Register Studies - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2024

Abstract

Digital games can provide rich sources of second language (L2) input; however, the extent to which gaming discourse is similar to real-world discourse has been a topic of debate in the computer-assisted language learning community. To quantitatively measure the extent to which gaming discourse shares linguistic similarity with real-world discourse, this study reports the findings of an additive multidimensional (MD) analysis comparing registers in open-world role-playing games to real-world registers using Biber’s (1988) Dimension 1: ‘Involved versus Informational Production.’ Results indicate that gaming discourse provides extensive language exposure that shares much linguistic similarity across a wide range of real-world contexts. Importantly, however, these similarities only become salient when the situational characteristics of gaming discourse are considered and parsed appropriately into register categories.

Abstract

We present a corpus-based method — Variation-Based Distance and Similarity Modeling (VADIS) — that calculates distances between registers as a function of the extent to which the probabilistic conditioning of variation differs across registers. When language users have a choice between different ways of saying similar things (e.g., cut off the tops versus cut the tops off), what is the extent to which these choices are regulated differently in different registers? In this spirit, we re-analyze pre-existing datasets that cover the genitive, dative, and particle placement alternations in the grammar of English. These datasets cover five broad register categories: spoken informal English, spoken formal English, written informal English, written formal English, and online/web-based English. Analysis shows that (a) the registers under analysis are relatively but not entirely homogeneous in terms of the probabilistic grammars conditioning grammatical choices, and (b) more often than not we see a split between spoken and written registers.

Abstract

A register, defined as a text variety with specific situational characteristics and a communicative purpose (Biber & Conrad 2019), is also recognized as a cultural construct (Biber & Egbert 2023). Registers merit thorough investigation due to their pivotal role in reflecting linguistic and cultural landscapes. However, existing studies predominantly focus on Indo-European languages. This study investigates Turkish web registers through the introduction of the Turkish Corpus of Online Registers (TurCORE). Comprising 2,780 web texts, TurCORE was manually annotated using a register taxonomy targeting the entire unrestricted web and identifying 24 web register categories. By employing Text Dispersion Keyword Analysis (Egbert & Biber 2019), the research examines the register characteristics with a specific focus on news reports, interactive discussions, and recipes, drawing comparisons with their English equivalents. Results reveal parallels between Turkish and English news reports while Turkish interactive discussions and recipes exhibit distinctive language- and culture specific features.

This article reviews Designing and Evaluating Language Corpora: A Practical Framework for Corpus Representativeness