Multidimensional description of register variation in social media and/or popular culture

• Grant number: 25/05490-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Applied Linguistics
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Paulo Berber Sardinha
• Grantee: Melina Maria Manasseh
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Comunicação, Letras e Artes. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/05848-7 - Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Language, Discourse and Society, AP.TEM

Abstract

The project, in line with the work plan approved by FAPESP, aims to conduct a Multidimensional Analysis of language in use, more specifically of forms of communication present on television. In accordance with Axis 2 of the Thematic Project, this research seeks to identify the dimensions that organize the linguistic variation observed in this domain. The methodology adopted, Multidimensional Analysis, aims to identify linguistic dimensions, which are understood as groups of correlated characteristics, responsible for the variation observed in the language in communicative contexts. The main steps of the methodology include the collection of representative corpora of the selected domain, in English; automatic annotation of the texts to identify relevant linguistic characteristics; counting of these characteristics; performing Factor Analysis to statistically identify the dimensions; and qualitative interpretation of the factors extracted as dimensions of variation. Additional statistical tests will also be performed to verify how much of the total variation is explained by the different strata of the corpus. The proposal will benefit from the international and interinstitutional research network already established by the Thematic Project, while contributing to the joint construction of scientific knowledge. The results obtained will enable the description of the domain in question, offering support for better understanding its linguistic characteristics and the role it plays in today's society.