Las emociones en los géneros textuales especializados: Poder, manipulación y persuasión desde la AST, o Teoría del Espectro Afectivo

This paper seeks to examine professional genres from a novel perspective linking social constructivism and basic emotion theory, making the assumption that emotions are intrinsically social, and that social phenomena (such as professional communities) have an emotional nature (TenHouten, 2021). Thus, we aim to consider the constructive role of emotions in the creation and development of specialised texts (occasionally focusing specifically on the legal field), and, in turn, on the professional communities from which these texts emerge. Our work builds on the socio-evolutionary theory of emotions, or affect-spectrum theory (AST), which is developed in dissonance with other Cartesian and rational-choice models that set reason and emotion in opposition and assert that society only progresses to the extent that the former can control, suppress and triumph over the latter. Specifically, it is our underlying hypothesis that specialised and professional communication is articulated around emotions –and power, manipulation and persuasion, among other negative or positive emotional expressions. Thus, textual mechanisms or genres, as communicative instruments of specialised communities reveal the tensions that occur centripetally or centrifugally, i.e., inwards or outwards. from that community. They do so from an agonistic relational model, in a centripetal tension that promotes agency through coercion and/or manipulation, or from a hedonistic relational model, in a centrifugal tension where interpersonal relationships of persuasion and dissemination are established in order to engage in communal relationships.Este trabajo pretende examinar los géneros profesionales desde una perspectiva novedosa que vincula el constructivismo social y la teoría básica de la emoción, partiendo del supuesto de que las emociones son intrínsecamente de carácter social, y de que los fenómenos sociales (como son las comunidades profesionales) tienen una naturaleza emocional (TenHouten, 2021). Así, pretendemos considerar el papel constructivo de las emociones en la creación y el desarrollo de los textos especializados (en algunos casos, centrándonos específicamente en el ámbito jurídico) y, a su vez, en las comunidades profesionales de las que surgen estos textos. Nuestro trabajo se basa en la teoría socio-evolutiva de las emociones, o teoría del espectro afectivo (en inglés, AST o affect-spectrum theory), que se desarrolla en disonancia con otros modelos cartesianos y de elección racional que contraponen razón y emoción y afirman que la sociedad sólo progresa en la medida en que la primera puede controlar, suprimir y triunfar sobre la segunda. En concreto, nuestra hipótesis de fondo es que la comunicación especializada y profesional se articula en torno a las emociones -y al poder, la manipulación y la persuasión, entre otras expresiones emocionales negativas o positivas-. Así, los mecanismos o géneros textuales, como instrumentos comunicativos de las comunidades especializadas, revelan las tensiones que se producen de forma centrípeta o centrífuga, es decir, hacia dentro o hacia fuera de esa comunidad. Para ello, lo hacen desde un modelo relacional agonista, desplegando la autonomía en una dinámica centrípeta a través de la coerción y/o la manipulación), o desde un modelo relacional hedonista, empleando la interpersonalidad en una dinámica centrífuga que les permita entablar relaciones comunitarias a través de la persuasión y la divulgación

Krugman vs Garicano: Individual and Cultural Differences in the Rhetoric of two Economic Op-ed Writers

The present paper attempts to account for the rhetorical traits of two prestigious economists, who are also authors of economic op-eds: Paul Krugman and Luis Garicano, who write for a prestigious American newspaper, the New York Times, and for the renowned Spanish newspaper, El País, respectively. Through a contrastive study of a roughly 12-thousand-word corpus of either author, this analysis has attempted, on the one hand, to endeavor a qualitative analysis scrutinizing the formal, or lexical-semantic aspects, of their prose in terms of technical words, clichés and coinages, as well as the patterns of conceptualization of the metaphors they use to describe the economic crisis that is sweeping the Western world at large. The second part of the analysis has concentrated upon the interpersonality of the texts, at the pragmatic layer of the op-ed genre, thus covering the extra-linguistic context of the texts which have been scrutinized under the umbrella of metadiscourse. These two different, but complementary, levels of analysis have led to the conclusion that the authors’ styles depict two individual ways in which op-eds are written in the economic world, but that their styles also refl ect cultural and linguistic differences in the way columns are viewed in the English and Spanish languages

Ruth Breeze. 2013. Corporate Discourse. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 209.

DOI: 10.1400/22969

Contract language in Spain and the United States. Reflections on legal interpretation, culture and thought.

The purpose of the present article is to deal with the cultural differences rooted in the drafting and interpretation of legal contractual texts, in both Spanish and American English. To illustrate the way in which lawyers interpret language in the Spanish and the American contexts further and in more depth, I will start considering the different traditions of thought, which the legal cultures belong to and where their language is rooted. I will argue that Spain is part of the Franco-rationalistic approach based on deduction, abstract idealism, and spiritualism, while America is part of the inductive Anglo-Empiricist approach from naturalistic pragmatism and materialism. In doing so, the aim will ultimately be to discuss how the different cultural approaches of these two countries have very much to do with the way in which their legal traditions articulate contract law and its interpretation. This discussion, I hope, will shed some light on the terrain of English for Legal Purposes in Spain, its teaching and learning

Las obras y fuentes de referencia en la traducción especializada inglés-español, español-inglés: algunos ejemplos de soporte documental para la traducción jurídica y económica

This study aims to carry out an analysis of the range of resources offered in the field of Legal and Economic Translation in English and Spanish, in order to carry out a methodical examination of documentary sources in these two translation fields. Hence, it differentiates between those named “reference works” and “reference sources”, as direct and indirect or oblique resources, respectively, for these two types of specialized translation. Through a systematic scrutiny of eight terms of special significance in the economic and legal fields (four in Spanish and four in English, in either field), the different resources classified in both groups are tested and categorized into files per term and resource, in order to assess the effectiveness of the latter according to the data obtained. Results point to a higher number of entries for the group of reference works, but also suggests that translation effectiveness in these specialized fields does not necessarily have to be achieved through direct resources, indirect ones being useful to get accuracy of meaning in the legal and economic fields

