Search

Copyright of Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Synergies Europe is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This preliminary research is based on the process of the researcher's commitment. A series of data collected from professors of specialized English in a French scientific university will enable us to lay the foundations for research that is part of a more general approach: the foundations for an epistemology of specialized languages. This research consists in making a brief assessment of the representations of the practice of these professors in the field of science. First, we will analyze the regularities of teaching practices through the institutional constraints to which teachers have to comply with. The issue of the diversity of practices will be addressed to identify the leeway that professors have in research beyond the constraints (Roditi, 2003). We will see that between constraints and flexibility, there is the issue of commitment of the researcher of specialized English. This issue is rarely asked in the field of teaching English in courses other than English (e. g. law, science) and yet this question seems as fundamental as that of the content to be taught. The commitment of a language teacher in the teaching process appears to be an essential psychological and professional provision for the proper exercise of the teacher's profession. This issue relates to the epistemological reflection on specialized languages (Van der Yeught, 2014, 2016) which is still ongoing in France. Van der Yeught (2014) advocates basing LSPs on what constitutes their "central and stable core". This core could be the intersection between a language and a specialty field. The problem comes from the nature of one of the two elements of the intersection, namely the specialty that is mainly disciplinary or professional before being linguistic. Finally, we will see which research perspectives in specialized languages can be proposed following our research in specialized English in the field of ("hard") sciences: the construct of "English for science". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the didactic foundations of an epistemology of specialized English from a French perspective. Scientific English will be the content domain which will serve this purpose. While its transverse features (e.g. discourse, genre) have been widely investigated, it continues to lack a comprehensive approach to what is a multifaceted object, namely: 1) scientific content; 2) expressed in a foreign language; 3) which needs to be appropriated by student-learners. Another concept is needed. The transition from scientific English to English for science is regarded in terms of territory, domain and disciplines and from various perspectives and limits. Scientific English is envisaged as a narrow domain focused on linguistic aspects. To remain relevant, scientific English needs to be both broadened and enriched, and its scope delimited. These weaknesses lead to the design of English for science. The meta-concept of English for science has been forged to overcome these gaps, by crossing boundaries that limit an epistemological approach. It is then necessary to trace the method which consists in setting the boundaries for the new territory of language teaching and learning, which overlaps two domains - English and science - to develop a new domain - English for science -. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer a reflection starting from field observation: the practice of teaching scientific English in a French scientific university (University Paul Sabatier-UPS-Toulouse) because it is our research and teaching domain. Let us not forget that English has become the universal language of science because of American globalization. At UPS, English teachers essentially design their courses of scientific English from constraints, training and experience. These difficulties are reinforced by the low recognition of their courses. These findings are part of the broader issue of LANSAD (Languages for Other Specialized Disciplines). Yet these teachers have been trained in the traditional areas of English (literature, civilization, language). Consequently the issue of training in this context arises. Because it is essential to be legitimate, credible and hence recognized in this domain. The problem lies in the very low number of masters in LANSAD and LSP/ASP. This is due to a few number of research work in the domain. We believe that recognition goes through research which must be credible by meeting certain external validity criteria and even more so in our scientific context. It is therefore necessary to undertake an epistemological approach of the LSP/ASP in their uses, by integrating the specialty that is missing in LSP studies (Van der Yeught, 2014) and the didactic dimension because LSP is a research and teaching subject, aiming at the competence in the specialty and not in their sole function of production of specialized knowledge. Because we believe that LSP can contribute to the professionalization of university courses (Van der Yeught, 2014). We would like to make our contribution to the epistemology of LSP/ASP with our research work in English for science that also covers teacher training in LANSAD in scientific university contexts. We set some milestones, beginning with the description of science in its relation to the English language-culture through an interdisciplinary approach: the history of science, sociology of science, philosophy of science. Finally, we offer food for thought on teacher training in LANSAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English as a lingua franca (ELF) has emerged as a way of referring to communication in English between speakers with different first languages. That is the reason why ELF is the language used in science. Yet language is not limited to communication; it is also tied to the creation of concepts. As English is developed and transformed by its non-native users into an international scientific communication language, there is a risk of developing an impoverished form of English. The use of English as a lingua franca, devoid of culture, and used in scientific discourse may affect the transmission and the production of scientific knowledge. We can wonder about the consequences of the development of English in the scientific academic community and scientific teaching and learning contexts as all French university curricula have integrated English. Thus, this paper examines the different representations of science and the English language used in science. In conclusion, we propose the development of research in English for science, teacher training, teaching English for science and science in English (Content and Language Integrated Learning; henceforth CLIL) to students in the language teaching sector for non-linguists (LANSAD in French). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educação, Sociedade & Culturas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Intervencao Educativa (CIIE) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Educação, Sociedade & Culturas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Intervencao Educativa (CIIE) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)