Introductory editorial synthesis paper: Corpus linguistics and the language of COVID-19: Applications and outcomes

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the papers in the special issue of Applied Corpus Linguistics on “Corpus Linguistics and the Language of COVID-19: Applications and Outcomes”. As noted in our original call for contributions, we believe that, while traditional corpus linguistic work can reveal valuable insights into the emerging language around COVID-19, it should be complemented by more applied corpus linguistics work. The pandemic posed a real-world problem which applied corpus linguists were well equipped to address using linguistic evidence from a range of sources. This article presents an introduction to the papers in this special issue which will be of interest to applied corpus linguists due to the variety of perspectives they present in relation to a number of key issues of importance to the field: the data they draw on, the various theoretical frameworks which inform the research, the methods they use to collect and analyse the data, and the discussion of how their findings may be applicable to citizens, decision makers, consumers and other stakeholders in public and private contexts.