Professional Lexis Research Articles

ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ЛИНГВОДИДАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ЦЕННОСТЬ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫХ ПРЕЦЕДЕНТНЫХ ТЕКСТОВ ПРИ ОБУЧЕНИИ ЧТЕНИЮ НА ИНОСТРАННОМ ЯЗЫКЕ СТУДЕНТОВ МАГИСТРАТУРЫ ТЕХНИЧЕСКОГО ВУЗА

The increased importance of reading professional literature in English coupled with the avalanche-like increase in access to information justifies the search for new approaches to profession-oriented foreign language education, including profession-oriented reading. A secondary linguistic persona can be formed in the course of study in a Master of Engineering program, among other things, through reading profession-oriented precedent texts. We define profession-oriented precedent texts as the ones that possess special significance for the research or professional activity of a specialist, primarily authentic scientific articles. The purpose of this study was to analyze the lexical structure of professional precedent texts through the Vocabprofile resource. The analysis revealed the following categories: the first thousand most frequent English words (K1); the second most frequent thousand English words (K2), vocabulary found in the Academic Word List (K3), words not included in any of the previous categories, mainly terms and professional lexis (K4).The results of the analysis and the comparison with popular and instructional technical texts offered to the engineering undergraduates in the English-language course reveal a larger percentage and a wider and more diverse lexical repertoire of the Academic Word List for the precedent texts. The percentage of terms and professional lexis in both types of texts is approximately the same, which indicates the adequacy of the profession-oriented course of English taught to the undergraduates of the Bauman MSTU. The results also point to the importance of the Academic Word List when teaching reading of professional precedent texts in English.

Online tools for individual study of specialised vocabulary – selected challenges

The acquisition of lexis is an important part of language learning. It is also a vital component of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) education, as knowledge of specialised vocabulary is considered integral to success in occupation-specific communicative activities. Expanding professional lexis is essential to help ESP learners understand the language and concepts of their academic or professional discipline and achieve specific communication goals. This paper aims to discuss selected challenges of using online tools (which were subjected to a qualitative analysis) to develop specialised lexis at the tertiary level. An outline of difficulties in professional vocabulary learning and a review of the main characteristics of teaching ESP are also included.

Profesjolekt w powieściach Nagi sad, Pałac oraz Kamień na kamieniu Wiesława Myśliwskiego (próba badawcza)

The article attempts to show selected collections of professional vocabulary contained in the first three novels by Wiesław Myśliwski. Creating his characters and the world in which they function, the author used the vocabulary characteristic of occupations and activities related to the countryside and farm. The study is of little survey nature to outline areas for further analyzes of professional lexis in the writer’s novels.

FORMAL ASSESSMENT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF ECONOMIC SPECIALTIES

The article reveals different ways of evaluation the efficiency of teaching professional English lexis to the students of economic specialties in institutions of tertiary education in Ukraine. The author analyzes the main types of students’ professional translation skills estimation from the contextual, structural, methodological and situational perspectives.

METHODOLOGY OF PROFESSIONAL LEXICAL MINIMUM EXERCISES USE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE FOR MANAGEMENT STUDENTS

The article reveals how the use of matching exercises increase the efficiency of teaching professional lexis to the students of management specialties in Ukrainian tertiary economic education. The author analyzes three main types of matching exercises from the contextual, structural, methodological, situational, and reasonable perspectives.

FIXATION OF UKRAINIAN ARCHITECTURAL TERMINOLOGY IN THE LEXICOGRAPHICAL SOURCES OF ХІХ — BEG. ХХ CENT.

The purpose of the scientific study is to analyze the reflection of the architectural lexicon in the Ukrainian lexicographical sources of ХІХ — beg. ХХ cent.The choice of the topic of our studies stipulated by practical needs of the society, since the architectural terminology functioning at the current stage is a completely formed microsystem, requiring further development of regularization, standardization and unification of the terminology items. Considering the fact that the analyzed terminology was not the subject to lexicographical description, the object of studies focused on lexicons, translation dictionaries, uniform and terminology dictionaries of ХІХ — beginning of the ХХ century. The subject matter of studies the Ukrainian architectural terminology as a subsystem of the Ukrainian scientific terminology, fixated in dictionaries of ХІХ — beg. ХХ с. Analysis of the investigated material is performed mainly by descriptive method, conducted by means of classification, linguistic observation of terms functioning in lexicographical and terminographical sources.Enhancement of the process of formation of the Ukrainian architectural terminology is set on ХІХ — beg. ХХ с. Both theoretical and applied aspects of the terminology science were investigated in this period, in particular translation dictionaries and lexicons fixating terminological and professional lexis were created. Therefore, a conclusion can be made thatthe lexicographical papers of the period are the rich source of the Ukrainian architectural terminology, valuable pieces of heritage of the Ukrainian lexicography at the stage of its emergence and formation, for the framework of the terminology language planning of the architectural field was developed. The collected and processed material can be involved in the process of compilation of lexicographical sources, specifically terminological, further regularization of modern Ukrainian architectural terminology, thus contributing to strengthening the status of architectural terminology in social life and to providing appropriate level of communication in particular scientific professional sphere.

