Applied Linguistics and Semantic Web Apps: Cases of Mediated Discursive Practices
Anna Franca Plastina
University of Calabria
Semantic Web Apps not only represent a key force in the field of web technology, but are found to mediate new discursive practices. The book focuses on their role in sharpening applied linguistics research, driven by its key features of openness, interdisciplinarity and real-world language enquiry. The work sets out to explore essential theoretical concepts in order to position the three case studies presented at the crossroads of applied linguistics and within the new digital playing field of the Semantic Web. The first study investigates discursive practices emerging in interactive health communication through the use of semantic search engines in the light of Frame Semantics. Grounded in the Dual Coding Theory, the second case enquires into the new opportunities offered by the text-clouding approach to develop L2 learners’ reading comprehension strategies. The final study sources Appraisal Theory to investigate emotionoriented language in customer hotel reviews through the support of sentiment analyzers.
This research orientation brings different strands of applied linguistics to the forefront of interdisciplinary research in the evolving field of technology.
Anna Franca Plastina is Assistant Professor of English language and translation at the University of Calabria in Italy. Her research interests include discourse and genre analysis, psycholinguistics, language for special purposes, especially related to computer-mediated communication. She has published numerous papers in these areas and authored a monograph on L2 reading.
ISBN 9783862883523. LINCOM Studies in Applied Linguistics 01. 201pp. 2012.
