PUBLICATIONS

Veirano, Pinto, Marcia and Pierfranca Forchini. 2025. Corpus Analysis of the Language of Film and Television. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd edition) WILEY (1-7) [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal20503]

Forchini, Pierfranca and Amanda Murphy. 2025. iThink, therefore iCheck: Critical engagement with ChatGPT in linguistic analysis and learning. Applied Corpus Linguistics (1-9)

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2025. Decoding Movie Language through Multi-Dimensional Analysis and the Grammar of Graphics. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins (Studies in Corpus Linguistics Series). [https://benjamins.com/catalog/scl.124]

Morgana, Valentina. 2023. "Beyond Challenges: A Task-Based Approach to Teach Spoken English through Movie Language". Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata (RILA) Special Issue "Advances, Trends and Approaches in Language Teaching, Learning and Education in the Post-Pandemic Era: Theory and Practice”, 209-226.

Seracini, Francesca. 2024. “Value Metaphors in Films: A Corpus-based Analysis of the Representation of Core Values in American Movies”. L'Analisi Linguistica e Letteraria 31(3), 69–92.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2022. The AMC Transcription Conventions. (www.americanmoviecorpus.net).

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2021. “The fourth dude shift: a rags-to-riches tale continued.” In Back to the Future. English from Past to Present, edited by Maria Luisa Maggioni and Amanda Clare Murphy, 247-269. Bern: Peter Lang.

Forchini, Pierfranca (Ed.). 2021. The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence. Milano: EDUCatt.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2021. "The American Movie Corpus." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 9-53. Milano: EDUCatt.

Forchini, Pierfranca and Francesca Seracini. 2021. "British English in American movies: the smart, the bad and the exotic." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 159-172. Milano: EDUCatt.

Poli, Francesca. 2021. "Collocations in crime movies and an introduction to RStudio." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 85-112. Milano: EDUCatt.

Poli, Francesca. 2021. "The influence of movie conversation on Italian learners' collocations." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 113-133. Milano: EDUCatt.

Seracini, Francesca. 2021. "The language of leadership in American movies: a corpus-driven analysis with the AntConc concordancer." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 57-83. Milano: EDUCatt.

Seracini, Francesca. 2021. "Modality and argumentation in movie courtroom examinations." In The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 135-157. Milano: EDUCatt.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2021. "Corpora and movie discourse: Marvel and DC Studios compared.” In The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis, edited by Eric Friginal, and Jack Hardy, 183-201. London: Routledge.

Seracini, Francesca. 2020. “British English and characterization in American movies.” In A Description of American English Phonology with Readings, edited by Pierfranca Forchini, 151-166. Milano: EDUCatt.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2019. “Dimensions 'Assembled': The Nature of Movie Conversation.” In Worlds of words: complexity, creativity, and conventionality in English language, literature and culture. Volume I: Language, edited by Veronica Bonsignori, Gloria Cappelli, and Elisa Mattiello, 145-157. Pisa: Pisa University Press.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2018. “The applicability of movies in legal language teaching: Evidence from Multi-Dimensional Analysis.” International Journal of Linguistics 10(6): 245-262.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2017. “A multi-dimensional analysis of legal American English: Real-life and cinematic representations compared.” International Journal of Language Studies 11(3), 133-150.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2013a. “The teaching applicability of movies and the strength of Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA).” In Perspectives on Spoken Discourse, edited by Amanda Murphy and Margherita Ulrych, 81-110. Milano: EduCatt.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2013b. “Using movie corpora to explore spoken American English. Evidence from Multi-Dimensional Analysis.” In Variation and Change in Spoken and Written Discourse: Perspectives from Corpus Linguistics, edited by Julia Bamford, Silvia Cavalieri, and Giuliana Diani, 123-136. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2013c. “A diachronic study of familiarizers ('man', 'guys', 'buddy', 'dude') in movie language.” Perspectives. 21(4): 504-525.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2012. Movie language revisited: Evidence from multi-dimensional analysis and corpora. Bern: Peter Lang.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2011. “Movie conversation: a reflection of face-to-face conversation and a source for teaching spoken language.” In Papers from the 24th AIA Conference. Challenges for the 21st Century: Dilemmas, Ambiguities, Directions. Vol. 2. Language Studies, edited by Gabriella Di Martino, Linda Lombardo, and Silvia Nuccorini, 199-206. Roma: Edizioni Q.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2010. ““Well, uh no. I mean, you know”. Discourse Markers in Movie Conversation.” In Perspectives on Audiovisual Translation, edited by Lukasz Bogucki and Krzysztof Kredens. 45-59. Bern: Peter Lang.

