in the effective use of first person pro-forms

The Nuances of Brand Personality: A Corpus-assisted Linguistic Analysis of Web-based Communications of Fashion Brands

The ability to establish a particular brand personality (i.e. a set of human personality traits that consumers associate with a brand) is a key component of fashion brand management and communication. A given fashion brand may use language that communicates different personality traits (e.g. glamourous, exciting, youthful, exotic) as a way to define its own personality and distinguish itself from other fashion brands. Based on a corpus consisting of company-produced texts collected from the websites and Facebook pages of over 100 fashion brands, this study aimed to determine which traits of brand personality emerge, which are the most frequent, and which nuances of meaning can be identified within them. This was accomplished by means of text analysis software that identifies statistically significant semantic domains to which conceptually-related lexical items are assigned. The analysis revealed 14 key semantic domains that were linked to various brand personality traits. Among the most prominent were Judgement of appearance: Positive, Time: New and young, Relationship: Intimacy and sex, and Unexpected, highlighting not only the traditional importance attributed to attractiveness, but also to sensuality and non-conventionality as desirable traits of fashion brand personality. Other distinctive traits that emerged as significant involved exclusivity (encoding the value of elitism) and iconicity (emphasizing high stature and uniqueness). The study offers insights into how fashion brands utilize web-based communications to convey brand personality. It also offers a useful methodology that fashion companies can adapt to ensure that they are effectively communicating the intended brand personality

Harnessing multimodal literacy for knowledge dissemination in ESP settings

Ongoing progress in digital technology continues to have a growing impact in all areas of life and the field of language teaching is no exception. With particular reference to ESP, it is now crucially important to incorporate multimodal digital resources in the classroom that can be leveraged to help learners construct knowledge in specialized discourse domains and exploit the interplay of verbal and non-verbal meanings for a deeper understanding. Towards this goal, researchers at the University of Pisa have compiled a multimodal corpus of video clips representing disciplinary areas of particular interest to ESP students (i.e., business/economics, political science, law, medicine, tourism), as well as a variety of web-mediated genres that can be adapted for classroom use, including OpenCourseWare lectures, TED Talks, and digitally available films, television series, documentaries, interviews, and docu-tours. This contribution provides an overview of the methodological issues involved in designing, collecting, and analysing a multimodal corpus to be exploited by linguists and practitioners working in ESP in higher education

Persuasion in earnings calls: A diachronic pragmalinguistic analysis

This study investigates persuasive language in earnings calls. These are routine events organized by companies to report their quarterly financial results. The analysis is based on the earnings calls of 10 companies in the third quarter of 2009, when financial markets were still suffering from the global financial crisis, and the third quarter of 2013 when markets had largely recovered. Earnings call transcripts were compiled in two parallel corpora (Crisis Corpus and Recovery Corpus), thus providing a diachronic perspective. Semantic annotation software was used to extract pragmalinguistic resources of persuasion. The Crisis Corpus had a higher frequency of persuasive items, as executives often emphasized progress and future hopes. However, the types of items were largely the same across the corpora. This suggests a well-consolidated linguistic protocol within this discourse community that transcends financial performance. The findings offer insights into how earnings call participants use persuasive language strategically to achieve their distinct professional objectives as responsible providers of information (executives) vs. discerning seekers of information (analysts)

Detecting ideological stance in an economics lecture: A multi-faceted approach

The discipline of economics encompasses both theoretical concepts and empirical methods for the study of human behaviours, as well as competing schools of thought and ideologies that students need to engage with and reflect upon. During an economics lecture, the lecturer has an important role in helping students accomplish this goal. However, as an individual, the lecturer also holds personal ideological positions that may emerge during the lecture and elude L2 listeners. The aim of this paper is to propose a systematic and comprehensive procedure for detecting ideological stance in a university lecture. In a case study, I apply Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis to show how ideological stance emerges in an economics lecture and how semiotic resources beyond verbal language contribute to its expression. This process was facilitated by the use of multimodal annotation software to analyse verbal expressions of ideological stance (e.g., evaluative language, rhetorical elements) and co-occurring nonverbal cues (e.g., prosodic features, gaze direction, gesturing). The method was able to shed light on how the lecturer’s contemporaneous use of multiple semiotic modes worked synergistically in the expression of ideological meanings in relation to a controversial issue (i.e., access to healthcare in the United States) in subtle but distinctive ways that were linked to the lecturer’s background and to the broader socio-political issues of the research context. The method could be leveraged to inform ESP settings to assist L2 learners in acquiring a better understanding of lecturers’ stance towards content, thus resulting in a more complete, effective, and satisfying lecture experience

