Contributions of the philosophy of science to juridical semantics

The concept and the object in terminology science

The present paper discusses two central concepts in terminology science: the concept of 'concept' and the concept of 'object'. The presentation proceeds in two stages. Firstly, I will discuss how the two core concepts are discussed in terminological literature. Secondly, I will put forward my own view on how 'concepts' and 'objects' could be approached within the terminological framework.

The discussion is based on my research project (Pilke 2000) concerning knowledge representation of concepts which are related to field-specific actions or events (=dynamic concepts). The aim of my research was to offer suggestions for how the knowledge concerning field-specific actions and events can be analysed, structured, recorded, and passed on.
In my study I have examined how conceptual knowledge is described in written definitions in LSP glossaries and have introduced classes of characteristics for dynamic concepts. In this paper the focus lies especially on the benefits and limitations of non-verbal representations in the specialised communication.

Pilke, Nina (2000). Dynamiska fackbegrepp. Att strukturera vetande om handlingar och händelser inom teknik, medicin och juridik. Acta Wasaensia No 81, Språkvetenskap 15.Vaasa-Vasa: Universitas Wasaensis.

see also: Colloquium Terminology science at the crossroads?

Pizarro, Isabel

Genres and specific languages: applications

Languages for special purposes are classify according to their field of specialisation or general topic. Our proposal presents a new approach to the didactic of specific languages, more specifically to ESP, which takes into account genres.

Based on a corpus of economic, scientific and technical texts, we try to establish some features, shared by two different genres, 'academic textbooks' and 'specialises articles', which are common to economic, scientific and technical registers. We will find out that those two genres have similar linguistic characteristics across the specific languages. For instance, the macrostructure of 'academic textbooks' is similar within the different registers of a language (economic, scientific, technical, or legal). Similarly, other genres like 'research reports' or 'specialises articles' present alike features.
Taking into account this result, we consider that students of specific languages should be taught to classify, analyse and compare texts on the basis of their genre-general reference book, textbook, specialised article, academic textbook, research report, or technical report- instead of according to their field and/or sub-field. This approach enables students to recognise any studied genre, independently of their knowledge of the specific language.


Plested Alvarez, Dr. Phil. Maria Cecilia

A controversial application of LSP: a case study

together with: Jose Gregorio Franco

This presentation is dealt with a concrete application of the LSP methodology in the technology field at the Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano (ITM). This methodology is carried out currently through the application of a cooperated research project between the Research Group in Terminology and Translation (GITT), of the University of Antioquia, and the Language Program of the ITM, in the city of Medellín, Colombia.
The aim of this case study is to analyze how and why the LSP methodology with terminological profil can reply the pedagogical model that was being implementing in this institution, which was based in the traditional communicative method of teaching foreign languages with non especific technical texts.
In this way, we pretend to sustain why is important to improve the LSP methodology in a technological institution and to re-evaluate the theacher-student-system that was being using. That's why, it is also necessary to take into account the social, economic, political, cultural and educational realities of the institution and the country.


Plested Alvarez, Dr.phil. Maria Cecilia

Integrating technology in LSP-teaching

together with: Elvia Rosa Castrillón, Adriana Lucia Diaz

At a time when learning tends to be associated with technology, the use of tools that contribute to self-learning is important. Internet-based applications, e-mail networks, language software, lab networks are becoming more flexible, powerful and useful.
Using specific terminology in a foreign language can improve the learning of a specific area. Therefore, the acquisition of specific materials related to student programs is the most important tool for learning a foreign language. In other words, teaching with specific purposes makes necessary the manage of the terminology using of the above mentioned tools.
Globalization allows teachers to use up-to-date materials for their classes and in this way achieve successful results. New applications of the Internet for language teaching and other technologies continue to advance as well. These innovations can make easier the acquisition of a specialized language in a specific area, where the student must learn according to the specific inherent concepts.
The use of new tools, in undergraduate and graduate studies, makes it possible to integrate teaching to the specific needs of the students, for example for educational technologists to advocate the integration of computers to learning in the content areas. As a matter of fact, this is also applied to subject field researchers, who are increasingly using the access to terminological data bases for different purposes including the development of technical writing in LSP-fields.


Popp, Carolina
The role of standarized terminology in Spanish language
Spanish is spoken by a huge number of persons all over the world, nevertheless, it is a non-dominant language in the field of science and technology. This is the main reason for encountering great difficulties when translating international standards in Latin American national bodies. The problem is even worst taking into account the regional language diversity in such an enormous continent. This paper addresses the design of a joined terminological network in the frame of spanish standarization. At the moment, isolated activities are being developed in some countries, which may be considered as the seed of the project.
Cooperation is a basic foundation for such a project, as it is the only way to ensure terminological harmonization within different subject matters dealt with at the time of translating and implementing international standards in Spanish speaking technical and scientific communities.


