CRAL
Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics

DReSS II

The ESRC funded DReSS II inter-disciplinary project (2008-2011, Grant No. RES-149-25-1067) involves staff from the School of Computer Science and CRAL at the University of Nottingham. The project builds on developments made as part of DReSS I, seeking to allow for the collection and collation of a wider range of heterogeneous datasets for linguistic research, with the aim of facilitating the investigation of the interface between multiple modes of communication in everyday life.

Records of everyday communication, from SMS messages to MMS messages, interaction in virtual environments (instant messaging, entries on personal notice boards etc), GPS data, face-to-face situated discourse, phone calls and video calls, provide the ‘data’ for this research. It is perceived that the systematic analysis of such heterogeneous corpora will enable a more detailed investigation of the interface between a variety of different communicative modes from an individual’s perspective, tracking a specific person’s (inter)actions over time (i.e. across an hour, day or even week). Heterogeneous corpora are emergent multi-modal datasets which may be comprised of a variety of different records of everyday communication, from SMS messages to MMS messages, interaction in virtual environments (instant messaging, entries on personal notice boards etc), GPS data, face-to-face situated discourse to phone calls and video calls.

DRS is currently being adapted to support the collection, storage, representation and interrogation of such heterogeneous datasets for linguistic research. Corpora of this nature will enable a more detailed investigation of communication across a range of different speakers, mediums and environments. Therefore such corpora may help to generate useful insights into the extent to which everyday language and communicative choices are determined by different spatial, temporal and social contexts.

For more information on the DReSS II project and/or to download DRS please visit the official project website.

Publications

  • Knight, D. (Forthcoming, November 2011). Language, Corpus and Gesture: A multi-modal corpus approach to the analysis of backchanneling behaviour. London: Continuum Books.
  • Knight, D. (Forthcoming, 2011). The future of corpus linguistics. Brazilian Journal of Applied Linguistics (BJAS), October 2011.
  • Knight, D. (Forthcoming, 2011). Looking to the future: towards multimodal corpora. In Aijmer, K and Rühlemann, C. (Eds.) Handbook of Corpus Pragmatics- Exploring Speaker Meaning in Computer Corpora. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Knight, D. and Adolphs, S. (Forthcoming, 2010). Capturing Context for Multi-Modal Corpus Analysis. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics.
  • Knight, D., Tennent, P., Adolphs, S. and Carter, R. (2010). Developing heterogeneous corpora using the Digital Replay System (DRS). Proceedings of the LREC 2010 (Language Resources Evaluation Conference) Workshop on Multimodal Corpora: Advances in Capturing, Coding and Analyzing Multimodality, May 2010, Giessen, Germany.
  • Adolphs, S. and Knight, D. (2010). Building a spoken corpus: what are the basics? In O’Keeffe, A. and McCarthy, M. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford, UK: Routledge.

Conference Papers and Posters

  • Knight, D., Mullany, L., Adolphs, S., Harvey, K., Hunt, D., Smith, C. and Atkins, S. (Forthcoming, 2011). New Developments in multi-modal Corpus Analysis. Paper to be presented at World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), August 2011, Beijing, China.
  • Knight, D. And Adolphs, S. (Forthcoming, 2011). Experiencing space and place: A multi-modal corpus approach. Paper to be presented at the BAAL annual conference, September 2011, Bristol UWE.
  • Knight, D. and Adolphs, S. (Forthcoming, 2011). Multimodal Corpora for Sign Language Research. Invited keynote presentation at the 2nd Symposium in Applied Sign Linguistics. “Documenting Sign Languages for Learning and Teaching Purposes”. Bristol, June 2011.
  • Knight, D. (2011). Mobile and Location-based Data: Capture, Representation and Analysis. Paper presented at the CAQDAS digital social research showcase event, 23rd March 2011, Oxford, UK.
  • Knight, D. and Adolphs, S. (2010). Space, place and SMS: capturing context and network in multimodal corpus development. Paper presented at the BAAL annual conference, September 2010, Edinburgh.
  • Adolphs, S., Carter, R. and Knight, D. (2010). Second phase multi-modal corpora: Heterogeneous datasets for linguistic analysis. Paper delivered at the 5th Inter-Varietal Applied Corpus Studies (IVACS) conference, June 2010, University of Edinburgh.
  • Knight, D., Tennent, P., Adolphs, S. and Carter, R. (2010). Developing heterogeneous corpora using the Digital Replay System (DRS). Paper delivered at the LREC 2010 (Language Resources Evaluation Conference) Workshop on Multimodal Corpora: Advances in Capturing, Coding and Analyzing Multimodality, May 2010, Giessen, Germany.
  • Knight, D., Carter, R. and Adolphs, S. (2010). Corpora and context: A discussion of ‘Thrill’. Paper presented at the 31st ICAME conference, May 2010, Giessen University, Germany.
  • Knight, D. (2010). Language, Corpora and Context: A 'Thrilling' Case Study. Paper presented at the IVACS Annual Research Symposium, January 2009, University of Leeds.
  • Adolphs, S. and Knight, D. (2009). Language, Corpus and Context: Record, represent and replay. Presentation delivered as part of the Second and Foreign Language Pedagogy Seminar Series, October 2009, School of Education, Nottingham University.
  • Carter, R., Adolphs, S. and Knight, D. (2009). Language, Corpus and Context: ubiquitous computing and corpus development. Paper delivered at the BAAL annual conference, September 2008, Newcastle.
  • Adolphs, S. (2009) “Corpus, context and ubiquitous computing”, Corpus Linguistics 2009 (Plenary III), July 2009, Liverpool University.
  • Knight, D., Adolphs, S., Carter, R. and Tennent, P. (2009). A multi-modal approach to the construction and analysis of spoken corpora. A two-hour workshop co-ordinated at the Corpus Linguistics 2009 conference, July 2009, Liverpool University.
  • Knight, D. (2009). Collecting and collating heterogeneous datasets for multi-modal corpora. Paper be presented at the Corpus Linguistics 2009 conference, July 2009, Liverpool University.
  • Adolphs, S., Carter, R. Knight, D., Brundell, P. and Tennent, P. (2009). Constructing and interrogating linguistic corpora using heterogeneous datasets. A two-hour workshop co-ordinated at the 5th International Conference on e-Social Science (ICeSS), Cologne, June 2009.
  • Adolphs, S., Knight, D. and Carter, R. (2009). Redefining context in communication: a multi-modal perspective. Paper presented at the 30th ICAME conference, May 2009, Lancaster University.
  • Knight, D., Adolphs, S. and Carter, R. (2009). Multi-modal corpus construction and analysis. Poster presented at the 30th ICAME conference, May 2009, Lancaster University.
  • Knight, D. and Adolphs, S. (2009). Corpus Perspectives: from production to reception. Paper presented at the Inter-Varietal Applied Corpus Studies (IVACS) Annual Research Symposium, January 2009, University of Edinburgh.

CRAL Project Staff

If you would like more information on any aspect of this research project, do not hesitate to contact a member of the CRAL staff involved, as detailed below:

 

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Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics

The University of Nottingham
Nottingham
NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5900
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 5924
email: cral@nottingham.ac.uk