The study of language as expressed in samples (corpora) of real-world text is called

The study of language as expressed in samples (corpora) of real-world text is called

• A. Corpus
• B. Corpus Linguistics
• C. Corrective Feedback
• D. Cross-Linguistic Influence

Answer: (B)

Studying language through large collections of real-world texts, called corpora, is what corpus linguistics does. This field focuses on analyzing actual language use—frequencies, patterns, collocations, and variations—by examining authentic samples rather than isolated examples or constructed sentences. The term itself denotes the discipline that investigates language with these text collections, often using computational methods to process big data and reveal how language is commonly used in real contexts.

A corpus is simply the body or collection of texts, not the method or field of study, so naming it points to the object rather than the approach. Corrective Feedback relates to how learners receive and use corrections in language learning, which is a pedagogical concept. Cross-Linguistic Influence concerns how a learner’s first language affects acquiring another language, which is about transfer rather than corpus-based analysis.