Watch out! The corpus, verb usage, and the non-native teacher of English

For non-native teachers of English (especially in Japanese high schools), questions of appropriate English usage and possibility are constant. Although corpora usage has widely been discussed as a useful tool for EFL students, this paper discusses the possibility of corpus-usage for non-native EFL instructors in answering questions of usage and helping prepare material for classrooms. Using the online British National Corpus, a simple step-by-step methodology for teachers searching words with shared meaning and usage was presented. Analysis of the search results shows that although corpus results are often complex and require time to sufficiently analyze, corpus studies can help clarify usage and meaning questions. The paper discusses the problems of motivation with using the corpus and discusses possibilities for improving teacher motivation for using corpus studies

Cops, popes, and garbage collectors: metaphor and antagonism in an atheist/Christian YouTube video thread

Using a discourse dynamics, metaphor-led analysis, this article investigates the use of metaphor in three YouTube videos made by two American YouTube users: one fundamentalist Christian and one atheist. The focus of the analysis is on how metaphor was produced dynamically in the interaction between the users as they discussed the appropriateness of user actions. Metaphorical language was of key importance to the discourse event, and was explicitly oriented to by the participants: The Christian user suggests an analogy between himself and a “cop,” the atheist retaliates that the Christian believes himself to be “the Pope of YouTube,” and the Christian resists this characterization, with other users leaving text comments that also directly respond to the “Pope of YouTube” metaphor. The analysis shows that YouTube users employed metaphors to describe and validate their activity on YouTube, and that although metaphor use did not differ depending on the user's ideological position, users reinterpreted and subverted the metaphor use of others to assert their own opinions about the community

The Pope of YouTube: Metaphor and misunderstanding in Atheist-Christian YouTube dialogue

Using a discourse dynamics analysis, this article investigates the use of metaphor in three YouTube videos made by two American YouTube users: one a fundamentalist Christian and one an atheist. The focus of the analysis is on how metaphor was produced dynamically in the interaction and what this interaction may tell us about how misunderstanding occurred between the two users. Analysis shows that understanding of specific metaphors seems to differ depending on who is producing and interpreting a given metaphor

The Pope of YouTube: A Case Study of Dynamic Metaphor Use in Asynchronous Internet Communication

Research into computer-mediated communication has recently focused on large quantitative analysis of CMC text rather than close analysis of full discourse acts in online environments. Using a discourse dynamics, metaphor-led analysis, this dissertation investigates the dynamic use of metaphor in three YouTube videos made by two American YouTube users: one a fundamentalist Christian and one an atheist. The focus of the analysis was on how metaphor was produced dynamically in the interaction between the users and how the use of metaphor could be seen at different levels of the YouTube video page, including in the title of the videos, the video, the description boxes, the comments, and subsequent video responses. Analysis showed that metaphor was used at every level of the discourse event and that dynamic production of metaphor in response to other users was seen, especially in discussing the positions and roles of the users in relation to each other and the larger YouTube ‘community. ’ Analysis also showed that metaphor was used to not only position other users, but that understanding of specific metaphors seemed to differ depending on who was producing and interpreting a given metaphor

“Would you like to dance with me, Miwa?”: gender roles and the EFL Text

This article is an evaluation of gender roles in the Planet Blue Japanese high school textbook. Using criteria built on biases found by Jane Sunderland, it evaluates the textbook on basis of exclusion, subordination and distortion, and degradation. On the whole, the textbook appears to have made significant improvement in these three criteria, especially in the presentation of career roles for woman. The roles of men and women in romantic relationships presented in the text, however, are still presented in stereotypical terms. The article presents these remaining biases as opportunities for EFL instructors to provoke discussions regarding gender roles in Japanese culture as well as English-speaking cultures

The development of ‘drama’ in YouTube discourse

This thesis presents a systematic discourse analysis of sustained antagonistic debate—called 'drama'—on the video-sharing website, YouTube. Following a two-year observation of a YouTube community of practice discussing Christianity and atheism, 20 video 'pages' (including talk from videos and text comments) from a drama event were identified and transcribed, producing a 86,859 word corpus comprising 136 minutes of video talk and 1,738 comments. Using metaphor-led discourse analysis (Cameron & Maslen, 2010b) of the total corpus, metaphor vehicles were identified, coded, and grouped by semantic and narrative relationships to identify systematic use and trace the development of discourse activity. Close discourse analysis of a subset of the corpus was then employed to investigate membership categorisation (Housley & Fitzgerald, 2002), impoliteness (Culpeper, 2011), and positioning (Harré & van Langenhove, 1998), providing a systematic description of different factors contributing to the emergence of 'drama'. Analysis shows that 'drama' developed when negative views of one user's impolite words exposed the different expectations of other users about acceptable YouTube interaction. Hyperbolic, metaphorical language derived from the Bible and narratives about tragic historical events often exaggerated, escalated, and extended negative evaluations of others. Categories like 'Christian' were used dynamically to connect impolite words and actions of individuals to social groups, thereby also extending negative evaluations. With implications for understanding 'flaming' and transgression of social norms in web 2.0 environments, this thesis concludes that inflammatory language led to 'drama' because: (1) users had diverse expectations about social interaction and organisation, (2) users drew upon the Bible's moral authority to support opposing actions, and (3) the online platform's technical features afforded immediate reactions to non-present others. The 'drama' then developed when users' responses to one another created both additional topics for antagonistic debate and more disagreement about which words and actions were acceptable

