Technical Methods

Abstract

Although language is an important tool of communication, language itself sometimes causes problems for language users. In the past, traditional linguistic methods such as native speaker intuition, were used in data analysis, but the process of examining patterns took too much time for researchers, and the results were often inaccurate. Today, linguistics embraces technical methods in the analysis of language. Methods like large electronic corpora combined with computer analysis contribute to the effectiveness of language investigation. They offer new insights into the nature of language, insights that emerge from investigating real-life speech and writing. Scholars use corpora to explore natural language use in all its contexts, and they use computers for natural language processing. The aim is to facilitate language research and tackle linguistic issues.