The generation of active entries in a specialised, bilingual, corpus-based dictionary of the ceramics industry: what to include, why and how

The generation of useful dictionary entries is a complex task since it is normally complicated to decide what to include, and how to include it. Accordingly, this research presents as its main goal to show how “active entries” have been generated in the specific case of the elaboration of a specialised, bilingual, corpus-based dictionary in the field of industrial ceramics. Thus, this article illustrates how final entries have been designed and how decisions have been adopted depending on the prospective users of the dictionary –specialists and translators in the ceramic industrial field. It proceeds reflecting on how active entries complement previous terminological creations with the inclusion of additional, pertinent information and on the intricate decision-making processes involved in the generation of this kind of entries. On the first part of the article, the theoretical considerations adopted are posed whereas the second part deals with the active entries as such and the way their different fields have been filled in; that is, how different pieces of information regarding contexts of use, pragmatic implications, semantic classification and definitions, among others, have been included in the entries to meet the users’ needs.La elaboración de entradas de diccionario útiles es siempre una labor ardua por lo complicado de decidir qué incluir y cómo incluirlo. Así pues, esta investigación 43 IBÉRICA 18 [2009]: 43-70 NURIA EDO MARZÁ tiene como principal objetivo mostrar cómo se han generado “entradas activas” en el caso concreto de la elaboración de un diccionario especializado bilingüe basado en corpus en el campo específico de la cerámica industrial. De este modo, el presente artículo ilustra cómo se han diseñado las entradas finales y cómo se han tomado decisiones teniendo a los usuarios potenciales del diccionario –especialistas y traductores en el sector cerámico industrial– como referencia. Este artículo reflexiona además sobre cómo las entradas activas complementan creaciones terminológicas previas con la inclusión de información adicional pertinente y sobre los intrincados procesos de toma de decisiones necesarios para la elaboración de este tipo de entradas. En la primera parte del artículo, se exponen las consideraciones teóricas adoptadas mientras que la segunda parte muestra las entradas teóricas propiamente dichas y la manera en que se han completado los distintos campos; es decir, cómo las diferentes informaciones sobre contextos de uso, implicaciones pragmáticas, clasificación semántica y definiciones, entre muchos otros, han sido incluidos en las entradas con el fin de satisfacer las necesidades del usuario

Lexicografía especializada y lenguajes de especialidad: fundamentos teóricos y metodológicos para la elaboración de diccionarios especializados

En el presente artículo se pretende mostrar de forma progresiva y secuencial pero integrada una aproximación teórico-práctica al desarrollo de diccionarios especializados desde un enfoque activo, centrado en el usuario y sus necesidades y acorde con las corrientes terminográficas actuales de tipo lingüístico-comunicativo, lo cual nos llevará a adoptar finalmente la etiqueta de “lexicografía especializada” para referirnos a los fundamentos teórico-metodológicos que guían o deberían guiar el desarrollo de estos diccionarios de especialidad. Con este fin y desde una perspectiva teórica se han analizado, entre otros aspectos, los tres pilares básicos en que se sustenta la lexicografía especializada: (1) los lenguajes de especialidad, (2) la terminología, entendida aquí desde la Teoría Comunicativa de la Terminología (Cabré 1999) y (3) la lingüística de corpus como medio necesario para el análisis de los términos en uso. Esta perspectiva teórica de la lexicografía especializada se presenta a su vez complementada por unos fundamentos prácticos y una propuesta metodológica concreta para la elaboración de diccionarios activos de especialidad, mostrándose aquí como resultado el tipo de entrada lexicográfica a obtener, desarrollada siempre y necesariamente en base a unos usuarios y a unas necesidades comunicativas específicas.The present article aims to put forward in a progressive and sequential but also integrated manner a theoretical-practical approach for the development of specialised dictionaries from an active perspective focused on the user, on his/her needs and in accordance with current terminographical research, linguistic-communicative in nature. This will lead to the final adoption of the label “specialised lexicography” to make reference to the theoreticalmethodological foundations that rule or should rule the development of such speciality dictionaries. With this aim in mind and from a theoretical perspective, the three main pillars on which specialised lexicography is sustained have been analysed, namely, (1) specialised languages, (2) terminology, understood here from the Communicative Theory of Terminology (Cabré 1999) and (3) corpus linguistics as the necessary means for the analysis of terms in use. At the same time, the theoretical perspective is presented in conjunction with a series of practical foundations and a specific methodological proposal for the elaboration of specialised active dictionaries. The kind of results to be obtained have been illustrated in the present study with a sample, real lexicographical entry, always developed on the basis of prospective users and specific communicative needs

The Digital representation of an industrial cluster through its corporate website image: online discourse and genre analysis

The corporate (website) image offered by industrial clusters in general and by the Spanish ceramic industrial cluster in particular is enhanced by the use of genres that fit and follow the logic of the times in terms of evolution (cybergenres). These digital genres extend the potential of traditional ones in terms of meeting the expectations and reflecting the cornmunicative practices of discourse communities, allowing the creation of a coherent, effective and easily identifiable corporate website image