A data-driven learning experiment in the legal English classroom using the FLAX platform

This research presents a data-driven experiment in the legal English field where the FLAX, an open-source self-learning online platform, is assessed as regards its efficacy in aiding a group of legal English non-native undergraduates (divided into an experimental and a control group) to use legal terminology more consistently, amongst other language items. The experimental group were instructed to only resort to the FLAX and to exploit all the functionalities offered by it. Conversely, the control group could access any information source at hand except for the learning platform for the completion of the same task.  Two learner corpora were gathered and analysed on a lexical and pragmatic level for the evaluation of term usage and distribution, lexical diversity, lexical fundamentality and the use of discourse markers. The results display a tendency on the part of the experimental group towards a more consistent usage of legal terminology, which also appears to be better distributed than the terms in the non-FLAX corpus. In contrast and on average, the lexicon in the FLAX-based corpus tends to be slightly more basic. Concerning the use of MD markers, the experimental group appears to use, though marginally, a greater number of evidentials, endophoric and interactional markers.En este artículo se presenta un experimento basado en corpus para la enseñanza del inglés jurídico donde se evalúa la plataforma FLAX, un sistema online de aprendizaje de lenguas, como apoyo a la enseñanza de esta variedad del inglés. Los informantes fueron divididos en un grupo experimental y otro de control. Al grupo experimental se le pidió que utilizara únicamente FLAX para la realización de la tarea haciendo uso de todas las opciones que facilita dicha plataforma. Por el contrario, el grupo de control podría utilizar cualquier fuente de información para la realización del trabajo a excepción de FLAX. Se compilaron dos corpus con el material elaborado por los informantes y se analizaron a nivel léxico y pragmático para la evaluación del uso y la distribución de la terminología especializada, la diversidad léxica y el uso de los marcadores del discurso. Los resultados muestran una tendencia por parte del grupo experimental hacia un uso más consistente de la terminología jurídica, que además parece estar mejor distribuida que lo está en el corpus del grupo de control. En lo que respecta al uso de los marcadores del discurso, el grupo experimental emplea un mayor número de marcadores endofóricos, interaccionales y evidenciales

A data-driven learning experiment in the legal English classroom using the FLAX platform

This research presents a data-driven experiment in the legal English field where the FLAX, an open-source self-learning online platform, is assessed as regards its efficacy in aiding a group of legal English non-native undergraduates (divided into an experimental and a control group) to use legal terminology more consistently, amongst other language items. The experimental group were instructed to only resort to the FLAX and to exploit all the functionalities offered by it. Conversely, the control group could access any information source at hand except for the learning platform for the completion of the same task. Two learner corpora were gathered and analysed on a lexical and pragmatic level for the evaluation of term usage and distribution, lexical diversity, lexical fundamentality and the use of discourse markers. The results display a tendency on the part of the experimental group towards a more consistent usage of legal terminology, which also appears to be better distributed than the terms in the non-FLAX corpus. In contrast and on average, the lexicon in the FLAX-based corpus tends to be slightly more basic. Concerning the use of MD markers, the experimental group appears to use, though marginally, a greater number of evidentials, endophoric and interactional markers

Discourse Analysis and Terminology in Languages for Specific Purposes

Aquest importantíssim recull conté estudis i reflexions sobre temes rellevants en la recerca sobre LSP: anglès mèdic, el llenguatge de la publicitat i periodístic, telecomunicacions i terminologia informàtica, llenguatge comercial i jurídic... Malgrat que gran part dels treballs aplegats es refereixen a l'anglès, també hi ha que tracten l'alemany, francès i altres llengües. Conté textos en anglès, francés, portuguès i castellà

The hidden dimension of the language of corporations in America and Spain: perspectives for inter-legal communications

Starting from Edward T. Hall's assumptions regarding the cultural dimension as the 'hidden dimension' of communication, this study tries to highlight the fact that legal culture vastly influences legal interaction and, hence, varies from system to system. The translation of Company Law from American Legal English into Spanish consists of an exercise in inter-legal communication, as the translator must be aware of the culturally different way s in which the corporate world is contemplated, from the point of view of both the Common Law and the Spanish Continental systems. Through a detailed analysis of the peculiarities of corporate legislation in these different systems that takes into consideration cultural variance, a discussion on the possibility of inter-legal communication is established. In addition, an account of the mercantile terminology belonging to each peculiar legal country is supplied, aimed at explaining how the two different legal systems envision different ways to establish business relationships and identify their constituents linguistically

Semejanzas y diferencias léxicas en el lenguaje contractual en inglés y en castellano

La redacción e interpretación de textos jurídicos a nivel internacional constituye una urgente necesidad, sobre todo en el mundo de las transacciones comerciales. El problema reside en que el lenguaje jurídico de cada sistema legislativo es consecuencia directa de las fuentes y mecánica hermenéutica de cada uno de esos sistemas en sí. En concreto, el lenguaje del derecho americano en el área contractual -con gran incidencia en la confección de los tratados internacionales de comercio- presenta unos matices léxicos que, con frecuencia, los hacen intraducibles al español. Específicamente, los falsos cognados o palabras técnicas con raíz latina son quizá los más peligrosos a la hora de analizar, por su semblanza con el español. Precisamente, el llevar a cabo una sistematización y explicación de algunos de estos términos es el fin del presente trabajo. Con esto esperamos al menos llevar a cabo una reflexión sobre lo que debe ser la tarea del traductor o lingüista a la hora de enfrentarse con las peculiaridades de esta área de estudio