The course ‘Scientific Communication and Linguistic Corpora: Tools for Interdisciplinary Research’ aims to provide master’s and doctoral students with comprehensive training in the treatment and use of language/speech, enriching their linguistic and expository resources and, where appropriate, improving their chances of success and employability. Corpus linguistics is a transversal discipline that can be applied to a wide range of academic fields, making it relevant to any area of research that students may be exploring and, in turn, likely to enhance communicative practice.

In relation to the specified transversal competences, this subject offers solid training in research and information management by teaching students to collect, organize, and analyze large sets of linguistic data efficiently and ethically, and to use them effectively. Additionally, by addressing written and oral communication, students will develop fundamental skills to communicate their findings with these resources in a clear, coherent, and persuasive manner, both in academic papers and oral presentations to various audiences.

At the same time, the emphasis on applying linguistic corpora to verify research hypotheses promotes the development of students' critical and analytical thinking, as well as their ability to integrate knowledge and formulate informed judgments with limited information, as specified in the aforementioned transversal competences.

The transversal subject has been conceived as a proposal to be integrated into the training program for students at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, focused on research and information management, as well as its corresponding written and oral communication, and related to the use of corpora and corpus linguistics.

The course, with a load of 3 ECTS, is scheduled to take place during March 2025. The 38 face-to-face sessions will take place on Mondays, from March 3rd to March 31st 2024. The mobility week in Madrid will be held from March 3rd to March 7th, 2024, and students will have classes every day of the week in the afternoon. This timetable design means that, between the hybrid face-to-face sessions, students will have time to work 37 hours independently, consolidate concepts, and put into practice the theoretical knowledge they have acquired.

To facilitate autonomous learning, downloadable tutored resources will be offered on an online learning platform, such as Moodle. These resources will include complementary material, practical exercises, and recommended readings to deepen the topics covered in the face-to-face sessions. In addition, video tutorials on the use of corpus tools will be provided, allowing students to familiarize themselves with their application in a self-taught manner.

To provide additional support and clarify doubts, online tutorials will be available through platforms such as Teams. This will allow students to interact with teachers and receive personalized guidance on course content.

This blended approach, combining face-to-face sessions with autonomous work and online resources, ensures that students are able to consolidate their theoretical knowledge and acquire practical skills effectively, maximizing their learning in the time allotted.

The face-to-face part will take place at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, Madrid, Spain, from 3rd to 7th March 2025:

The activities and timetable proposed for the training are as follows but may be modified according to the project program and timetable:

1. Group tutoring → 2 hours
2. Seminars, lectures, or workshops → 16 hours
3. Autonomous student work → 10 hours
4. Linguistic and cultural activity → 3 hours

During the physical component, students will follow seminars, lectures, and workshops related to the first 3 points of the program:

1. Introduction to corpus linguistics and its application in research: This module will provide an overview of corpus linguistics, its methodology, and its application in scientific research. Students will learn how to construct, manage, and analyze linguistic corpora to address various research questions in different disciplines.
2. Data management and linguistic corpora: In this module, students will acquire practical skills to collect, organize, and manage large linguistic datasets, including corpora, using specialized tools and software. Aspects related to research ethics and data management will be covered.
3. Quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis: This module focuses on quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis techniques. Students will learn to extract linguistic patterns, identify trends, and carry out comparative analyses using statistical tools and qualitative methods.

The 16 hours of seminars, lectures, and workshops will take place on Monday, March 3rd, Tuesday, March 4th, Wednesday, March 5th and Thursday, March 6th, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The linguistic and cultural activity will take place in the afternoon of Friday, March 7th.

The activities and timetable proposed for the training are as follows but may be modified according to the project program and timetable:

1. Group tutoring → 1 hour
2. Seminars, lectures, or workshops → 12 hours
3. Autonomous student work → 27 hours
4. Evaluation and assessment of the course → 4 hours

During the virtual component, students will follow seminars, lectures, and workshops related to the last 2 points of the program:

1. Corpus and verification of research hypotheses: In this module, students will explore how linguistic corpora can be used to formulate and verify research hypotheses in different academic fields. Case studies will be analyzed, and strategies for the validation of corpus-based results will be discussed.
2. Scientific communication, academic writing, and oral presentation: This course will focus on developing effective written and oral communication skills in the academic environment and in relation to the use of corpora as a scientific resource. Advanced techniques for editing and revising academic texts will be taught, as well as strategies for the clear and coherent presentation of corpus data in scientific reports and papers. Students will also practice writing persuasive abstracts and research proposals that incorporate evidence from linguistic corpora.

On Mondays, March 10th, 17th, and 24th 2025, the last three seminar sessions will take place from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm CET. In addition to these sessions, there will be 8 hours of autonomous student work per week to review the contents covered in the theoretical sessions and prepare the final reflection on the outline of a research project, integrating corpora as tools for analysis and research. In the last week of the course, on Monday, March 31st, students will present the work they have prepared, as well as the assessment of the course.