language use = self evident ?
We normally think of the role that language plays in our lives as rather insignificant and self-evident.
However, if we take just one step back, we come to realise that language is by far the most powerful tool at our disposal.
choices
Meaning is choice, which implies that language users select from "options that arise in the environment of other options", and that "the power of language resides in its organisation as a huge network of interrelated choices"*
If we look at language from this perspective, we always have the choice between several options. What we choose largely depends on various contextual factors: Where am I at the moment? Who am I talking to/who am I writing to? What is my relationship to this person or group of people? Needless to say, these questions are only a small selection of parameters that inform our communicative choices.
* Halliday, M.A.K. 2003. Introduction: On the "architecture" of human language. In On Language and Linguistics. Volume 3 in the Collected Works of M.A.K. Halliday. Edited by Jonathan Webster. London and New York: Continuum.
I am
Sebastian, a linguist with a strong focus on sentiment analysis, forensic linguistics and strategic communication. My main research interests are situated in the areas of linguistic data research, knowledge management and (political) discourse analysis.
I am here to help you identify your recurring choices and, on that basis, to support you in selecting the most suitable of the various options that our language makes available to us.
To achieve this, I draw on a combination of the most recent tools from evaluation research, discourse and forensic text analysis.
Let me assist you and your brand in analysing your language use quantitatively as well as qualitatively, so that you can acquire a more effective and situationally appropriate style.
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