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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 25, No. 0, pp.1026-1047
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2025
Received 26 Jun 2025 Revised 11 Jul 2025 Accepted 23 Jul 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.25..202507.1026

Register Variation in TED-Ed Videos: A Multidimensional Analysis Across Academic Disciplines

Minji Kim ; Sumi Han
(First author) Graduate Student, Applied Linguistics & TESL, Northern Arizona University mk2729@nau.edu
(Corresponding author) Associate Professor, Digital Arts and Humanities/English Language & Learning Department, Hallym University sumihan@hallym.ac.kr


© 2025 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study examines the linguistic register of TED-Ed, a widely used digital education platform, by analyzing how its language varies across academic disciplines. Despite TED-Ed’s popularity in language and content-based instruction, little research has focused on its register features. To fill this gap, the study applies Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) using the Multidimensional Analysis Tagger to analyze 2,294 TED-Ed video transcripts. The texts were evaluated across Biber’s (1988, 1989) six linguistic dimensions and compared with other registers, while also exploring differences between STEM and Non-STEM and among sub-disciplines. The findings reveal that TED-Ed occupies a hybrid register between academic prose and oral explanation, characterized by an informational focus, low narrativity, and moderate context-dependence. Significant differences were found between Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Non-STEM groups in five lexico-grammatical dimensions, especially regarding narrative structure and elaboration. The sub-discipline analysis showed that the STEM video transcripts tend to include more involved and persuasive features, whereas the non-STEM transcripts favor abstract or elaborative strategies. This research offers a detailed linguistic profile of TED-Ed discourse and practical insights for material selection and adaptation in educational contexts. It also provides a foundation for future studies on how register variation affects learner understanding and engagement in content-based learning environments.

Keywords:

online video register, open educational platform, TED-Ed, multi-dimensional analysis

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