Eric Friginal
Adjunct Professor Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language- Specializations
Corpus Linguistics
Cross-Cultural Communication
Sociolinguistics
(Critical) Discourse Analysis
Research Methods (Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed-Methods Approaches)
Technology and Language Teaching
- Biography
Eric Friginal received his Ph.D. in applied linguistics from Northern Arizona University (NAU) in 2008. He specializes in applied corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, cross-cultural communication, distance learning, discipline-specific writing, bilingual education, and the analysis of spoken professional discourse. Prior to joining the GSU faculty, he was a lecturer in the Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing area of the English Department at NAU and an instructor at the NAU School of Forestry, where he taught on-campus and online courses in technical and professional writing, professional editing, and rhetoric and writing in professional communities. His main research program focuses on the exploration of professional, spoken interaction; the acquisition of fluency in ESL; and the study of language, culture, and cross-cultural communication in the context of outsourced call centers in the Philippines and India serving American customers. He makes use of corpus and computational tools as well as qualitative and quantitative research approaches in analyzing and interpreting linguistic patterning from corpora. He has received funding in support of his research from a U.S.-owned call center company operating in the Philippines, India, China, and Costa Rica. His present work aims to contribute linguistic data that could be used for materials production and the development of training curricula in language proficiency and task performance of ESL speakers engaged in business or customer service interactions with native speakers of English. He was a recipient of a Fulbright grant from 1998-2000 and a $1 million U.S. State Department grant (with Dr. Gayle Nelson) for the GSU-University of Baghdad Linkages Program (2010-2013). His studies have been published in the Journal of Second Language Writing, Corpora, World Englishes, English for Specific Purposes, Discourse Studies, and Language Policy, among others. He is the author of “The Language of Outsourced Call Centers: A Corpus-Based Study of Cross-Cultural Communication” (John Benjamins Publishing Co.) (Volume 34 of the Studies in Corpus Linguistics series) and special issue editor of Corpora’s “Twenty-Five Years of Biber’s Multi-Dimensional Analysis” (November, 2013). His recent book, “Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics: A Guide for Students” (2014, Routledge) is co-authored with his doctoral student Jack A. Hardy.
Frequently taught classes:
AL 8470 Sociolinguistics
AL 8760 Corpus Linguistics
AL 8620 Technology and Language Teaching
AL 8710 Research Methods in Applied Linguistics
AL 8960 Quantitative Research Methods
AL 3031 Language in Society
- Publications
Books
Pickering, L., Friginal, E., and Staples, S. (book contract). Talking at Work: Corpus-Based Explorations of Workplace Discourse. London: Palgrave McMillan.
Friginal, E. and Hardy, J. (2014). Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics: A Student Guide. New York: Routledge.
Friginal, E. (2009). The Language of Outsourced Call Centers: A Corpus-Based Study of Cross Cultural Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Edited Journal (Editor of the Special Issue, Corpora Journal)
Friginal, E. (ed.) (2013). 25 Years of Biber’s Multidimensional Analysis. Corpora, 8 (2).
Journal Publications
Hardy, J. and Friginal, E. (to appear). Genre Variation in Student Writing: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes.
Friginal, E. and Weigle, S. (in press). Exploring Multiple Profiles of L2 Writing Using Multi-Dimensional Analysis. Journal of Second Language Writing. (GURT SPECIAL ISSUE)
Friginal, E., Walker, M., and Randall, J. (2014). Exploring Mega-Corpora: Google Ngram Viewer and the Corpus of Historical American English. E-JournALL 1 (1), 132-151.
Friginal, E. and Cullom, M. (2014). Saying ‘No’ in Outsourced Call Center Communications. Asian Englishes Journal, 4, 23-37.
Friginal, E., Li, M. and Weigle, S. (2014). Revisiting Multiple Profiles of Learner Compositions: A Comparison of Highly Rated NS and NNS Essays. Journal of Second Language Writing, 23, 1-16.
Friginal, E. (2013). 25 Years of Biber’s MDA: Introduction to the Special Issue and an Interview with Douglas Biber. Corpora, 8 (2), 137-152.
Friginal, E. (2013). Developing Technical Writing Skills Using Corpora. English for Specific Purposes, 32 (1), 208-220.
