Corpus linguistics is at a pivotal moment. As large language models (LLMs) and generative artificial intelligence (AI) continue to transform our everyday practices (Barlow, 2023), the field faces the challenge of redefining its identity. This identity is rooted in three key principles (McEnery & Brezina, 2022) that have emerged throughout its history: i) gathering representative language samples, ii) understanding words in context, and iii) providing data on the frequency of words and phrases.

Drawing on the extensive corpus research carried out at the ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science, Lancaster University, I will demonstrate the broad applications of #LancsBox across various research fields. In applied linguistics, #LancsBox serves as a valuable tool for analyzing linguistic data to gain insights into language teaching, acquisition, and policy. In discourse analysis, it enables researchers to examine how pressing global issues, such as climate change and medical discourse, are discussed in public spaces. Moreover, #LancsBox is highly effective in the study of literary texts, analyzing word frequency, stylistic features, and thematic patterns, allowing for fresh interpretations of texts. This versatility highlights #LancsBox’s potential to enhance linguistic and interdisciplinary research, enriching our understanding of language in society.