Corpus Linguistics (Online) (Taught)

Lancaster is the birthplace of corpus linguistics and a world leader in the field. In this specialist online course, you’ll work with renowned experts and access cutting-edge research discoveries and software tools. You’ll analyse large language datasets with real-world applications in areas such as media, law, marketing, security, healthcare communication, human-machine interaction and language teaching. An ideal stepping-stone to advance your career.

Why Lancaster?

• Choose a university with a global reputation for excellence in corpus linguistics, and one of the only universities worldwide to offer full qualifications in this area

• Learn from world-leading experts in the field of corpus linguistics and language data analysis

• Gain advanced skills in language data analysis valued by employers across domains and industries

• Access Lancaster University’s extensive online resources and interact with peers and your tutors via our virtual learning site

• Join this programme from anywhere in the world, regardless of time zone

Learn from experts
We are home to the ESRC research Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science, delivering world-leading work in corpus-based language data science. We’ve developed major corpora such as the British National Corpus 2014 and the Trinity Lancaster Corpus and led innovations in digital analysis tools.

Our researchers are internationally recognised for their work in applying corpus approaches to the real world, from misinformation and social media discourse to education and public health communication, as well as the development and evaluation of GenAI tools.

A flexible approach
From online seminars to group discussions and collaborative activities, the experience at Lancaster is rich, flexible, and designed with your success in mind.

Taking two modules over one year, this programme offers a flexible way to develop advanced skills in linguistic data analysis without committing to a full master’s.

The course is designed for those from varied academic and professional backgrounds. You don’t need prior experience in linguistics or programming - just curiosity and a desire to explore how language works.

Whether you’re an educator, researcher, analyst, or just curious about language, this online course provides the tools and techniques you need to investigate language patterns and real-world discourse using large-scale data.

What will you study?
During your studies, you will learn from experts in the field and will be given access to a wealth of corpus resources. You'll learn core techniques such as concordance, keyword, and collocation analysis, with practical applications in areas like media, marketing, healthcare, language teaching, and social research.

The programme is ideal for professionals or researchers in linguistics, education, data analysis, or related fields, and no prior knowledge of linguistics is required.

On the course you will:

• Gain a strong foundation in core corpus linguistic methods such as concordance analysis, wordlists, keyword and collocation analysis

• Learn key methods for analysing large collections of language data (corpora) using cutting-edge digital tools like #LancsBox and CQPweb

• Use quantitative methods to identify patterns in large language datasets and combine them with qualitative data analysis and interpretation

• Discuss advantages and challenges of combining corpus analysis with AI-powered tools

• Explore how corpora are used in fields such as sociolinguistics, media analysis healthcare communication, and language teaching

By the end of the Postgraduate Certificate, you’ll be equipped to conduct sophisticated language analysis and apply corpus methods in a range of professional contexts. Whatever your goals, this programme will give you the tools to analyse language critically, identify patterns in discourse, and contribute to evidence-based understanding in your field.