A Coronavirus Corpus-driven Study on the Uses of If- Conditionals in the Pandemic Period
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Published:
Mar 26, 2021
Keywords:
If-conditionals Coronavirus Corpus Corpus Linguistics
Main Article Content
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, has greatly affected the lives of everyone. One major concern during this period has been that of communication including content dealing with possibilities and ideology concerning freedom. This
study aims to analyze the application of if-conditionals expressing options and possibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic using data in the Coronavirus Corpus developed in May 2020 by Mark Davies. The extracted if-conditionals were divided in accordance with Puente-Castelo’s (2017) framework of if-typology, and grammatical aspects of all the verb strings were also analyzed in terms of tense and aspect, sentential modality, and voice. It was discovered that speech act conditionals—relevance conditionals—were most commonly applied to provide specific suggestions to deal with the pandemic. The second and third-ranked choices, scoperestricting conditionals and hypothesizing conditionals helped to specify scopes and definitions and to emphasize possibilities and predictions or statistical estimates based on evidence, respectively. The grammatical aspects also corresponded to the COVID situation and helped to convey messages in accordance with the if-conditional functions. The results suggest that the if-construction provides communicative functions fitting various contexts relating to the pandemic. It can facilitate interpersonal communication, allow message receivers freedom to evaluate the proposed option, and provide some safety for the speaker in their choice of phrasing since COVID-19-related circumstances are uncertain. The information can be useful for those seeking linguistic tools for effective communication
and for instructors developing material for English for specific purposes.
Article Details
How to Cite
Montkhongtham, N. (2021). A Coronavirus Corpus-driven Study on the Uses of If- Conditionals in the Pandemic Period. REFLections, 28(1), 33–58. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v28i1.250463
Section
Research articles
References
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Hesabi, A., Dehaghi, M. R., & Shahnazari-Dorcheh, M. S. (2013). A comparative analysis of the frequency and function of if-clauses in applied linguistics and chemistry articles. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(1), 186-191.
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Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102258.
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University, Bangkok.
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Potts, A., & Semino, E. (2017). Healthcare professionals’ online use of violence metaphors for care at the end of life in the US: A corpus-based comparison with the UK. Corpora, 12(1), 55-84.
Potts, A., & Semino, E. (2019). Cancer as a metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, 34(2), 81-95.
Portner, P. (2009). Modality. New York, NY.: Oxford University Press.
Puente-Castelo, L., & Monaco, L. M. (2013). Conditionals and their functions in women‘s scientific writing. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 95, 160-169.
Puente-Castelo, L. (2017). On conditionality: A corpus-based study of conditional structures in Late Modern English scientific texts. (Doctoral dissertation). The University of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Savulescu, J., Foddy, B., & Rogers, J. (2006). What should we say? J Med Ethics, 32(1), 7-12.
Schraer, R. (October 16, 2020). Covid patients ‘less likely to die than in April’ . https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54568926.
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge University Press.
Semino, E. (2010). Descriptions of pain, metaphor, and embodied simulation. Metaphor and Symbol, 25(4), 205-226.
Semino, E. (July 1, 2020a). ‘A fire raging’: Why fire metaphors work well for Covid-19. ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS). http://cass.lancs.ac.uk/a-fire-raging-why-fire-metaphors-work-wellfor-covid-19/
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Thich Nhat Hanh. (2007). The art of power. New York, NY: Harper One.
Thich Nhat Hanh. (2013). The art of communicating. New York, NY: Harper One.
Warchal, K. (2010). Moulding interpersonal relations through conditional clauses: Consensus-building strategies in written academic discourse. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 140-150.
Warzel, C. (April 19, 2020). Protesting for the freedom to catch the coronavirus. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/opinion/coronavirus-trump-protests.html
Yang, A., Zheng, S., & Ge, G. (2015). Epistemic modality in English-medium medical research articles: A systemic functional perspective. English for Specific Purposes, 38, 1-10.
Zenker, S., & Kock, F. (2020). The coronavirus pandemic—A critical discussion of a tourism research agenda. Tourism Management, 81, 104164.
Ajahn Brahm. (2016). Kindfulness. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Atabuga, O. A., & Atabuga, J. E. (2020). Social determinants of health: The role of effective communication in the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries. Global Health Action, 13(1), 1788263.
Baker, P. (2018). Conclusion: Reflecting on reflective research. In C. T. & A. M. (Eds.) Corpus Approaches to Discourse: A Critical Review (pp. 281-292). New York, NY: Routledge.
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet,
395(10227), 912-920.
Carter-Thomas, S., & Rowley-Jolivet, E. (2008). If-conditionals in medical discourse: From theory to disciplinary practice. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7, 191-205.
Chodron, P. (2009). Taking the leap: Freeing ourselves from old habits and fears. Boston, MA: Sounds True.
Chodron, P. (2013). How to meditate: A practical guide to making friends with your mind. Louisville, CO: Sounds True.
Cox, P. (April 28, 2020). Fires, orchestras, parachutes. Some other ways to describe coronavirus besides war. The World. https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-28/fires-orchestras-parachutes-some-other-ways-describe-coronavirusbesides-
war
Dancygier, B. (1993). Interpreting conditionals: Time, knowledge, and causation. Journal of Pragmatics, 19, 403-434.
Dancygier, B., & Sweeter, E. (2005). Mental spaces in grammar: Conditional constructions. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Declerck, R., & Reed, S. (2001). Conditionals: A comprehensive empirical analysis. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.