Genre awareness in professional and academic language: the importance of “packing” knowledge appropriately in professional settings and academia

The aim of this article is to provide insights on the importance of genre awareness in the study, correct understanding and accurate use of Professional and Academic Language (PAL), with special emphasis being placed on the language of industrial ceramics and that used in academia. First of all, the concept of PAL as the big “container” of specialised languages is put forward and linked with the notion of genre as a communicative event characterised by its recurrent, dynamic, recognisable, expectable and conventionalised nature and by the communicative purpose it aims to achieve. Such a description attempts to show how the correct understanding and use of PAL goes beyond merely terminological considerations and in fact needs genre so that it can be “packed” appropriately for the audience. Thus, the importance of genre in PAL is analysed from two main points of view: firstly, by focusing on its more professional aspects (dealing with the relevance of generic balance in corpus compilation and of genre awareness in general in discourse communities) and, secondly, by focusing on the importance of observing generic conventions (even “constraints”) in academia. Additionally, digital genres are also analysed as an increasingly significant way of packaging information, all this leading to the conclusion that genre awareness necessarily implies accomplishing the expectations and conventionalised use of language (both general or professional and academic) established by discourse communitie

The formation of the image of top-ranked hotels through real online customer reviews: a corpus-based study of evaluative adjectives as image-formers/providers

This study is grounded on a corpus-based analysis of evaluative adjectives as hotel image-formers/providers conducted from a multifaceted yet complementary perspective which departs from the notion of destination image formation (Gartner, 1993; Baloglu & McCleary, 1999, Gylling, 2004 among others) focused on a specific aspect, that of the hotel of destination, and to a specific genre, the online (hotel) customer review. The corpus of study, which contains more than 250 000 words, is made up of more than 1200 online reviews of top-ranked hotels retrieved from the popular website Tripadvisor.com. WordSmith Tools 5.0 was used to analyse and categorise the evaluative adjectives in the corpus from three perspectives: firstly, adjectives were initially classified according to frequency and/or saliency criteria; secondly, in terms of their implicit degree of positivity/negativity; and thirdly, according to the kind of evaluation provided. Subsequently, the main features evaluated in any hotel online customer review (value, rooms, location, cleanliness, and service) and their frequently associated adjectival evaluative acts were analysed to determine their collocational behavior and thus the way such appraisal patterns contribute to “destination image formation”, that is, to form an impression on specific aspects of top-ranked hotels. The paper is aimed at showing that evaluative adjectives in online customer reviews are critical in the interpretation of subjective expected values, and that a correct understanding of the kind of image they transmit in the tourist-to tourist digital interaction through reviews provides an opportunity for destination marketers, in this case hoteliers, to enhance the psychological and symbolic values as well as the benefits of the destination according to improved communication strategies and language usage

Specialised pedagogical e-lexicography: Needs and usage in the field of scientific-technical English

El objetivo principal de este artículo es determinar el uso dado por los estudiantes así como la percepción que éstos tienen de una herramienta a menudo desaprovechada, mal empleada e incluso infravalorada como es el diccionario. Según se desprende de este estudio, rara vez los estudiantes se detienen a reflexionar sobre qué informaciones necesitan en un diccionario, del mismo modo que rara vez una sola obra lexicográfica especializada contiene toda la información necesaria para solventar la totalidad de dudas de corte terminológico, conceptual o de uso que pueden plantearse. Es por ello que analizamos cómo perciben los estudiantes de inglés para ingeniería sus propios usos, necesidades y expectativas lexicográficas al ser preguntados explícitamente por ello mediante un sondeo basado en dos encuestas: una de análisis crítico de obras ya existentes y otra de usos y necesidades lexicográficas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que ninguna obra conjuga todas las características de calidad, cantidad, claridad y accesibilidad de la información esperables en un e-diccionario científico-técnico, por lo que se apuntan mejoras concretas para optimizar estos aspectos atendiendo a los principios de la lexicografía pedagógica especializada (Fuertes-Olivera & Arribas-Baño, 2008; Fuertes-Olivera, 2009) –que tanto puede enriquecer el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje del Inglés para Fines Específicos (IFE)– y al criterio de los propios usuarios potenciales: los alumnos. Este estudio pretende así promover un redescubrimiento del diccionario electrónico especializado como herramienta de aprendizaje y uso profesional con el fin de crear productos e-lexicográficos que fomenten el uso activo y eficiente del diccionario.The main objective of this paper is to determine the kind of usage made by students –as well as their perception– of an often misused and even undervalued tool: the dictionary. This study shows that learners seldom reflect upon the kind of information they need in a dictionary, in the same way that a single specialised lexicographical work rarely contains all the information needed to solve all the terminological/conceptual/usage-related doubts that may arise. This is the reason why we have analysed how learners of English for Engineering perceive their own lexicographical usage, needs and expectations when explicitly asked about these aspects by means of two questionnaires: one of them dealing with the critical analysis of already-existing works and the other about lexicographical usage and needs. The results obtained show that no single text has all the quality, quantity, clarity and user-friendliness features to be expected in a scientific-technical e-dictionary. This is the reason why specific improvements have been signalled to optimise these aspects according to the principles of specialised pedagogical lexicography (Fuertes-Olivera & Arribas-Baño, 2008; Fuertes-Olivera, 2009) –so enriching in the teaching-learning process of English for Specific Purposes (ESP)– and to the criteria of prospective users: the students. Hence, this study aims at promoting learners’re-discovery of the electronic specialised dictionary as a useful learning and professional tool with the final objective of creating e lexicographical products that enhance the active and efficient use of dictionaries

