A Joint Paper by HSS Undergraduate Published at AsiaLex 2018
Prof. Li Lan presented a joint-paper with Miss GU Yue, an undergraduate of School of Humanities and Social Science, at the 12th International Conference of The Asian Association for Lexicography (Asialex 2018) held on June 8-10 2018 in Krabi, Thailand. The theme of this conference is Lexicography in the Digital World. The paper is entitled Gender orientation in lexis, corpora and dictionaries.
Language is not a sheer mirror of the society, but itself is preserved as a unique institution by people. Inclusive language has long been marginalized in lexical studies, partially because of the notion of political correctness, a bitter controversy. Understanding gender orientation in a language distinctively specifies social background into linguistic contexts and can also demonstrate the cultural difference between different tongues.
The paper published by Li & Gu aims to explore a symbiosis between people and language by transforming the invisible social structure into traceable linguistic records. Through morphological and corpus approaches, it investigates gender-marked compounds and gender-specific references used in the English language. Their counterparts in bilingual dictionaries are also discussed. Discussion of sexism in lexical items and their use can illustrate the significance of inclusive language in academic as well as everyday communication.
The idea of the paper was initiated from Gu Yue’s termpaper for TRA2510 English for Translators, a major elective course conducted by Prof. Li Lan for BA programme in Translation Studies, and then further developed by Prof. Li.
Prof. Li regards that many students can work creatively in their coursework, which could be further developed, revised and submitted to an academic conference. Students will benefit from such experience for their further study. Prof. Li has encouraged students to apply for the Undergraduate Research Award to explore more in the study and nurture their research interest.
About Prof. Li Lan
Prof. Li received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Exeter, UK. She is the Fellow of Chartered Institute of Linguists, UK, and also the Board member of the Asian Association for Lexicography.
Her research and publications cover lexicology and lexicography, corpus study, EFL vocabulary learning, language in computer-mediated communication and workplace English.
About the Asian Association for Lexicography
The Asian Association for Lexicography (ASIALEX) was established in Hong Kong in 1997. Its aim is to foster scholarly and professional activities in the field of lexicography by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas through meetings, publications and other means.
ASIALEX is managed by an Executive Board which is elected by the association's members every two years. Its conferences are held annually in different Asian countries.
Publication
Li, L. and Gu, Y. (2018). Gender orientation in lexis, corpora and dictionaries. Proceedings of The 12th International Conference of The Asian Association for Lexicography (pp. 174-184). Krabi, Thailand.
