Books by Paul (Lancaster University) Baker

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, this book analyses over two million words of texts produced by violent jihadists to show how they use language to persuade people to carry out violent acts. It will be invaluable for researchers in corpus linguistics, as well as religious scholars.

Is the British press prejudiced against Muslims? In what ways can prejudice be explicit or subtle? This book uses a detailed analysis of over 140 million words of newspaper articles on Muslims and Islam, combining corpus linguistics and discourse analysis methods to produce an objective picture of media attitudes. The authors analyse representations around frequently cited topics such as Muslim women who wear the veil and 'hate preachers'. The analysis is self-reflexive and multidisciplinary, incorporating research on journalistic practices, readership patterns and attitude surveys to answer questions which include: what do journalists mean when they use phrases like 'devout Muslim' and how did the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks affect press reporting? This is a stimulating and unique book for those working in fields of discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, while clear explanations of linguistic terminology make it valuable to those in the fields of politics, media studies, journalism and Islamic studies.

Is British English becoming more like American English, and if so, why, and in what ways? Paul Baker compares eight large sets of American and British English from the 1930s, 1960s, 1990s and 2000s, using a mixture of computer and human analysis to identify how both varieties are changing over time.