Challenges and Opportunities in Accessing Discourse Data in Business Settings: Some Reflections on Research Experiences

This article offers some refl ections on research experiences in relation to both challenges and opportunities involved in gaining access to authentic corporate data, also in situations where direct personal contacts within companies are lacking. Business organizations are highly intent on protecting their confidentiality and sensitive information, and are thus notoriously reluctant to open their doors to ‘outsiders’. Clearly, this sceptical attitude represents a challenge for discourse analysts who focus on business genres that are produced within companies. The discussion will also include insights gleaned from contacts with a professional who operates externally to companies, but was nonetheless able to shed interpretive light on the results of an analysis and possible motives behind access challenges, while suggesting strategies for going forward. With reference to opportunities, I reflect on an interdisciplinary research experience with colleagues from the field of marketing that provides a fresh perspective on acquiring data in a non-intrusive way. This research highlights the fruitful combination of marketing research processes and in-depth language study in order to collect and analyse data of interest to companies, while exploring new ways to connect business discourse research with professional practice

Hyphenated Phrasal Expressions in Fashion Journalism: A Diachronic Corpus-assisted Study of Vogue Magazine

Following Barthes’s seminal Système de la Mode, there have been relatively few studies focusing on fashion journalism from a linguistic perspective. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of hyphenated phrasal expressions (HPEs) of three or more constituents in the American edition of Vogue. The Vogue corpus covers a timeframe from 2003 to 2019 to provide diachronic insights. Corpus software was used to extract and analyse all hyphenated phrasal expressions. Results showed a general rise in usage over time, with most functioning as adjectives in line with the descriptive and evaluative purposes of fashion journalism. A wide range of structural patterns reflected richly detailed and striking mental images (i.e., *-and-*, *-meets-*), multiple roles (i.e., *-slash-*, NP-NP-NP), and novelty [(*)-of-the-moment, *-to-be]. Extensive clause-like HPEs offered a particularly interesting window on the writing talents of this discourse community. The study provides a useful benchmark for contrastive studies aiming to understand to what extent HPE usage in American Vogue may influence the writing style of journalists of other language backgrounds, with particular reference to Italian fashion journalism

Business English as a Lingua Franca in Advertising Texts in the Arabian Gulf: Analyzing the Attitudes of the Emirati Community

Scholars have become increasingly interested in how organizations communicate with external stakeholders, such as consumers. Recent studies have looked specifically at consumer response to the use of English in advertising texts in a number of different European countries. The use of English in such texts is part of a commonly used marketing strategy to standardize advertising campaigns that builds on the assumption that English is not only neutral but also widely understood. This article presents the results of a survey of the attitudes of Emirati consumers toward the use of English in advertising texts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The survey findings are discussed in terms of the unique social and cultural fabric of the modern-day UAE, as well as of the Emirati community as an economically powerful Muslim population. © The Author(s) 2013

Is Gender a Driver of Topic Choice? A Comparative Keyword Analysis of Political Cable News Interviews

Cable news networks have become an increasingly important source of political news in the United States. They wield considerable influence on public opinion, particularly in relation to current issues involving social roles and gender dynamics. This study offers insights into how the choice of topic in political cable news interviews may be influenced by the gender of participants. A corpus of 40 political cable news interviews was compiled and analyzed on the basis of various combinations of male and female interviewers and interviewees. Corpus software was implemented to extract keywords that were then grouped to identify prominent topics according to gender. Topics discussed exclusively among male participants were more issue oriented (i.e., immigration, healthcare, the economy, and gun control) as compared to those discussed exclusively among female participants that were more in social nature (i.e., personal matters, the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, and tech giants in the context of social justice). Results showed that topics emerging from the female participants’ discourse were aligned with some widely held perceptions of women’s speech. At the same time, other features of the female participants’ speech appeared to be driven largely by their professional and institutional roles, and thus, not aligned with stereotypical perceptions. The findings have implications for the role of media and cable news in contemporary American society in avoiding the perpetration of gender-related topic bias