Videoconferenza Prof.ssa Alba GrazianoMaster in Comunicazione nelle Organizzazioni e Imprese...

VideoconferenzaProf.ssa Alba Graziano Master in Comunicazione nelle Organizzazioni e Imprese Internazionali

ENGLISH FOR ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES (ESP)SPECIAL PURPOSES (ESP)

LEXICON AND DISCOURSEProf.ssa Alba Graziano



STRUCTURESTRUCTURE OR VARIATION VARIATION

Phonology Diachronic Graphology Diatopic Morphology Diastratic Syntax Diaphasic Lexicon Diamesic

TEXTUALITYTEXTUALITY

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ANY LANGUAGE CAN BE DESCRIBED ANY LANGUAGE CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH TWO MODELS ACCORDING TO WITH TWO MODELS ACCORDING TO

ITS:ITS:

ANY LANGUAGE CAN BE DESCRIBED ANY LANGUAGE CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH TWO MODELS ACCORDING TO WITH TWO MODELS ACCORDING TO

ITS:ITS:

(the arrows indicate convergence)


VARIATION VARIATION Diachronic: variation in time (historical) Diatopic: variation in space (regional: ex. dialects)Diastratic: variation in society (classes, ages, social roles, etc.)Diaphasic: variation according to communicative situationDiamesic: variation according to communicative channel (written/oral)

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STRUCTURESTRUCTUREPhonology: the study of the sounds (pronunciation, stress, intonation, etc.)Graphology: the study of the spellingMorphology: the study of the grammatical forms of the wordSyntax: the study of the order of words in the sentenceLexicon: the study of the vocabulary

TEXTUALITYTEXTUALITYRegulative factors: efficacy, efficiency, appropriatenessConstitutive factors of communication:cohesion, coherence, intentionality, informativity, situationality, intertextuality.

WHERE DO WE COLLOCATE ESP?

Videoconferenza

PRECISION AMBIGUITY

Prof.ssa Alba Graziano Master in Comunicazione nelle Organizzazioni e Imprese Internazionali

LEXICAL FEATURES OF LEXICAL FEATURES OF

SPECIALIZED DISCOURSESPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

MONOREFERENTIALITY SYNONYMITY

TRANSPARENCY IMPRECISION CONCISENESS REDUNDANCY CONSERVATISM SEMANTIC INSTABILITY

LACK OF EMOTION METAPHOR


A question of degreesA question of degrees• MonoreferentialityEx.: liver, heart, engine, bit, chip, deixis

• Lack of emotive connotationsEx.: terms with a purely denotative function (≠

heart, lion, sun etc…) • PrecisionFacts and data, no euphemisms.Ex.: ‘Wind three two zero degrees. One five knots.

You are cleared to land — runway three zero.’


• TransparencyEx.: Gastroenterology: gastro=stomach + entero=intestine + logy=study

• ConcisenessEx.: it. saldo <saldare, rimborso<rimborsare,

utilizzo<utilizzare fr. informatique<information + automatique eng. contraception<contraconceptionEx.: it. estratto conto, analista programmatoreEx.: use abbreviations and/or acronyms, like

ESP, NGO, NHS, RAM, BOT ….


• ConservatismEx.: legal language

whosoever, wherefore, thereof, forthwith-eth instead of –s in the 3rd person singular with the

present tense

Ex.: medical language GE (anglosaxon) ESP (classical root)

nouns adjectives brain cerebral

chest thoracic heart cardiac liver hepatic skin dermal


• MetaphorEx.: business language

- business in the City of London was almost shut down after overnight storms

- aggressive selling sent share prices broadly lower- high-tech issues were hurt- economic depression

• Synonyms and RedundancyEx.: legal language

- new and novel; false and untrue; made and signed; terms and conditions (Anglosaxon+Latin)

- Old Eng.: will and testament (will for money inheritance / testament for estate inheritance)


• Ambiguity and ImprecisionEx.: “The tenant will (…) pay for all gas and electric light

and power which shall be consumed or supplied on or to the Property during the tenancy and the amount of the water rate charged in respect of the Property during the tenancy and the amount of all charges made for the use of the telephone (if any) on the Property during the tenancy or a proper proportion of the amount of the rental or other recurring charges to be assessed to the duration of the tenancy.”