Dancygier, B., & Sweeter, E. (2005). Mental spaces in grammar: Conditional constructions. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Davies, M. (2020). Mark Davies Professor of Linguistics. https://www.english-corpora.org/davies/
Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. London, England: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Farr, C. (May 23, 2020). Why scientists are changing their minds and disagreeing during the coronavirus pandemic. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/23/why-scientists-change-their-mind-and-disagree.html
Ferguson, G. (2001). If you pop over there: A corpus-based study of conditionals in medical discourse. English for Specific Purposes, 20, 61-82.
Gabrielatos, C. (2007). If-conditionals as modal colligations: A corpus-based investigation. In M. D., R. R., S. H. & P. D. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Corpus Linguistics Conference: Corpus Linguistics 2007 (pp. 1-20). Birmingham,
England: University of Birmingham.
Gabrielatos, C. (2010). A corpus-based examination of English if-conditionals through the lens of modality: Nature and types. (Doctoral dissertation). Lancaster University, England.
Gabrielatos, C. (2019). If-conditionals and modality: Frequency patterns and theoretical explanations. Journal of English Linguistics, 47(4), 301-334.
Hesabi, A., Dehaghi, M. R., & Shahnazari-Dorcheh, M. S. (2013). A comparative analysis of the frequency and function of if-clauses in applied linguistics and chemistry articles. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(1), 186-191.
Hiscott, J., Alexandridi, M., Muscolini, M., Tassone, E., Palermo, E., Soultsioti, M., & Zevini, A. (2020). The global impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Cytokine and Growth Factor Reviews, 53, 1-9.
Horsella, M., & Sindermann, G. (1992). Aspects of scientific discourse: Conditional argumentation. English for Specific Purposes, 11, 129-139.
Jackson, D. (2020, July 24). Hollywood hits Pause on filming, concert tours and more over coronavirus: See the list. US Magazine. https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/all-films-concerts-and-more-puton-
hold-over-coronavirus/.
Jarunwaraphan, B., & Mallikamas, P. (2020). A corpus-based study of English synonyms: Chance an opportunity. rEFLections, 27(2), 218-245.
Jensen, J. D. (2008). Scientific uncertainty in news coverage of cancer research: Effects of hedging on scientists’ and journalists’ credibility. Human Communication Research, 34, 347-369.
Ketchell, M. (April 8, 2020). War metaphors used for COVID-19 are compelling but also dangerous. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/war-metaphors-used-for-covid-19-are-compelling-but-also-dangerous-135406.
Lampropoulou, M. (2014). The expression of emotions in conditionals: A study of modern Greek political speech. In F. B. & G. C. (Eds), Linguistic approaches to emotions in context. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Lancaster University (2020, April 6). Beyond the battle, far from the frontline: A call for alternative ways of talking about Covid-19. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/news/beyond-the-battle-far-from-the-frontlinea-
call-for-alternative-ways-of-talking-about-covid-19
Lastres-Lopez, C. (2020). Beyond conditionality: On the pragmaticalization of interpersonal if-constructions in English conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 157, 68-83.
Maldonado, R. (2007). Grammatical voice in cognitive grammar. In D. G. & H. C. (Eds), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102258.
Montkhongtham, N. (2017). Logical spirituality: A cognitive linguistic approach to the understanding of if-conditionals in Thich Nhat Hanh’s and his contemporary writers’applied dharma texts (Doctoral dissertation). Thammasat
University, Bangkok.
Mukhtar, S. (2020). Mental health and psychosocial aspects of Coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan: Psychological intervention for public mental health crisis. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102069.
Okuhara, T., Okada, H., & Kiuchi, T. (2020). Examining persuasive message type to encourage staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and social lockdown: A randomized controlled study in Japan. Patient Education and Counseling, 103, 2588-2593.
Potts, A., & Semino, E. (2017). Healthcare professionals’ online use of violence metaphors for care at the end of life in the US: A corpus-based comparison with the UK. Corpora, 12(1), 55-84.
Potts, A., & Semino, E. (2019). Cancer as a metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, 34(2), 81-95.
Portner, P. (2009). Modality. New York, NY.: Oxford University Press.
Puente-Castelo, L., & Monaco, L. M. (2013). Conditionals and their functions in women‘s scientific writing. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 95, 160-169.
Puente-Castelo, L. (2017). On conditionality: A corpus-based study of conditional structures in Late Modern English scientific texts. (Doctoral dissertation). The University of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Savulescu, J., Foddy, B., & Rogers, J. (2006). What should we say? J Med Ethics, 32(1), 7-12.
Schraer, R. (October 16, 2020). Covid patients ‘less likely to die than in April’ . https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54568926.
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge University Press.
Semino, E. (2010). Descriptions of pain, metaphor, and embodied simulation. Metaphor and Symbol, 25(4), 205-226.
Semino, E. (July 1, 2020a). ‘A fire raging’: Why fire metaphors work well for Covid-19. ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS). http://cass.lancs.ac.uk/a-fire-raging-why-fire-metaphors-work-wellfor-covid-19/
Semino, E. (July 9, 2020b). A Series of EIL Webinars. Language, illness and healthcare.
Sweetser, E. (1990). From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Thich Nhat Hanh. (2007). The art of power. New York, NY: Harper One.
Thich Nhat Hanh. (2013). The art of communicating. New York, NY: Harper One.
Warchal, K. (2010). Moulding interpersonal relations through conditional clauses: Consensus-building strategies in written academic discourse. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 140-150.
Warzel, C. (April 19, 2020). Protesting for the freedom to catch the coronavirus. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/opinion/coronavirus-trump-protests.html
Yang, A., Zheng, S., & Ge, G. (2015). Epistemic modality in English-medium medical research articles: A systemic functional perspective. English for Specific Purposes, 38, 1-10.
Zenker, S., & Kock, F. (2020). The coronavirus pandemic—A critical discussion of a tourism research agenda. Tourism Management, 81, 104164.