Testi specialistici della lingua inglese

Rewriting specialised texts in a popular form. Intralingual translation.

English as a lingua franca in international communication is changing a lot. English does

no more belong to English people.

Roman Jakobson (1966:233)

- Intralingual translation or rewording (an interpretation of verbal signs by means of

other signs in the same language).

Examples: popularisation and editing of texts.

- Interlingual translation or translation proper (an interpretation of verbal signs by

means of some other language).

Examples of this will be examined in English and Italian.

- Intersemiotic translation or transmutation (an interpretation of verbal signs in

another semiotic system)

Examples: books which become movies.

Specialised texts

Specialised texts are written in the so-called ESP (English for Specific/Special Purposes).

ESP vs. EGP

EGP: English for General Purposes.

EGP and ESP can’t be compared, obviously.

EGP is the English used for the everyday communication in various contexts, in shops, at

the market, in the family…

Domains: economic, legal, medical…

Language for specific purposes or domain-specific languages.

“Special” implies restricted language, “specific” focuses attention on the purposes of a

task in English.

Early definitions of ESP were developed for language teaching, where specific

professional and occupational needs emerged.

In the 1970s one of the main problems of the UE were the movements of the workers.

English decided to define what people who moved needed to know, that kind of language

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was defined because of the nature of the language involved, the learners, and the setting

in which language was used.

Teaching ESP means teaching specific English to learners, who will use it in a specific

context.

Robinson (1980)

Robinson defined ESP courses as ones in which the participants have specific Academic or

Occupational or Scientific goals and purposes.

Specialised discourse – not homogeneous

Need to distinguish between different specialised languages.

Common rules and features of specialised discourse coexist yet distinguish one variety

from the others.

Characteristics of languages for specific purposes

Not just terminology, other lexical aspects:

- Specific lexicon

- Preference for certain morpho-syntactic features (more pre-modification and of a

specific type)

- Distinctive discoursal and pragmatic features

Specialised Discourse and General Language

Eg. Nurse to doctor: Doctor, there’s a patient here for a tonsillectomy.

Vs. Patient to nurse: Good morning. I’m here to have my tonsils out.

Technical and popular terminology of childhood diseases.

Eg. Chickenpox vs. varicella. Ear, nose and throat specialist: ENT specialist =

otorinolaringoiatra

Strevens (1988)

ESP consists of language which is:

- Designed to meet specified needs of the user;

- Related in content (i.e. in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines,

specialistici della lingua inglese – Ulrych

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- Centred on language appropriate to this context in terms of syntax, register…

Features of the ESP

Dimensions for studying specialised discourse:

- Vertical dimension relating to its sociolingual layer e.g. degree of formality, style.

Peer-to-peer, specialised to general public (lay public), semi-specialists (non-

specialists, e.g. we as students of the LM). The language of textbooks is different

from the one of academic articles or of newspaper articles.

Specialist to specialist (peer-to-peer) – e.g. to debate issues (written:

o academic articles; oral: conferences), describe research project, report results,

explain technical equipment

Specialist to non-specialist – e.g. educational purposes – academic textbooks,

o instruction manuals

Specialist to lay public (either non-specialist at all or non-religious person

o (laico)) – e.g. to provide information of a technical nature to a wider

audience – newspaper or magazine articles

Widdowson (1979:52) identified three different levels of technical specificity within

written texts in the scientific field:

Scientific journalism

o Scientific instruction

o Scientific exposition

o

Within each level, senders and recipients of the message will have varying levels of

competence (journalists, teachers, scientists – the public, technicians, students, etc.)

The same applies to spoken discourse.

- Horizontal dimension of disciplinary domain e.g. economical, legal, scientific

discourse;

Every text has an informative purpose, always.

Persuasive function: you have to edge to be mild in order to persuade the other that you

are right. There is an emotive function in it. This exists not so much in medical articles.

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Argumentative element.

Desirable qualities of specialised discourse:

- Economy: don’t use two words when one is needed. Be able to be concise. Small

number of characters allowed.

- Precision: in order to be precise, you can’t be economical. There’s a need to use

synonyms, post-modifications in order to avoid ambiguity.

- Appropriateness.

An extreme example of ESP: Seaspeak

- English lingua franca

- Restricted language

- Developed in the 1980s to facilitate clear communication in maritime shipping.