• Semantic instabilityEx.: “purchase”1297 from chase = hunting = sthg obtained through force later = sthg obtained through action vs. inheritance XVI cent. = sthg obtained through paymentEx.: It. atomo = indivisibile / ipnosi = sonno


SYNTACTIC FEATURES SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

SYNTACTIC FEATURES SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

1. EXPRESSIVE CONCISENESS2. PRE-MODIFICATION

(vs. POST-MODIFICATION)3. NOMINALISATION4. LEXICAL DENSITY5. SENTENCE COMPLEXITY AND LENGTH 6. USE OF VERB TENSES AND THE PASSIVE 7. DEPERSONALISATION


1. Expressive conciseness

• Prefix/suffixWorkable metal (metal which can be worked)Reactive force (force which reacts)The unwanted liquid was thrown away (… which was not wanted…)

• Omitting subject and auxiliaryPieces of iron left in the rain become rusty (… which are left…)A pilot tube was used to measure the flow through the pipe. The instrument used was type

4CA.‘Turning into final approach, runway three zero.’

• Indirect elements in passive sentenceCompressed air can be used for several purposes (Air which is compressed can

be used for several purposes )A computer-calculated result (A result which has been calculated by a computer)

• Present ParticipleTungsten is a metal retaining hardness at red-heat (…which retains…)A robot controls the moving line (…the line which is moving)


2. Pre-modification• Ex.: An L-shaped computer room vs. A room for

computers which has the shape of an L.The driver’s overrapid downhill driving of the bus caused

brake failure vs. The driver drove the bus too rapidly down the hill so the brakes failed

• Ex.:1) The rate at which inflation grows The rate of inflation growth The inflation growth rate2) A pentagon is a figure which has five sides A pentagon is a figure with five sides A pentagon is a five-sided figure3) A train which carries passengers A train for carrying passengers A passenger-carrying train (or A passenger train)


3. Nominalization(verbal noun / adjective noun)

• Ex.:The filament is heated by the application of a voltage

(…by applying..)…in the course of the commission of an offence (in the course of committing…) Discharge of the contents of the tank is effected by a pump

(The contents of the tank are discharged by a pump)

Oscillations are frequency-dependent (…depend on frequency)

Danger is practically non-existent (…does not exist)


4. Lexical density(content words)

The complete development of the fracture model

requires

an understanding of the bond-rupture reaction

NS VS NS


5. Sentence complexity and length

The surface structure of a sentence is:NS + VS + NS

where VS is generally occupied by verbs like:

• scientific analysis: to follow, to be due to, to suggest, to show

• stative verbs: to consist of, to mean, to become, to depend, to represent, to form, to request, to require, etc.

• equative BE: the relationship between subject and nominal part gives an equivalence, that is X=Y


But if you mix points 4 and 5….

• Ex.: This Agreement, effective as of the first day of April 1987, between Dale Johnson Ryder Warren, an Association organized and existing under the laws of Switzerland (“Grantor”), its successor and assigns, and DJRW Johnson Ryder Simpson &C., its successor and assigns (“Member Firm”) …

• Ex.: The tenant will pay for all gas and electric light and power which shall be consumed on or supplied to the Property during the tenancy and the amount of the water rate charged in respect of the Property during the tenancy and the amount of all charges made for the use of the telephone (if any) on the Property during the tenancy or a proper proportion of the amount of the rental or other recurring charges to be assessed to the duration of the tenancy.


6. Use of verb tenses

1. Present Simple Active 64%2. Present Simple Passive 25%3. Future Simple Active 3.7%4. Present Perfect Passive 1.7%5. Present Perfect Active 1.4%6. Past Simple Active 1.2%7. Past Simple Passive 1.2%8. Future Simple Passive 0.7%9. Present Progressive Active 0.6%10. Imperative 0.3%


The passive form• Ex.:We can divide 9 by 3 without a remainder9 can be divided by 3 without a remainder9 is divisible by 3 without a remainderThe division of 9 by 3 leaves no remainder• Ex.: The research is based on a precise analysis of

data (no agent mentioned)

vs.Mr. X has based his research on a precise

analysis of data.


