ABSTRACT
Stylistic Perception (SP) analysis is a new method of investigating linguistic variation from the perspective of audience perceptions. As such, SP analysis gives researchers an additional lens through which to analyze and interpret corpus-linguistic data. Recent work in this area has revealed substantial and systematic variability in the perceptions lay readers have of published writing. Egbert used SP analysis and Biber's multi-dimensional (MD) analysis to show that certain aspects of author style can predict reader perceptions of university textbook comprehensibility and effectiveness. The chapter focuses on means-based comparisons between groups along two independent factors: country and topic. Stylistic Perception, on the other hand, provides us with information about texts from the perspective of target readers. Unsurprisingly, the unique nature of this approach makes it more likely to produce findings that are not discovered by any other approach.
