Representations of Second Language Writing and Writers in Academic Discourse: a Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study

This study examines diachronic lexical variation in second language writing (SLW) research and the discursive representations of second language (L2) writing and writers in the field’s academic discourse as captured in a purpose-built specialized corpus of the Journal of Second Language Writing (1995-2022). The first phase of the analysis identified high-frequency lexical items that have significantly increased and decreased in use across seven periods: 1995-1998, 1999-2002, 2003-2006, 2007-2010, 2011-2014, 2015-2018, and 2019-2022. Coefficient of variance (CV) and Kendall’s tau scores were calculated to evaluate diachronic changes and the trajectories of these shifts. Collocation, concordance, and further qualitative analyses of select lexical items were performed to uncover possible factors that have influenced the changes. In the second phase of the inquiry, strong collocates of the key target words “writing” and “writer(s)” were first established through the cubed mutual information (MI3) metric. Subsequently, the analysis identified collocates that have displayed the most significant growth and decline across the seven periods through CV and Kendall’s tau measures. Concordance analysis and qualitative interpretation of select lexical items in the context of applied linguistics and second language writing scholarship were also done. The study found an increased focus on multimodality; a shift from fixed to fluid framings of L2 writing and writers; and an increase in nuanced terms as well as a decrease in essentialist ones. The current work emphasizes the need for critical awareness among SLW researchers in using more careful and inclusive language choices. Other implications and suggestions for further research are discussed in the final chapter.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Adebayo, Qudus Ayinde

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Poole, Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Worden-Chambers, Dorothy
• Crane, Corinne

• corpus linguistics
• corpus-assisted discourse study
• diachronic analysis
• representations
• second language writing

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

1053405

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/13827