It regulates:

- Ways of speaking (including pronunciation of numbers, times, or positions)

- Order in which information is given, i.e. identification……..

An extreme example of ESP: Airspeak – The English of Air Traffic Control (ATC)

Natural English (GenE) ATC English

Yes, of course Affirm

Authorised / Go ahead Cleared

No, of course not Negative

I’d like to, Could I Request

Repeat, Sorry? What? Say again

Clear, Empty Vacated

Topics

Nominalization

 Pre-modification and post-modification

 Encapsulation/grammatical metaphor repacking of information

 specialistici della lingua inglese – Ulrych

4Testi Depersonalization (the text may have a personal element because they can be

 persuasive)

Passives

 Lexical density according to the lexical density you are able to establish if it is

 formal or not.

Nominalization

1)

Using nouns instead of adjectives or verbs, Information would be typically represented

as a verb. In this way English changes completely, because it is a verbal language.

e.g. because the surface of the retina is spherical

because of the sphericity of the retinal surface.

Nominalization with gerunds, nominalization means that the same information that

there would be in a word is being converted in a noun.

Clauses are replaced by nominal phrases.

Nominalization makes the process abstract, it is grammatical metaphor

e.g. the brakes failed (a process, very concrete) = brake failure (product an abstract idea

simply because it is a nominal form).

e.g. to make an investigation = to investigate

to give a report = to report

These are replaced with empty verbs or nouns = Nominal style

The study justifies using the implicit associations test to test brand attitudes.

Nominalization doesn’t refer to all nominal forms. (c.f.r. slides)

In definitions verbs are used because it is simpler. First of all you give the explanation,

then you are authorized to use the abstract form, it is a package of information.

Misuse of nominalization

Passengers are requested to wait for the door to open = right

Passengers are requested to wait for the opening of the doors = too formal and not

natural for an English person.

In this case nominalization changes completely the effect of the sentence.

Grammatical metaphor

Because the council is proposing to lend money instead of giving it, people who work

as doctors are feeling bitterly resentful.

Doctors bitterly resent it that the council is proposing that money should be lent

instead of being given.

The council’s proposed replacement of subsidies by a loan is incurring the bitter

resentment of the medical profession.

The last one is higher in tenor, more formal, the medium is probably written, the

context is very different.

Encapsulation

2)

The importance that nominalised form have textually. It can be used textually to

encapsulate information presented previously

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The noun implication encapsulates the previous sentence, referring to it anaphorically

and summing it up.

It also turns previously new information into given, shared information.

In specialized texts almost nothing can be taken for granted.

e.g. Improvements in technology have reduced the risks and high costs associated with

simultaneous installation. Thus risk and cost reduction leads to an enchanted..

Risks and costs is presented before so it is given as a shared information

Pre-modification

3)

It tends to be nouns as well as adjectives. Usually adjectives become nouns.

The rate at which inflation grows

The rate of inflation (pre-modified) growth

The inflation growth rate

We have no prepositions and defining clauses, nothing to show what the relationship

is between inflation, growth and rate. We know it only if we have a shared knowledge.

It shortens sentences, but it makes the noun phrase particularly tense.

Fotocopia

Text 1

Nominalised forms: elaboration, relation, performativity, resistance, practices

Encapsulation: that conceptualisation, contested state spaces

pre-modification: postmodern IR scholarship, discursively produced structure, African

national parks, officially sanctioned statemaking practises

Lexical density

4)

The of content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) and function words (prepositions…)

The more content word you have per clause the denser the text and the more difficult

it is to understand, the more specialized, the more formal it is.

LD is a way of measuring the amount of content information in a text.

Text 2

The lexical density is 2 because we have 20 word divided in 10 it makes two which is the

lexiacal density and it is very low.

Text 3

It is the same text with the same information but it is different. Why is it different?

Editing specialized texts in English

One type of intralingual translation: rewording or editing

Intralingual translaition or rewording (an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other

signs in the same language).

What do we mean by editing?

A professional editor is someone who has been trained to revise, edit, and

- proofread and who spends their working days improving other people’s texts.

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6Testi Editing is a necessary and normal practice for any published or public document,

- but in particular for specialized documents

For both native and not native-speakers

-

Proofs: bozze.

Editing teaches how you should be writing.

Professional editing vs self-revision

Professional editing is a process unto itself that occours independently of writing, whereas

self-revision is one of the three sub-processes of writing, the other two being planning and

drafting.