Friginal, E., Pearson, P., Di Ferrante, L., Pickering, L., and Bruce, C. (2013). Linguistic Characteristics of AAC Discourse in the Workplace. Discourse Studies, 15 (3), 21-47.
Friginal, E. (2013). Assessment of Oral Performance in Outsourced Call Centers. English for Specific Purposes, 32, 25-35.
Hardy, J. and Friginal, E. (2012). Linguistic Variation among Filipino and American Blogs and Online Opinion Columns. World Englishes, 31 (1), 1-19.
Friginal, E. (2011). Interactional and Cross-Cultural Features of Outsourced Call Center Discourse. International Journal of Communication, 21 (1), 53-76.
Book Chapters
Friginal, E. (in press). Telephone Interactions: A Multidimensional Comparison. Edited by Vivana Cortes and Eniko Csomay, Corpus-Based Research in Applied Linguistics: A Tribute to Douglas Biber, pp. 26-47. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Skalicky, S., Friginal, E., and Subtirelu, N. (to appear). Instances of Miscommunication in Outsourced Call Center Interactions. Edited by Lucy Pickering, Eric Friginal, and Shelley Staples, Talking at Work: Corpus-Based Explorations of Workplace Discourse. London: Palgrave McMillan.
Friginal, E. and Hardy, J. (2014). Conducting Biber’s Multi-Dimensional Analysis Using SPSS. Edited by Tony Berber Sardinha and Marcia Chulio, Mult-Dimensional Analysis, 25 Years On, pp. 297-316. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Friginal, E. (2013). Linguistic Characteristics of Intercultural Call Center Interactions. Edited by Gayle Nelson and Diane Belcher, Critical and Corpus-Based approaches to Intercultural Rethoric, pp. 127-153. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Friginal, E. (2012). Linguistic Variation in the Discourse of Outsourced Call Centers. Edited by Douglas Biber and Randi Reppen, Corpus Linguistics, pp. 44-65. London: Sage Publications.
Friginal, E. (2011). Corpus Analysis of the Modal Verb Would in Spoken and Written Philippine English. Edited by Ma. Lourdes Bautista, Philippine English: Corpus-Based Studies, pp. 123-145. Manila: De LaSalle University Press.
Biber, D., Reppen, R., and Friginal, E. (2010). Research in Corpus Linguistics. Edited by Robert Kaplan, The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics, 2nd Ed, pp. 548-567. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grieve, J., Biber, D., Friginal, E., and Nekrasova, T. (2010). Dimensions in Blogs. Edited by Alexander Mehler, Serge Sharoff, Georg Rehm, and Marina Santini, Genres on the Web: Corpus Studies and Computational Models, pp. 89-123. New York: Springer.
Friginal, E. (2010). Call Center Training in the Philippines. Edited by Gail Forey and Jane Lockwood, Globalization and Communication in the Workplace, pp. 190-203. London: Equinox Publishing.
Conference Proceedings
Friginal, E. and Hameed, N.S. (2014). Introducing Corpus Tools in Iraqi EFL Classrooms. Edited by Peter McLaren, Mashael Al-Hamly, Christine Coombe, Peter Davidson, Cindy Gunn, and Salah Troudi, Proceedings of the 19th TESOL Arabia Conference: From KG to College to Career, pp. 253-264. Dubai, UAE: TESOL Arabia.
Friginal, E. and Mustafa, S.S (2014). Analyzing a Corpus of Iraqi Student Writing. Edited by Peter McLaren, Mashael Al-Hamly, Christine Coombe, Peter Davidson, Cindy Gunn, and Salah Troudi, Proceedings of the 19th TESOL Arabia Conference: From KG to College to Career, pp. 265-277. Dubai, UAE: TESOL Arabia.
Other Publications
Friginal, E. (in press). Concordances. Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication. New York: Sage Publishing.
Friginal, E. (2014). Review of Thomas Schmidt and Kai Wörner (Eds.). Multilingual Corpora and Multilingual Corpus Analysis. Multilingua Journal.
Friginal, E. (2013). Text X-Ray: A Visual Text Analyzer (Software Description). Available online at: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/16027.html