Multilingualism and Specialized Languages: A Keyword-Based Approach to Research Publications

Abstract

LSP (Languages for Specific Purposes) research can be represented by publications in a highly ranked international research journal, Ibérica, belonging to AELFE (European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes), and the international AELFE conferences. The present study explored these two research outputs as sample resources in order to describe specialized language research foci and directions integrating multilingualism over the past decade (2012–2022). The methodology for this study followed a keyword analysis, based on comparing the journal articles and conference papers with a larger reference corpus of academic writing. The results highlighted LSP research-related keywords at the top of the wordlists and salient thematic denotations derived from the contexts of these keywords. It was found that four main dimensions are distinctive in relation to multilingualism in these texts extracted from the journal articles and conference papers: Methodology, English as a lingua franca, groups of learners, and collaborative projects. While research articles tend to focus on methodological issues, conference papers describe more multilingual projects taking place in LSP contexts. It was also found that multilingualism especially stands out in teaching methods, translation, and lexicology. Findings indicate that multilingual conceptualizations are important, even though English dominates, in LSP research.