Forchini, Pierfranca. 2009. "The get-unit in corpora of spontaneous and non-spontaneous mediated language: from syntactic versatility to semantic and pragmatic similarity." In ECOLINGUA: The role of e-Corpora in Translation, Language Learning and Testing, edited by Christopher Taylor, 185-209. Trieste: EUT.

TALKS (Conferences & Seminars)

Pierfranca Forchini and Amanda Murphy: iChat, but do iCheck? CLAVIER2025, English Specialised Communication between Digital Media and AI, Modena, 24-25 November 2025.

Pierfranca Forchini (KEYNOTE): Methodology, Reliability, and Practice at a Crossroads: Reflections from Corpus Linguistics. EuroCALL2025 (Milan, ITALY) August 27-30, 2025.

Valentina Morgana: Integrating Corpus Linguistics into Technology-Mediated Task-Based Language Teaching: Enhancing EFL Secondary Students' Spoken Grammar Skills. 32nd EuroCALL International Conference, Trnava University (Slovakia).

Valentina Morgana: Teaching spoken features with the American Movie Corpus: a task-based approach. SLA PhD Seminar, University College London (UK), January 2024.

Valentina Morgana: Movies as multimodal input in EFL: a technology-mediated TBLT perspective. Webinar for the Learning Technology SIG of IATEFL, February 2024.

Pierfranca Forchini & Marcia Veirano Pinto: Movie transcriptions and subtitles: “Two of a kind” for spoken lexicogrammar. Corpus Linguistics 2023, Lancaster (UK), July 3-6, 2023.

Valentina Morgana: Learning spoken features with the American Movie Corpus: a TBLT approach. Corpus Linguistics 2023, Lancaster (UK), July 3-6, 2023.

Francesca Seracini: Metaphors in American movies and the conceptualisation of key values. XVI RaAM Conference (Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor), University of Alcalá de Henares (Spain), June 28-30, 2023.

Amanda Murphy & Pierfranca Forchini: The American Movie Corpus: An Effective Teaching Tool for Spoken English. The Eighth International Conference on Teacher Education, Passion and Professionalism in Teacher Education (Tel Aviv), June 26-27, 2023).

Valentina Morgana (Keynote Speaker): Opportunities and challenges in technology-mediated TBLT: striking a balance. International Conference Language MOOCS and OER: new trends and challenges, Università di Napoli L'Orientale (Italy), September 2023.

Francesca Seracini: Interdisciplinary approaches to English-language use in professional contexts: the representation of leadership styles in US movies. Contemporary Trends in English-Language Studies Conference, University of Zielona Góra (Poland), May 18-19 2023.

Pierfranca Forchini, Amanda Murphy, Valentina Morgana, Francesca Seracini, Francesca Poli (PANEL): The American Movie Corpus: Are we really NOT having this conversation? The American Association for Corpus Linguistics (AACL) 2022, Northern Arizona University (Arizona, USA), September 9-12.

Pierfranca Forchini & Valentina Morgana: Accessing spoken discourse through Movie Corpus Assisted Discourse Analysis (Movie-CADS): Evidence from the Italian secondary school and university classroom. CADS 2022, Università degli Studi di Bologna (Italy), August 27-28.