The communicative theory of Terminology (CTT) applied to the development of a corpus-based specialised dictionary of the ceramics industry

Esta tesis es el resultado de un proyecto destinado a la creación de un diccionario activo, bilingüe (español-inglés; inglés-español) y especializado de la industria cerámica y azulejera con la Teoría Comunicativa de la Terminología como su pilar teórico principal. Debido al posicionamiento teórico adoptado, la investigación aquí presentada ha partido de un estudio de corpus (compilado ad hoc) en el que los términos han sido analizados in vivo y caracterizados de acuerdo al ¿habitat¿ en el que se hallan en el texto especializado. Así pues, la aproximación hecha al estudio de la terminología industrial cerámica hace pertinente el uso de la etiqueta ¿lexicografía especializada¿ a la hora de referirnos a un trabajo como éste en el que se ha tratado de ir más allá de la práctica terminográfica para dar lugar a un estudio en el que se prima el contexto, las asociaciones naturales de los términos (colocaciones) y la naturaleza comunicativa de la terminología. De este modo, en esta tesis se ha presentado de manera progresiva, además de un marco teórico detallado y coherente con el fin último de la investigación, la metodología utilizada para la elaboración del diccionario en curso, ampliamente basada en el uso de programas informáticos tanto para la explotación del corpus (WordSmith Tools 4.0), como para la creación de la base de datos terminológica (TermStar XV) y la generación de entradas finales (GENDIC).Así pues, esta tesis presenta de manera progresiva los resultados obtenidos en cada etapa del método de trabajo y 4,000 entradas finales (en este caso del inglés al español) correspondientes a las letras A, B, N, O, U y V del diccionario.This PhD dissertation is the result of an ongoing process aimed at the creation of a bilingual corpus-based specialised active dictionary of the ceramic industry, with the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CTT) as its mainstay. According to the grounding principles of the CTT, this research has departed form a corpus-based approach in which terms have been analysed in vivo and characterised from the natural habitat in which they are given in specialised communication/discourse. In this light, it has been put forward how the study of terms – made possible thanks to the activity of compiling and describing them, called terminography – may be complemented by the wider projection of specialised lexicography for the compilation and elaboration of LSP, user-oriented and user-friendly quality products in the form of dictionaries. This specialised lexicographical dimension of the work has necessarily implied the need to renew the concept of speciality language dictionaries applied to the ceramic industry and has given way to the creation of a (prospective) active dictionary in this field with a marked emphasis on context. Accordingly, the importance of pragmatic aspects in a work of this sort, has made it necessary to undertake an in-depth revision and analysis of the socio-economic context for the research in order be able to establish and solve the specific terminological needs that the ceramic industrial discourse community may find. On the basis of this theoretical framework, the method of study followed for the development of the prospective dictionary has comprised 8 broad stages: the stage of work preparation and corpus compilation, the elaboration of the field diagram, the stage of documentary corpus management, term extraction, data processing, revision and normalisation and finally, the edition stage. Two main types of results have been presented: those obtained through work in progress in the different stages of the method and final ones strictly speaking, that is, 4,000 English-Spanish entries in their final format (as they will appear in the prospective dictionary) belonging to the letters A, B, N, O, U and V of a complete dictionary which will include a total of 26,000 entries

A comprehensive corpus-based study of the use of evaluative adjectives in promotional hotel websites

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and, if necessary, qualify the high incidence of evaluative adjectives presumably to be expected in promotional hotel websites. Thus, the aim of the study is to understand the role they play in that genre, the way they work, their actual usage and possible classi¿cation, as well as the role they take in persuading the reader. This corpus-based study of evaluative adjectives was therefore grounded on the analysis of their syntactic behaviour, their recurrent collocational patterns and on drawing up of a proposed classi¿cation with which to better comprehend the entities and acts that best represent the domain. At the same time, it will also provide a clearer understanding of the way they are portrayed in the genre (hotel websites) and in the type of discourse being analysed (promotional).El propósito de este artículo es analizar y matizar, en caso de que fuera necesario, la alta incidencia de adjetivos evaluativos presumiblemente esperable en las páginas web promocionales de hoteles con el ¿n de entender su rol en dicho género, su funcionamiento, uso real y posible clasi¿cación, así como el papel que juegan a la hora de persuadir al lector. Este estudio de corpus sobre adjetivos evaluativos ha estado pues basado en el análisis de su comportamiento sintáctico, sus patrones colocacionales recurrentes y en la elaboración de una propuesta de clasificación para la mejor comprensión de las entidades y actos más representativos del dominio, así como de la manera en que son retratados en el género estudiado (páginas web de hoteles) y en el tipo de discurso analizado (promocional)