Caught in the middle: grammar, textbooks, and the Japanese high school

In many high schools, the grammar textbook seems like an immovable fixture in English education. This article discusses the possibility of using Data Driven Learning (DDL) in high school environments which are resistant to change. After considering some of the pragmatic difficulties with using student-based learning while still employing set textbooks, the article proposes using a hybrid of teaching methods to introduce DDL in the classroom. By using both the textbook and information from the British Nation Corpus, students can be taught to explore grammar rules on their own terms while still meeting the requirements of learning the required grammar. Finally, the article discusses changes in implementing such a program and practical steps teachers can take to move forward in using DDL in their classrooms

'What about the wolves?’: The use of scripture in YouTube arguments

Reading and interpreting the Bible is an important practice in Evangelical Christian communities, both online and offline. Members of these communities employ biblical exegesis not only in convincing others about the validity of their beliefs, but also influencing the development of the social context in which they interact. Thus, reading and interpretation of the Bible serves both a theological purpose, allowing users to provide textual evidence for beliefs, and a practical social purpose, allowing users to map their own and others’ actions onto biblical texts, either to condone or to condemn them. For users who hold the same belief about the importance of the Bible in making moral judgements, the biblical text can be a particularly useful tool to position oneself and one's actions. In this article, I employ concepts from positioning theory, to analyse how Evangelical Christian YouTube users read across the books of the Bible by treating similar uses of metaphorical language as interchangeable, and using them to position particular users and to make moral judgements about their actions. The analysis shows that reading and exegesis of scripture can be used in dynamic online environments to map characters and storylines from diverse biblical passages onto a particular online argument, providing a common resource for users from different backgrounds and contexts. Findings show that reading and interpretation of scriptures provide a powerful means of claiming authority for Evangelical Christians in the community, and are used to position oneself and one's actions, influencing the subsequent discourse and emerging social context

'When Noah built the ark...': metaphor and Biblical stories in Facebook preaching

This article investigates the use of Biblical stories and text in the preaching of Joshua Feuerstein, a popular Facebook evangelist, and focuses on how Biblical stories are used to position the viewer in comparison to Biblical characters and texts. Taking a discourse dynamics approach (Cameron & Maslen, 2010), a corpus of 8 short videos (17 minutes 34 seconds) and their comments (2,295) taken from the Facebook are analysed first, for the presence of metaphorical language and stories taken from the Bible. Second, they are analysed for the role of metaphor in the narrative positioning (Bamberg, 1997) of the viewer, particularly as it relates to Gibbs’s notion of allegorises, or the ‘allegoric impulse’ (Gibbs, 2011). The corresponding text comments from the videos are then also analysed for the presence of the same Biblical metaphor, focusing on how commenters interact with the metaphor and Feuerstein’s positioning of them. Findings show that Biblical metaphorical language is used to position viewers and their struggles in the context of larger storylines that compare everyday experiences to Biblical texts. This comparison can happen both in explicit narrative positioning of viewers with explicit reference to the Bible, and implicit positioning, through the use of unmarked Biblical language. Analysis of viewer comments shows that use of metaphorical language is successful in building a sense of camaraderie and shared belief among the viewer and Feuerstein, as well as viewers with one another

Temporary liberties and uncertain futures: young female Muslim perceptions of life in England

This article explores how young female Muslim university students in London and Birmingham experience life in England. Through focus groups and interviews, talk about three main topics was collected: how young Muslims frame their identities; how they are perceived by others; and how they perceive Muslims to be portrayed and represented in public life. Analysis shows that the participants: presented themselves as ambitious and autonomous; experienced direct and indirect exclusion as young Muslims; perceived a lack of diverse Muslims role models and ambassadors in public life; and that, despite their optimism, felt their futures in Britain were uncertain. The young people recognised the temporary liberties they have around dress and practice as university students that are potentially restricted in wider society. The research highlights the problems created by stigmatising public discourse around Islamist extremism that fuels narrow, deficit-focused policy that exacerbates the exclusion of young Muslims