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In:The Documentarist Turn: From observable linguistic behaviour to typological generalizations
Edited by Sonja Riesberg, Uta Reinöhl and Birgit Hellwig
[Studies in Language Companion Series 240] 2026
► pp. 149–179

Chapter 7
Science in public

The representation of language documentation in science communication

ORCiD logo with link | University of Cologne
ORCiD logo with link | University of Cologne
ORCiD logo with link | University of Cologne
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
How do public media represent language documentation? We offer a first pilot study informed by the Public Understanding of Science framework and recent media history. We employ a mixed-methods approach on a corpus of selected media coverage, using Topic Modelling to identify and quantify recurring topics, and corpus-assisted discourse analysis in the form of KWIC and collocations for qualitative analysis. We show that only a good one in two mentions of language documentation in media coverage corresponds to the way it is accepted in academia, whereas outlets tend to highlight certain characteristics of the discipline, overemphasise certain facets, and sometimes ignore relevant strands. In addition, there are competing meanings in discourse which belong to unrelated fields.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Language documentation in science communication: Goals and concepts
    • 1.2Public Understanding of Science
    • 1.3“The” media: Shifting concepts of a public sphere
    • 1.4The current study
  • 2.Materials and methods
    • 2.1Data collection and preprocessing
    • 2.2Topic modelling
    • 2.3Implementation and procedure
    • 2.4KWIC and collocation analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Top terms and topics
    • 3.2Topic trends over time
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Misrepresentation and gap between media and academia
    • 4.2Psychological implications
    • 4.3Future avenues
    • 4.4A call for engagement
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Data availability
  • Notes
  • References
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