Pierfranca Forchini: Screen English Corpora: Building Criteria, Transcription Guidelines and Analyses. Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy), 2022 [MAVTO (Master in traduzione per il cinema, la televisione e l'editoria multimediale ), Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere e Culture Moderne].

Pierfranca Forchini: The grammar of movie language. Università degli Studi di Trieste (Italy), 2020 [Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche, del Linguaggio, dell’Interpretazione e della Traduzione].

Pierfranca Forchini & Amanda Murphy: The status of spoken grammar: a challenge to ESP. Clavier 2019, Pisa (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Investigating spoken grammar and pronunciation in the American Movie Corpus: innovative research practices and teaching tools. AIA 2019, Padova (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini & Francesca Seracini: Pronunciation and Lexico-Grammar in American Movies: a Study into the Correlation of Varieties and Character Traits. AIA 2019, Padova (Italy).

Francesca Poli: Terms of endearment in pre-2000 American movie conversation: the case of darling and baby. AIA 2019, Padova (Italy).

Ivano Celentano: Terms of endearment in post-2000 American movie conversation: the case of honey and baby. AIA 2019, Padova (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Dimensions “Assembled”: The Nature of Movie Conversation. XXVIII AIA Conference 2017, Pisa (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: The applicability of movies in legal language teaching: Evidence from Multi-Dimensional Analysis. International Corpus Linguistics Conference 2017, Birmingham (UK).

Pierfranca Forchini: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of movie and real trials and its teaching applicability. Clavier 2014, Milano, (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of the Legal Arena: Movie vs. Real Trials. The American Association for Corpus Linguistics (AACL) 2014, Flagstaff (Arizona, USA).

Pierfranca Forchini & Amanda Murphy: Julie and Julia writings and rewritings. AIA 2013 Remediating, Rescripting, Remaking: Old and New Challenges in English Studies, Parma (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Leading questions in courtroom trials and drama. The American Association for Corpus Linguistics (AACL) 2013, San Diego (California, USA).

Pierfranca Forchini: Multi-Dimensional analyses and corpus-driven approaches to specialized and non-specialized movie language: new perspectives for language teaching.The languages of films: Dubbing, acquisition and methodology 2012, Pavia (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini & Francesca Caracciolo: A comparative and contrastive description of vocatives in movie language. The languages of films: Dubbing, acquisition and methodology 2012, Pavia (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Using movies in the language classroom: new perspectives and implications. Current Research in Applied English Linguistics: what relevance for EFL Teachers? CLUC 2012, Brescia (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Teaching speech via movies: “That's great, you got the Cokes!". The American Association for Corpus Linguistics (AACL) 2011, Atlanta (Georgia, USA).

Pierfranca Forchini: Spoken conversation and movie dialogs: two of a kind. Empirical evidence from Multi-Dimensional analysis. ESSE 2010, Torino (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Using movie corpora to explore spoken American English. Evidence from Multi-Dimensional Analysis. Clavier 2009, Modena (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Movie conversation: a reflection of face-to-face conversation and a source for teaching spoken language. AIA 2009, Roma (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: Spontaneity reloaded: American face-to-face and movie conversation compared. Corpus Linguistics 2009, Liverpool (UK).

Pierfranca Forchini: “Well, you know, you've been avoiding confrontation”. Linguistic devices in spoken and written-to-be-spoken language. Inter-Varietal Applied Corpus Studies (IVACS) 2008 Limerick (Ireland).

Pierfranca Forchini: The functions of get in corpora of spontaneous and non-spontaneous mediated language: from syntactic versatility to semantic similarity. Contact Day, Ecolingua Project 2008, Trieste (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: The American Movie Corpus: a database for mediated language studies. GlobEng Satellite Symposium “Native and non-native mediated discourse and the changing English language 2008, Verona (Italy).

Pierfranca Forchini: The functions of get in corpora of spontaneous and written-to-be-spoken language: from syntactic versatility to semantic similarity. IPRA, Gothenburg 2007 (Sweden).

