Reformulation and recontextualization in popularization discourse

The paper takes into consideration the evolution of the concept of popularization and of its main techniques of realization in the last few decades. At first, the use of definitions in popularization discourse is investigated and compared to the practices followed in argumentative and pedagogical texts. Special attention is then devoted to the strategies of reformulation and of recontextualization that are often adopted in this process, and exemplifications are provided to highlight the main functions fulfilled by the use of these rhetorical tools. The social importance of popularization is subsequently highlighted together with a discussion of the possible manipulative risks that may be encountered, particularly for argumentative or promotional purposes. The analysis carried out shows the great complexity of the popularization system, which implies therefore the adoption of an integrated approach in order to clearly identify and carefully describe the various aspects involved in this process

Aspects of Arbitration Discourse: an Insight into China’s Arbitration Law

The formulation of legal norms is greatly conditioned not only by different juridical systems and drafting traditions, but also by specific linguistic features and socio-cultural aspects. The paper investigates this issue by taking into consideration provisions concerning commercial arbitration in an Asian country. The text selected for our analysis is The People’s Republic of China Arbitration Law 1994 (PRCAL, for short). This law can be considered a highly important step in the development of Chinese legislation in this field as it has had a great impact on international arbitration carried out by Chinese companies. International business exchanges with China have increased enormously over the last few years and even the recent economic recession has not slowed down this growth, making China the biggest Asian market in terms of import-export trade. As a natural consequence, this increase in business deals and contracts has brought about a rise in the number of trade disputes, with a consequent increase in arbitration proceedings. The aim of this paper is to examine the English version of PRCAL in order to highlight some of the linguistic and legal features present that betray specific cultural values. In some cases, the PRCAL text is compared to the United Nations Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, with the aim of offering a more detailed understanding of textual phenomena closely linked to differing legal and cultural traditions

El discurso jurídico en diversas lenguas y culturas: Tendencia a la globalización e identidades locales*

En estas últimas décadas, la tendencia a la globalización ha afectado el campo jurídico, el cual ha experimentado, del mismo modo, una perspectiva cada vez más orientada a la internacionalización. Sin embargo, a pesar de los crecientes esfuerzos de la comunidad internacional por garantizar cada vez mayores acuerdos en la legislación y los procedimientos, las restricciones locales y los aspectos culturales específicos aún representan un factor condicionante relevante. Esto es claramente visible en los textos normativos en uso en los diversos contextos que muestran discrepancias, las que derivan no solo de sistemas culturales y jurídicos diferenciados, sino también del uso de diferentes códigos lingüísticos. Para ejemplificar estos temas, el artículo toma en cuenta algunos cambios relevantes que están teniendo lugar en un tipo específico de discurso jurídico −aquel que dice relación con el dominio del arbitraje− tal como se usa en contextos multilingües y multiculturales, a fin de ilustrar los fenómenos relacionados con la tendencia a la globalización en este dominio y con la mantención de identidades lingüísticas y culturales reafirmadas a nivel local. Para ilustrar los diferentes fenómenos, se toman ejemplos de la legislación sobre arbitraje internacional basada en la Ley Modelo sobre Arbitraje Comercial Internacional emitida por las Naciones Unidas y posteriormente integrada en las leyes de varios países con diversas condiciones constitucionales, socioculturales y económicas. In the last few decades a globalising trend has affected the legal field, where an international perspective is becoming more and more widespread. However, in spite of the growing efforts of the international community to guarantee greater and greater harmonisation in legislation and procedures, local constraints and specific cultural aspects still represent a relevant conditioning factor. This is clearly visible in the normative texts in use in the various contexts which show discrepancies deriving not only from differing legal and cultural systems, but also from the use of different linguistic codes. To exemplify these issues, the paper takes into consideration some relevant changes taking place in a specific type of legal discourse -i.e. that concerning the field of arbitration- as used in multilingual and multicultural contexts, in order to illustrate phenomena related to the globalising trends taking place in this field and to the maintenance of linguistic and cultural identities reaffirmed at a local level. To illustrate the various phenomena, examples are drawn from legislation on international arbitration based on the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration issued by the United Nations and later integrated into the laws of several countries with varying constitutional, sociocultural and economic conditions

Broadening shared knowledge within the specialized community in the 17th century

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the different methods that the specialized discourse community of the 17th century used to spread the news about the many activities then taking place and the discoveries being made by its members. It will be shown that the communicative role of early scientists was not limited to the fulfilment of goals linked to socialization and solidarity, but also included the reform of existing means of discourse and the development of new ones. Indeed, the propagation of discourse conveying new information about specialized facts or events to a social group sharing intellectual and professional interests implied the adoption of various textual forms, each with its own specific pragmatic aim so as to carry out different communicative functions and meet the expectations of a large number of non-homogenous addressees.

