When Learners Produce Specialized L2 Texts: Specialized Lexicography between Communication and Knowledge

Page 329-338
Author Patrick Leroyer, Henrik Køhler Simonsen
Title When Learners Produce Specialized L2 Texts: Specialized Lexicography between Communication and Knowledge
Abstract This article discusses the theoretical distinction between communicative- and cognitive-oriented dictionary use situations and explores whether or not this sharp distinction is still valid at a time when users do not use dictionaries but instead online language resources, particularly in learning environments. The paper seeks to answer this research question based on empirical data from a user study conducted at Copenhagen Business School in 2017. We carried out a controlled experiment involving ten test persons and the user study produced ten screen recordings, ten specialized texts, ten self-assessments and ten teacher-assessed rubrics. On the basis of our empirical data we found that the sharp distinction between communicative and cognitive-oriented dictionary use situations does not seem to make much sense anymore when users, to an increasing extent, do not use dictionaries but instead online language resources. We found that specialized language and specialized knowledge are completely intertwined, mutually interdependent and form a dialectic relation, which in fact can be identified by analyzing the test person’s information search and retrieval processes. We also found that new, modern language resources make it possible to make searches in text directly and to take full advantage of the dialectic relation between specialized language and specialized knowledge.
Session TERMINOLOGY, TERMINOGRAPHY AND SPECIALISED LEXICOGRAPHY
Keywords specialized lexicography, cognitive functions, communicative functions, situation distinction, learning situations, functional interdependence
BibTex
@InProceedings{ELX2018-027,
author={Patrick Leroyer, Henrik Køhler Simonsen},
title={When Learners Produce Specialized L2 Texts: Specialized Lexicography between Communication and Knowledge},
pages={329-338},
booktitle={Proceedings of the XVIII EURALEX International Congress: Lexicography in Global Contexts},
year={2018},
month={jul},
date={17-21},
address={Ljubljana, Slovenia},
editor={Jaka Čibej, Vojko Gorjanc, Iztok Kosem, Simon Krek},
publisher={Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts},
isbn={978-961-06-0097-8}, }
Download