The experience of representation of the applied terminological system by means of terminological network

The article is devoted to the study of the English-language Digital Photography terminological units by building a terminological network, namely, identifying key categories of special notions and system relations between the corresponding terminological units to prove that the analyzed terminological system is mainly applied. These features of the terminological system are identified and classified by building a terminological network. The primary task was to determine the main categories of special notions that are frequentlyverbalized by the English-language Digital hotography terminological units drawing on the example of the analysis of definitions of key terms, as well as to calculate the types of relations between the designated categories. In this regard, the study of a term as a system unit that occupies a clearly defined place in the subsystem of professional lexis becomes possible with the help of a terminological semantic network, which shows that the relationships and categories which the correlating terms belong to are not random. Digital Photography terminological units in the modern English language, which have been taken from the English-language online dictionaries, reference books, glossaries, and Internet portals dedicated to the topic in question, have served as the material for the research. Terms of one category can be associated with the representatives of other categories by means of recurrent system relationships, thus forming prototypical schemes of interaction between terminological units. During the work the two groups of terms have been allocated: the first one consists of “material” terminological units, verbalizing natural objects/phenomena, natural / artificial substances, loci (places, locations), instruments and tools (parts of tools), simple and complex mechanisms and their components, natural / artificial materials, artificially created loci (places) or constructions. The second group includes non-material terms that nominate the category “actor”, processes, situations, characteristics, ideal phenomena. The predominant categories of notions in the sphere of Digital Photography are components of mechanisms /tools, processes, ideal phenomena, complex mechanisms, characteristics / parameters, which indicates the fact that the Digital Photography terminological system is mainly applied. The study has revealed that the most frequent types of system relations between notions and their verbalizers-the corresponding English-language Digital Photography terms are: AKO (system relations between hyperonym and hyponym), ISA (system relations of coincidence or inclusion in a set), SR (system relations between referents which make up the subject of influence and the result obtained within the same process), which also indicate the predominantly applied nature of the Digital Photography terminological system

Exploring the core ‘preoccupation’ of social work writing: A corpus-assisted discourse study

The profession of social work has become increasingly ‘writing intensive’ in recent decades, yet little empirical research has been carried out on the nature of this writing. This paper describes and explores the 1 million word corpus compiled as part of the ESRC-funded study ‘Writing in professional social work practice in a changing communicative landscape’ (WiSP http://www.writinginsocialwork.com), outlining the challenges involved in collecting and anonymising hard-to-reach texts from social workers (n=38) across three UK Local Authorities. Using the methodology of corpus-assisted discourse analysis alongside ethnographic insights and in consultation with expert insiders, the paper focuses on what a keyword analysis reveals about the core focus or ‘preoccupation’ (Baker, 2010) of social work writing. Attention is paid to the three main text categories of writing in social work - casenotes, emails and assessment reports – and to the three social work domains of children’s, adult generic and adult mental health services. Findings include confirmation of the extensive recording of communication exchanges, differences in the ways social workers refer to their own and service users’ views, and the considerable extent to which evaluation is threaded through all social work writing via the use of lexis. We also discuss how keyword analysis can provide a set of ‘candidate professional lexis’ and further examine selected items. The paper concludes by reflecting on aspects of methodology, in particular considering the subjectivity around keyword calculation, the equal treatment of all items in a corpus, and the usefulness of combining keyness analysis with additional data sources.