7. Depersonalization (objectivity vs. subjectivity)

- verbs like to demonstrate to suggest to highlight to confirm to point out… used in the passive

- the author refers to himself indirectly through third-person pronouns, noun phrases (the author, the research team…)

- the author conveys his personal views through forms like the book investigates, this article demonstrates…


One of the implicit assumptions of the present book is that the political meanings of any text do not exist apart from the ‘texture’ of its language, and that the formal and rhetorical features of a text are deeply implicated within the textuality of the historical moment in which it participates. Thus one of the interests of this book is to attend to the shaping metaphors and strategies of the Enquiry and the Reflections – asking what they do, describe, declare, conceal and reveal, and how these effects might be paradigmatic of more extended discursive networks.

Tom Furniss, Edmund Burke’s Aesthetic Ideology, Cambridge, CUP, 1993.


TEXTUAL FEATURESTEXTUAL FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

TEXTUAL FEATURESTEXTUAL FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

1. ANAPHORIC REFERENCE (LEXICAL REPETITION)

2. USE OF CONJUNCTIONS

3. THEMATIC PROGRESSION

4. STANDARDIZATION

5. TEXTUAL DOMAIN

6. TEXTUAL DOMINANCE

7. TEXTUAL GENRES


1. Lexical repetition as anaphoric reference• Ex.: “The Tenant will not place or exhibit any

notice board or notice on the Property or use the Property for any other purpose than that of a strictly private residence”.

• Ex.: “The way to solve some problems connected with congestion in air traffic is to raise prices at peak times and lower them at others. This proposal is based on nothing more than the principles of demand and supply”.

• This proposal =I propose >>>>>>ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE


2. Use of conjunctions

Connective elements in a corpus of scientific texts:

- deduction: therefore, thus… 33%

- contrastive: but, however…23%

- certainty or doubt: of course, possibly… 16%

- semantic continuity: and, moreover… 9%

- exemplification: for example, in particular… 8%


3. Thematic organization(tema/rema)

• Ex. 1:

“All substances are divided into two classes. The first class is about elementary substances.”

T1

R1

T2

R2


• Ex. 2:“I have called this book the General

Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. I have placed the emphasis on the prefix general to contrast the character of my arguments and conclusions with those of the classical theory. I have become accustomed, perhaps perpetrating a solecism, to include in ‘the classical school’ the followers of Ricardo, including (for example) J. Stuart Mill, Marshall, Edgeworth and Prof. Pigou. I shall argue that the postulates of the classical theory are applicable to a special case only and not to the general case, the situation which it assumes being a limiting point of the possible positions of equilibrium.”

T1

R1

T1

R2

T1

R3

T1

R4


4. Standardization

STRUCTURES OF DIFFERENT TEXTUAL GENRES (Van Dijk - 1977)

Scientific article Psychology article Economics article

INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION ANALYSISPROBLEM THEORY PREDICTIONSOLUTION PROBLEM PROPOSALCONCLUSION EXPERIMENT

COMMENT CONCLUSION


5. Textual Domain

economics, medicine, engineering, IT,

chemics, agriculture, legal, literature, general domain, etc.

6. Textual Dominance

argumentative, expository, descriptive, prescriptive, narrative, (+ suasive).


8. Textual dominance/genre

saggio scientifico manuale abstract

articolo scientifico saggio divulgativo sommario

recensione critica articolo divulgativo recensione

commento definizione scheda

tesi di laurea relazione appunti

tesina lezione ………

relazione a un convegno

conferenza

GENERI E FORME TESTUALI A DOMINANZA

ARGOMENTATIVA ESPOSITIVA

ANALITICA SINTETICA


REFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCES

R.A De Beaugrande – W.U. Dressler, Introduzione alla linguistica testuale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1984.

M.A.K. Halliday – R. Hasan, Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1985.

Maurizio Gotti, I linguaggi specialistici: caratteristiche linguistiche e criteri pragmatici, Scandicci, La Nuova Italia, 1991.




ENGLISH FOR ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES (ESP)SPECIAL PURPOSES (ESP)

Videoconferenza Prof.ssa Alba GrazianoMaster in Comunicazione nelle Organizzazioni e Imprese...

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