English as a Lingua Franca in the academic world: Trends and dilemmas

Abstract – The recent phenomenon of globalisation has strongly favoured English, which has become the preferred medium for international com­munication in many contexts. This spread of English as a lingua franca has had relevant implications in the field of English used for specific purposes (ESP), where the need for a common language is particularly felt for the development of specialised communication at a global level. This paper investigates the present globalising trends in a specific field of ESP, i.e. in the academic world, focusing in particular on their main implications for language research and education, highlighting both its recent trends but also the main dilemmas that this great development has aroused. The first part of the paper explores the globalising effects of the use of English as a lingua franca in the world of academia and the complex nature of its linguistic realisations, underscoring both homogenising and localising trends. Indeed, in spite of the homogenising trends deriving from the process of globalisation, academic discourse is not at all uniform but varies according to a host of factors, such as language competence, disciplinary field, community membership, professional expertise and generic conventions, as well as some factors which clearly reflect aspects of the local tradition and culture. The second part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of another phenomenon which is quite topical in the academic context at a global level, i.e. the use of English as a medium of instruction in higher education in many non-English-speaking countries. The implementation of these ‘international’ courses has opened up new opportunities for learning the English discourses relating to the specialised disciplines taught, but has also aroused dilemmas connected with language proficiency and the level of content competence acquired

Scientific Interaction Within Henry Oldenburg’s Letter Network

The article investigates various functions fulfilled by letters exchanged by European scholars and experimenters in the period 1660-1676. The correspondence network taken into consideration is the one coordinated by Henry Oldenburg, who was responsible for a large exchange of letters in that period, particularly when he became the first Secretary of the Royal Society. The analysis shows that this correspondence greatly stimulated the growth of a real community of adepts, as it provided an excellent means for the exchange of views, the conducting of controversies, the corroboration of individual observations and the official recognition of one’s own findings. Communal correspondence also fulfilled other important goals linked to socialization purposes, favouring the creation of a new specialized community sharing innovative intellectual interests and professional practices, as well as the adoption of a spirit of solidarity among its members

Canting Terms in Early English Monolingual Dictionaries

En este trabajo se considera la presencia de términos del “cant” en diccionarios monolingües ingleses del siglo XVII. La atención de muchos estudios se ha centrado en los primeros diccionarios y glosarios del “cant”, particularmente aquellos que aparecen en el período isabelino, mientras que la investigación sobre la aparición de tales términos en diccionarios generales de la lengua inglesa ha sido relativamente escasa. Se presenta aquí, un análisis detallado sobre algunos trabajos lexicográficos publicados en Inglaterra en el siglo XVII con la intención de trazar la inserción de elementos de esta jerga en publicaciones no dedicadas en exclusiva al lenguaje de los bajos fondos. Dos de estos trabajos en particular —Coles (1676) y The Ladies Dictionary— presentan inclusiones de términos y expresiones en “cant.” Identificaremos las características específicas de estas publicaciones así como el método adoptado por sus autores en la compilación de sus diccionarios y las posibles fuentes para sus entradas del “cant” para con ello determinar el grado de novedad y relevancia que sus contribuciones han aportado a este campo.This paper takes into consideration the presence of canting terms in 17th-century English monolingual dictionaries. The scholars’ attention has mostly concentrated on the earliest canting dictionaries and glossaries —particularly those appearing in the Elizabethan period—, while relatively little research has investigated the appearance of such terms in general dictionaries of the English tongue. The paper will provide a detailed analysis of some lexicographic works published in England in the 17th century in order to trace the insertion of elements of this jargon in publications not exclusively devoted to the language of the underword. Two of these works, in particular —Coles (1676) and The Ladies Dictionary (1694)— have been found to include several canting terms and expressions. The specific features of these publications will be identified, as well as the method adopted by their authors in the compilation of their dictionaries and the most likely sources of their canting entries, in order to determine the degree of novelty and relevance that their contributions have brought to the field

Specialised Discourse in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts

Cet article examine les effets du développement récent des domaines spécialisés, sous l’effet d’un processus continu de mondialisation économique. Cette tendance à la globalisation a non seulement soulevé d’importantes questions socioculturelles, commerciales et de communication, mais a également affecté le domaine juridique, où une perspective internationale s’est généralisée. Cependant, malgré les efforts croissants de la communauté internationale pour garantir une harmonisation toujours plus importante de la législation et des procédures, certaines contraintes locales et des aspects culturels spécifiques continuent de représenter un facteur de conditionnement pertinent. Ceci est particulièrement visible dans les textes normatifs en vigueur dans divers contextes, qui montrent des écarts dûs non seulement à des systèmes juridiques et culturels différents, mais également à l’usage de codes linguistiques différents. Aujourd’hui, nombre de textes en vigueur au niveau local sont en effet le produit d’un processus de traduction ou d’adaptation de documents plus généraux, rédigés à un niveau international.The paper investigates the effects of the great developments that have taken place in the last few decades in specialised domains as a consequence of a continuous process of economic globalisation. This globalising trend has not only raised important socio-cultural, business and communication issues, but has also affected the legal field, where an international perspective is becoming more and more widespread. However, in spite of the growing efforts of the international community to guarantee greater and greater harmonization in legislation and procedures, local constraints and specific cultural aspects still represent a relevant conditioning factor. This is clearly visible in the normative texts in use in the various contexts which show discrepancies deriving not only from differing legal and cultural systems, but also from the use of different linguistic codes. This is due to the fact that nowadays many of the texts in use at a local level are the result of a process of translation or adaptation of more general documents formulated at an international level

Conversation and Argumentation in Boyle's Scientific Dialogue

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the new stylistic approach embodied in the genre of the scientific dialogue as used in 17th-century England, focusing, in particular, on the strategies adopted by Robert Boyle in The Sceptical Chymist (1661). The purpose of our analysis is, on the one hand, to point out those characteristics which make this dialogue resemble the features of normal conversation and, on the other, those that instead have a more argumentative purpose and that therefore make it more similar to the other genre typical of scientific theorisation, i.e. the treatise

Results of induction chemotherapy followed by surgical resection in patients with stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer: the importance of the nodal down-staging after chemotherapy

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