Chrematonyms in the Professional Discourse of the Nuclear and Space Industry

The article focuses on studying chrematonyms in nuclear and space industry professional discourse. The analysis of 734 Russian, English, Italian, French, German, Polish and Japanese lexemes nominating spacecraft, spaceships, nuclear reactors and nuclear research facilities resulted in discovering three common ways in the process of generating and functioning of chrematonyms in the professional discourse, including a lexico-semantic nomination (formed by means of onimization of appellatives, transonymization of personal and precedent names, toponyms, chrematonyms and cosmonims, deonimization); the word-formation considers the sound, syllabic and mixed abbreviation, as well as the formation of compound words; the syntactic method involves the formation of simple and complex substantive combinations of words. The authors conclude that chrematonyms as a class of onims have a specific linguistic meaning, affecting the semantic generation of the proper name in an inanimate object of material culture and emphasizing the unique and differential feature of the object and point to their specifically professional linguistic feature: motivation, derivative character, terminological unity, and frequency of usage. The research demonstrates the following special aspects of functioning of chrematonyms in the professional discourse: play on words, allusions and metaphors, ameliorative and deteriorative connotative meanings, which reflect non-typical processes for professional lexis and perform a peace-maintaining function of the language.

Developing Students’ Language Competence and Essential 21st Century Skills for Future Employability: The Case of Latvia and Lithuania

Abstract Introduction: Nowadays, language and intercultural competences have become core employability skills in many fields, supporting the development of other skills which emphasizes the necessity for specific pedagogic approaches in developing online learning materials and courses that would develop learners’ language competence and other relevant 21st century skills for future employability. The current comparative summative evaluation research conducted in two higher education institutions in Latvia and Lithuania analyses students’ feedback, elicited from 200 students, on the efficiency of the methods and methodologies applied in the course development and their suitability to develop the above-mentioned skills and competences. Methods: The research implies a mixed-model design comprising a students’ questionnaire (a quantitative tool) and students’ essays (a qualitative tool). Quantitative data analysis was done applying descriptive and inferential statistics tests by IBM SPSS 22 software, qualitative data analysis – applying discourse analysis. Results: The findings indicate that students highly evaluate the learning platform and the courses created. They find them as useful, visually appealing, interesting, interactive, well-structured, and easy to understand. Students acknowledge that they have developed their knowledge of professional lexis, reading skills, grammar and gained useful knowledge in their field. Significant differences were found concerning students’ group, specialization and the course completed – local students vs. international students as to the evaluation of the learning platform, students of IT field vs. business fields, Latvian students vs. Lithuanian students as to the intercultural B2/C1 English course completed. The research results strengthen the cognitions derived from theory on significant issues to be observed when creating blended-learning courses. Discussion: The course designed is an alternative way of learning and may be useful for anyone who wishes to update their language and intercultural competence either through a formal or non-formal education course or on a lifelong learning basis. Limitations: The research period covered one semester only. Although the study materials for 16 languages have been created, the current paper analyses only the results obtained in piloting English and Spanish courses, with the predominance of learners opting for English courses. Conclusions: The research results show that the methods and methodologies applied in the given interactive blended-learning courses have developed the students’ language competence and have fostered the development of their digital competence, team-working and collaboration skills, problem-solving skills and learning-to-learn thus motivating them to become autonomous learners. The pedagogy-based approach applied in the current research has been successful despite a few flaws in the design of the course materials.

LANGUAGES FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AND DYNAMICS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY

Creating and using language for special purposes reflects a rather high level of human needs in the hierarchy proposed by an American psychologist A. Maslow through creative activities and self-actualisation. The understanding of one’s own belonging and identity as a manner of self-actualisation may happen through specific language usage. The article focuses on the review of the emerging European identity patterns found in the professional lexis of three sample European languages from the perspective of such disciplines as philosophy and linguistic history. In the first part of the article authors reflect on the key traceable characteristic features of European identity forms: a closed form of identity, an open form of identity and a destructive denial of identity as a transition device from one form into another. On the basis of the linguistic survey of historical experiences as traced in British, Lithuanian and Russian legal language vocabulary formation, it is concluded that changes in legal languages are reflective of social experiences and may be viewed as identity forming mechanisms.

ВИВЧЕННЯ ФАХОВОЇ ТЕРМІНОЛОГІЧНОЇ ЛЕКСИКИ ЯК ЗАПОРУКА ЯКІСНОЇ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ СУЧАСНОГО ПОЛІЦЕЙСЬКОГО

У пропонованій статті автор розглядає проблему вивчення термінологічної лексики майбутніми поліцейськими на заняттях з української мови за професійним спрямуванням. Дослідник висновує, що раціональна система способів навчання, скерованих на поетапне оволодіння фаховою термінологією, забезпечить створення термінологічного словника і його постійне поповнення, сприятиме удосконаленню вміння використовувати термінологічну лексику у фаховій комунікації.

