The language of evaluation: What the evaluation says about the evaluator

Abstract

The language of evaluation as a subsystem of linguistic means with special pragmatic functions is examined in the context of scientific communication on an interpersonal and personal levels. On the one hand, the role of the evaluation language in reflecting social relationships in the scientific field is emphasized, and on the other hand, the individual characteristics of researchers in establishing professional relationships with their colleagues. It is shown how the participants in the scientific discourse construct their professional identity through the choice of certain types of evaluation resources. Four types of means of evaluation are the focus of consideration, which are central to the evaluative qualification and the evaluative positioning in scientific discourse: evaluative lexemes, modal epistemic words, means of authorization and emphasizing metatextual structures with predicates of mental information processing. It has been noted that different researchers use the same means of evaluation in different ways. The different use of evaluative language can be explained by individual preferences when choosing pragmatic strategies for conducting scientific discussions with other researchers. Accordingly, general professional profiles of the authors of the analyzed articles are distinguished, which reflect their typical language behavior models in interaction with potential communication partners. The description of the profiles is operationalized by metaphorical terms scientistdebater, scientist-diplomat, scientist-didactician. The theoretical articles by three German linguists, who are well-known and authoritative experts in their field, serve as empirical material for the analysis. The methodology is based on the theoretical foundations of language pragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics and discourse analysis.