Languages in the EU:

Principle of multilingualism: guarantees cultural diversity, equal treatment of all

- peoples and the right of all citizens to interact with the institutions of the Union in

any of the official languages of the Union and to obtain an answer in that language.

23 official languages

- 3 working (procedural) languages: French, English, German

-

English as a Lingua Franca & the EU

Writing in clear language can be difficult at the Commission, since much of the subject

matter is complex and more and more is written in English by and for non-native

speakers, or by native speakers who are beginning to lose touch with their language after

years of working in a multilingual environment.

English as a lingua franca & the EU

Writing in clear language can be difficult at the Commission, since much of the subject

matter is complex and more and more is written in English by and for non-native

speakers, or by native speakers who are beginning to lose touch with their language after

years of working in a multilingual environment.

How much is English used in the EU Commission?

Which English should be used in EU Commission?

Translation and editing within the European Commission

Translation: the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) is the

largest translation service in the world, employing 1750 linguists, and using free-lance

translators from all over the world.

Editing: an optional service of revision of texts written in English and French is offered to

non-native speakers who have to draw up texts.

The role of the editing service

(End of chapter 1)

-The editing service’s role is to help Commission departments draft quality original

documents, which are important both for the C’s image and for efficient translation. It

does this by providing linguistic revision of core documents drafted by non-native

speakers in both English and French

-DGT-EDIT is a service provided on request, and offers an edited version for the

originating department to consider. It’s a key institution.

The growth and development of a typical document

Commission official is called upon to produce a document

1. He/she will write it in English in at least 7 cases out of 10

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7Testi He will probably use any previous material he cn find written by other officials and

3. he will also have to submit it to his superior or even chain of superiors. This means

there are 3, 4, or even 5 potential influences on that official0s “”original

English texts. DGs also have t consult other DGs that might be concerned by a given

subject.

English style guide p. 33



To invent a terminology (f. e. in university language salto d’appello)



Document “Fight the fog” How to write clearly, Commission multilingual campaign,



received in different ways; it has been revived in a multilingual version and there is a

document now, which is an updated version.

Chapters:

-English works on verbs, not nouns.

-To be concrete, not abstract.

-Active, not passive

-Name the agent

-Making sense, managing stress

-KISS: keep it short and simple

-False friends

-Other pitfalls

-References

What do editorials look at?

*Ensure that material adheres to established editorial standards and conforms with the

policy and practices of the United Nations

*Ensure also that phraseology and terminology are correct and that the style is appropriate

to the audience.

*edit for continuity: cohesion and coherence

*logical arrangement: logical progression of ideas

*completeness: no gaps

*relevance of material: importance

*readability: they could do more, texts accessible to audiences

*clarity of expression: clear and simple

*internal consistency, as well as spelling, punctuation and grammar

*verify the accuracy of facts, figures, references and so on through research, reference

sources and consultation

*identify unclear or ambiguous statements for consideration by the author

*draft incorrect or unclear passages

*provide authors or others submitting documentation with information on specific aspects

Instruction to editors at the EU C

Your role as editor

-you cannot refer back to the original

-you are coming to the text as an intelligent lay reader, not an experto

Objective/norm-based vs. overall improvements/usage-based revisions

Norm-based revision vs. usage-based revision

Norm-based revision based on BE norms

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-grammatical mistakes

-syntactic mistakes

-erroneous lexical choices

What can be improved?

the separation of subject (a bill) and verb (could mean)

- old version

-

Examples…

old version: “services, these”

better version: “services; these”

Lexical density 2

SCHEDA + SLIDES (Lexical density (5))

Here, the sentence is the same as the clause.

A text which is more specialised in English is more formal, has a higher tenor of discourse.

Spoken discourse is less formal than written discourse, because information shifts from

verbs to nouns. This gives rise to long nominal phrases, so the complexity of the phrase is

less.

How English works in professional academic sectors.

Acceptable, adequate to the purpose and appropriate.

Depersonalisation

It is part of the specialised discourse, because the most important thing is the content, not

the person. More objective, use of passive and impersonal expressions.

Legal discourse

Text 1, from an insurance policy

Technical, scientific language is on one hand, on the opposite there is legal language.

Scientific language: pre-modification, compacting of information, noun phrase.

Legal language: post-modification.

Clarity is typical of specialised texts.

Pre-modificatio