Study on Identification of Lexical Meaning in E-C Translation of English for Electric Power

As one of the branch of English for Science and Technology, English for Electric Power bears the characteristic of professionalism in meaning and flexible in lexis. As key components in professional literatures, lexis of English for Electric Power needs to be paid enough attention and accurately identified in order to precisely comprehend professional reading materials. This paper focuses on solving the problem of identifying Electric English vocabulary precisely by analyzing the determination of the professional lexis from three aspects of morphological structure, reference relations and context. Distinguishing the meaning of Electric Power English vocabulary is a crucial part in the translation practice of Electric Power English, which plays a vital role in ultimately understand and grasp the content of professional materials fully.

SEMANTIC ASPECT OF COMPOUND NEOLOGISMS IN THE MODERN GERMAN LANGUAGE (Based On Marketing Lexis Materials)

The article is dedicated to the research of the semantic aspect, namely the semantic derivation process as one of the ways of emergence, semantic characterising and classification of compound neologisms pertaining to the lexis of marketing of the modern German language, which previously was not singled out from the corpus of economy lexis and was not subjected to linguistic scrutiny. Intrinsic to the analysed compound nouns are such features of professional lexis as unambiguity, semantic specialisation, definitiveness, expressive and emotive neutrality, and brief form of expression. Compound neologisms of the marketing lexis are predominantly single-meaning words, which secure the convenience of their use in the linguistic group of experts within this area of knowledge. The terminologisation of the constituent components of compound neologisms based on meaning expansion and metaphoric reframing has been established. Within the corpus of the analysed lexis, semantic fields and lexical-semantic groups (LSGs) have been detected and singled out; moreover, the considerable quantitative scope of such groups made it possible also to single out lexical-semantic subgroups (LSSGs). The article outlines the semantic specifics of the word-building activity of the initial and final components of compounds that form series or sets of compounds of the studied lexis.

Русская речь коми-пермяков: лексический аспект

The paper deals with the usage of lexical units belonging to different idioms and temporal strata, as well as with the distribution of units of different idioms across thematic groups in Russian spontaneous speech of the Komi-Permyaks residing within the Perm Krai territory. The analyzed material included 47 spontaneous monologues produced by the Komi-Permyak bilinguals. The analysis of the texts proved that, except literary Russian lexical units, the monologues contain: 1) the Komi-Permyak words (determined by the influence of the bilingual environment); 2) words belonging to the non-literary forms of the Russian language (dialect, vernacular, colloquial, professional lexis); 3) archaic words; 4) occasional word usages. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the research material revealed a sufficiently large layer of non-literary lexis belonging to different idioms (both of the Russian and Komi-Permyak languages) and related to different thematic groups. The semantic “nucleus” of non-literary lexical units in spontaneous Russian speech of the Komi-Permyaks is formed by colloquial lexis that is thematically connected to vernacular lexis. The dialect Russian lexis is also very significant for the semantic structure of texts, as it provides semantic links with the Komi-Permyak linguistic consciousness. The thematic unity of the Komi-Permyak and dialect lexis reveals close interaction between the Komi-Permyak culture and the culture of a Russian village (both historical and present). Both lexis layers are important for the Komi-Permyaks’ national self-identification as ones that describe fragments of the worldview connected with traditional culture and lifestyle.

Names of substances belonging to professional lexis in Khorezmian dialects borrowed from Iranian languages

Names of substances belonging to professional lexis in Khorezmian dialects borrowed from Iranian languages

Some facts about professional lexis in Khorezm region

Some facts about professional lexis in Khorezm region

The Effect of Language Preparation on Communication Skills and Growth of Students’ Self-confidence

Specialized language and communication is not just a matter of professional lexis and syntactic structures: life, customs and intercultural information are essential pillars of the advanced educational process. Following European trends, students have to be prepared for the alternative they will spend a part of their study at a university abroad: the preparation should be focused on abilities to manage both general and specialized language: therefore communication in the classroom should be as close as possible to real-life communication and teaching strategies should follow this trend. Therefore students at the University of Defence are offered lectures and seminars in mathematics and physics in the English language. Having passed the first semester, students were questioned and a short study investigation was conducted. The conclusions showed that students who selected lectures and seminars in mathematics and physics in the English language achieved remarkably better study results comparing to regular students: in addition more extensive study materials could have been covered due to higher motivation, possible better future career and willingness to study.