Porter, Gerald
"Shop! Shears! Geese! Cabbage!" Tailors' Terms as cultural script
Before they suffered a decline in status and became absorbed into the mass of garment outworkers, tailors were the fifth largest occupation group. Tailoring is an example of a skilled trade which in many societies has gathered around it a large body of traditional lore. In particular, their trade terms were often used figuratively. For example, they gave rise to many satirical verses because of their double meaning. This paper examines the role of trade terms in popular representations of tailors.
Since there is no perfect fit between creative and interpretive codes, trade terms like those in the title of this paper do not unambiguously "represent" something else. There is at least a double play of signification, a positive self-referential one within the internal structure, and a negative one in the extra-referential stance proposed to the audience by gesture and cultural expectations, including of course an assumed familiarity with analogous narratives. In this way the tailor's role was simultaneously undermined and reinforced.
All occupations have their characteristic kinesis. In some cases the gestures and working movements are sufficiently distinct and well-known to stand for the trade itself. They are representative, not transferred, gestures. Far from being attempts to reproduce the working milieu, they participate in the function of corporal movements as a whole, which is to act as a hypernarrative to the main discourse.

Pozzi, María
The language used in medical histories
Medical histories are an essential part of the health care process, because they contain vital information concerning past health issues, present illnesses and they may provide the necessary information for physicians to detect other possible present or future diseases. Medical histories constitute a reliable form to communicate information and therefore, to avoid misinterpretation, they have to be written according to strict specifications.
However, the language used in medical histories has several characteristics of its own that are worth describing both from the linguistic and from the human points of view. The present paper is mainly concerned with the description and implications of this special language.


Puskala, Jaana
Att informera om ett förestående företagsköp – om blivande experters genrekompetens
How to inform of a planned company transaction? About future experts’ genre competence
Ett av målen i språkundervisningen vid universitet är att de studerande skall lära sig förstå och själva producera genretypiska texter på sitt fackområde. De skall alltså bli medlemmar i en diskursgemenskap. För ekonomie studerande är det den ekonomiska diskursgemenskapen och de genrer som hör ihop med den (rapporter, PM, pressmeddelanden) som är aktuella.
För att kunna undersöka blivande ekonomiska experters genrekompetens har jag låtit 25 finskspråkiga och 26 svenskspråkiga ekonomie studerande skriva ett pressmeddelande om ett förestående företagsköp. Dessa skall jag sedan jämföra med varandra och med autentiska pressmeddelanden med samma tema. I mitt föredrag skall jag redogöra för resultat av en delstudie om texternas innehåll: vilka mikroteman de enskilda skribenterna har tagit med i sina texter och vilka mikroteman som finns med i de autentiska pressmeddelandena.


Qattous, Dr. Kathem

‘Time’ as a cultural dimension of ESP

The paper proposes that there is a cultural content even in what appears to be a culture-free ESP program, and that this cultural content is expected to provide the non-native target population learners with values that are different from those that are in the receiving environment. The research shows how an ESP program can have a Western cultural perspective that provides Western values. It suggests that when Western writers write ESP programs for non-native English learners, they inject implicit Western cultural dimension whether they like it or not. 'Time' is a cultural value that American writers injected in a Vocational English Language Training program they designed for Saudi employees working for ARAMCO (The Arabian American Oil Company) to enable the worker trainees to adapt to a highly industrial environment involving the highest technology in the world, where they have to work safely and effectively in gas/oil production work sites. This represents a process of socialization into the Western concept of ‘Time’.

Rasmussen, Kirsten Wølch
Intertextuality within French legal discourse
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in legal discourse: various studies have outlined the genres within legal discourse or have focused on particular genres, such as for example laws, judgements and contracts, thus offering important insights into the ways the specialist community works. The studies focusing on particular genres have generally analysed these genres in isolation. It would, however, be interesting to study the particular genres within the context of the surrounding genres of the specialist community, i.e. to see if it is possible to find some kind of intertextuality between the genres.
In fact, the narrow hierarchical relationship between laws, judgments and contracts, the fact that these genres are all "performative"and that they are submitted to the same constraints, such as example the need for clarity and unambiguity, makes it plausible that a certain intertextuality may be found between them.
Based on the model for genre analysis developed by Vijay K. Bhatia (1993), who, in accordance with John Swales (1990), analyses genres at three levels: the communicative purpose, the moves (i.e. the partial actions) and the strategies (i.e. the realization of the moves), I shall briefly discuss the move-structure (macro- and micro-level) and some of the main strategies found in the three "performative" genres (laws, judgments and contracts) and then focus on signs of intertextuality at these levels between the three genres. Finally, I shall comment on the reasons for this intertextuality.
Bhatia. V.K. (1993): Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. London: Longman.

Swales, J.M. (1990): Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rodman, Lilita