Corpus Linguistics in Modern Linguistic Research: A Theoretical Review of Evolution, Methodologies, and Future Horizons

Abstract

This research paper provides a systematic theoretical review of corpus linguistics within modern linguistic research. The primary objective is to clarify the shifting conceptual definitions of a corpus, trace its historical development from manual text collections to the digital era, and evaluate its core methodological frameworks. Using a qualitative desk-research design, this study filters and analyzes core academic texts and foundational literature published since the 1960s. The results show that the definition of a corpus has evolved from a loose text collection into a highly structured, digital dataset designed for specific research questions. Furthermore, historical data highlights major technological milestones, such as the creation of early computer corpora and the rise of mega-corpora, which shifted linguistics into an empirical science. The analysis also reveals that while the field remains theoretically divided between corpus-based and corpus-driven methods, modern applied linguistics increasingly blends both approaches to solve practical problems. The significance of these findings lies in their application to language education and artificial intelligence. Understanding corpus design helps practitioners build accurate language teaching materials while providing the baseline data needed to train natural language processing tools, ensuring that future digital innovation remains anchored in natural human communication.