Pierfranca Forchini: “I mean, what was that about?”. Spontaneous and non-spontaneous conversation compared. ICAME 28 2007, Stratford-upon-Avon (UK).

Pierfranca Forchini: “Well, no. I mean, you know…”. Discourse markers in movie translation. Intermedia 2007, (Poland).

WORKSHOPS for STUDENTS and TEACHERS

Formazione Docenti, Don Bosco Village School , Cerro di Laveno (VA) (September 2025)

Pierfranca Forchini: La lingua straniera come possibilità di incontro: comunicare, esprimere e conoscere.

Percorso per le Competenze Trasversali e per l'Orientamento (PCTO), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan (March-April, 2025)

Pierfranca Forchini, Valentina Morgana: The Amazing Movie Language: Un viaggio tra i film e le serie TV americane

Percorso per le Competenze Trasversali e per l'Orientamento (PCTO), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan (March-April, 2024)

Pierfranca Forchini, Valentina Morgana: The Amazing Movie Language: Un viaggio tra i film e le serie TV americane

Insegnare l'inglese: dalla scuola dell'infanzia alla scuola secondaria di primo grado. Metodologie e best practices,

Corso Formazione, Scuola Secondaria A. Mandelli (2024)

Pierfranca Forchini, Amanda Murphy: The Importance of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence through Movies

Pierfranca Forchini, Amanda Murphy: Phonetics & Phonology (Common Mistakes, American English vs. British English) through Movies

Liceo Cantonale di Mendrisio. Ticino, Switzerland (December 14, 2023)

Pierfranca Forchini e Amanda Murphy: The American Movie Corpus: A Tool for the Development of Spoken Lexico-Grammatical Competence

Exploring Spoken English with Movies: a Workshop for Teachers, Università Cattolica Brescia (April 13, 2023)

Pierfranca Forchini, Amanda Murphy, Francesca Seracini, Valentina Morgana, Francesca Poli, Laura Anelli

Pierfranca Forchini and Amanda Murphy: SESSION #1: The importance of spoken lexico-grammatical competence

Francesca Seracini, Francesca Poli: SESSION #2: The AMC and Tools for the development of spoken language proficiency

Valentina Morgana and Laura Anelli: SESSION #3: Task-based language teaching and practical activities for the classroom

Sfide, la Scuola di Tutti, Milan (April 29, 2022)

Pierfranca Forchini & Valentina Morgana: The Amazing Movie Language: Una delle risorse più efficaci e motivanti per lo studio della grammatica del parlato.

Formazione Docenti Lingua Inglese, Scuola Primaria "A. Moro" Abbiategrasso (June 15, 2022)

Pierfranca Forchini: Part 1. American English vs. British English

Pierfranca Forchini: Part 2. Common mistakes made by Italians: FOCUS ON English SOUNDS

PROJECTS & COLLABORATIONS

2023–2027 - FUNDED INTERNATIONAL PROJECT - FAPESP, The São Paulo Research Foundation, BRAZIL

Multidimensional Analysis of Language, Discourse and Society

Principal Investigator: Tony Berber Sardinha

Associated Investigator: Pierfranca Forchini

AMC Team Members: Amanda Murphy, Valentina Morgana, Francesca Poli

2024-Present - FUNDED NATIONAL PROJECT - Intelligenza artificiale e nuove tecnologie nella didattica della lingua inglese

Project Coordinator: Pierfranca Forchini

2022-2025 - FUNDED NATIONAL PROJECT - Innovative studies, methodologies and materials for learning and teaching spoken grammar

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Project Coordinator: Pierfranca Forchini

2019-2022 - FUNDED NATIONAL PROJECT - The American Movie Corpus (AMC) a tool for the learning and analysis of spoken grammar

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Project Coordinator: Pierfranca Forchini

2015-2019 - FUNDED NATIONAL PROJECT - Spoken grammar and phonological competence in English

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Project Coordinator: Amanda Murphy