FORMING PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN POPULAR SCIENCE IT DISCOURSE: DISCURSIVE MARKERS AND THEIR FUNCTIONAL DIAPASON

Abstract

Purpose: The article substantiates the necessity to include the concept of identity, in general, and professional identity, in particular, as an indispensable element of virtually every major scientific linguistic investigation, and provides the rationale behind current investigation by justifying the research subject from psychological, sociological, and applied-linguistic perspectives. Methodology: In order to meet the stated objectives of the research, the following methods of analysis have been chosen: continuous sampling method along with corpus data collection (in order to facilitate further data analysis and reduce measurement errors to a minimum); discourse analysis (to single out and scrutinise encountered discursive markers along with their functioning in the chosen discursive space); functional analysis (to figure out the functional diapason of the analysed discourse); statistical data analysis (to assess collected, explored and presented amount of data in order to discover the underlying trends and patterns). Result: All the discursive markers collaborate with one another, forming a strong synergistic effect in terms of both the functional scope of language units and the functional scope of professional identity formation. In conclusion, the combined functional diapason of those discursive markers in popular science IT discourses significantly contributes to the overall partial construction of non-specialist’s professional identity. Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of Forming professional identity in popular science IT discourse is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.