Specialized texts Main features: – External parameters (elements of the communication process) – Internal parameters (formal structure; knowledge structure; linguistic structure)

External Parameters A specialized text must be written by a specialist Those who want to translate specialized texts should get familiar with their specialized context, and should know the domain conventions and lexical/structural peculiarities

Internal Parameters Formal structure Knowledge structure Linguistic structure: Morphological level Lexical level Syntactic level Textual level Specialized texts are precise, more concise, and more systematic. Precision is a discreet feature. Only experts can control it.

Modality and Scientific Discourse Modality concerns with the speaker’s assumptions or assessment of possibilities; Modality concerns with the speaker’s assumptions or assessment of possibilities; It indicates the degree of confidence (or lack of confidence) the speaker has in his/her statement. It indicates the degree of confidence (or lack of confidence) the speaker has in his/her statement.

Modality is “matter of knowledge, belief or opinion rather than fact”. Modality is “matter of knowledge, belief or opinion rather than fact”. Modality is to be interpreted as “showing the status of the speaker’s understanding or knowledge.” Modality is to be interpreted as “showing the status of the speaker’s understanding or knowledge.” Strong, weak, and intermediate modality Strong, weak, and intermediate modality

Hedging “absence of certainty”, “absence of certainty”, the “lack of commitment to the truth value of a given proposition”, the “lack of commitment to the truth value of a given proposition”, the desire not to be too categorical. the desire not to be too categorical.

Detecting hedging in scientific discourse surface textual features:surface textual features: –Cognitive verbs (think, believe, suppose, reckon) –Lexical modifiers (verbs, adjectives, etc. e.g. indicate, suggest, propose, advise; approximate, advisory, likely, possible, consistent with ) –Adverbial forms, e.g. barely, nearly, slightly

Units of specialized knowledge* “A unit of specialized knowledge (SKU) is a unit that represents specialized knowledge at the content level, and communicates it at the linguistic level by using different level units that reflect the structure of knowledge in which the SKU is organized within its field. “Specialized knowledge units are cognitive units, because they represent and set specialized knowledge. “At the linguistic level, they are linguistic units because they are formed within a linguistic system and are integrated to it. “At the social level, they are considered to be communicative units, because they ensure the transfer of knowledge in given situations.” Cfr IULA Group IulaTerm, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 2011