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Constructing Professional Discourse: A Multiperspective Approach to Domain-Specific Discourses
Author: Concepción Orna-Montesinos
Date Of Publication: Mar 2012
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-3629-6
Isbn: 1-4438-3629-X
This book explores the fascinating role that language plays in the construction of non-verbal objects by mapping out the ontological meaning of the specialised concepts and the domain-specific knowledge embedded in them. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive linguistic insight into the discourse of professional domain-specific communities and hence, into the communication practices and procedures of those communities. In this respect, the book offers a response to the claims made by many of the most influential applied linguists today, such as Vijay Bhatia (1993, 2004), John Swales (1990, 2004) or Ken Hyland (2002), among others, who have consistently defended the need for applied linguistic research into the textual, generic and social perspectives on the under-researched interrelatedness of the discoursal and professional practices of a discipline.

Specifically, this book provides readers with an integrative multi-perspective approach to the study of professional, domain-specific discourses. While it mainly draws on the tenets of genre theory and discourse semantics, it also nurtures from the theoretical and empirical foundations of applied linguistics, cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics and ontological engineering. The book starts from the analysis of domain specific texts as final written products with specific lexico-grammatical, semantic and rhetorical features to later enquire into the written products as textual artefacts closely linked to the social context of production and interpretation of the text. This integrative approach provides fresh new insights into the way the processes of writing are affected by the community-specific, institutional and socio-historical circumstances in which domain-specific texts are produced.

Concepción Orna-Montesinos holds a PhD in English Studies, focused on the lexis and specialized languages of English. Since 1993, she has been a teacher of English for Engineering at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Linking her pedagogical and research interests, the focus of her research is on English for Specific Purposes, and particularly on oral and written academic and professional communication, as well as on the socio-cultural implications of these specialized discourses.

Involved in teaching innovation and quality assurance at the university level she has participated in and coordinated different teaching innovation projects at the University of Zaragoza. She is currently a member of InterLAE (Interpersonality in Written Academic Discourse), a consolidated research group funded by the Government of Aragon.

Price Uk Gbp: 39.99
Price Us Usd: 59.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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