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2022/2023

Language and Discourse

Code: 106215 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2504235 Science, Technology and Humanities FB 1 1

Contact

Name:
Cecilio Garriga Escribano
Email:
cecilio.garriga@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Teachers

Margarita Freixas Alas

Prerequisites

As a basic subject, it has no prerequisites.

Objectives and Contextualisation

To study language as an instrument of scientific construction.
To know the different linguistic, discursive, oral, etc. strategies involved in the process of constructing scientific knowledge.
To analyse the processes of metaphorisation that occur in scientific language.
Understand the procedures for the formation of scientific and technical vocabulary.
Recognise the history of the language of science as a driving force for scientific progress.
Conceive the dictionary as a legitimiser and disseminator of scientific and technical knowledge.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Competences

  • Construct discourse on scientific and technical knowledge using the linguistic resources of argument.
  • Describe the interactions between art, literature and science as drivers of complex creative processes and in the dissemination of knowledge.
  • Innovate in the methods and processes of this area of knowledge in response to the needs and wishes of society.
  • Make critical use of digital tools and interpret specific documentary sources.
  • Produce written papers and give effective oral presentations, adopting the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. "Situate psychological or medical categories like ""madness"" or ""monstrosity"" in their sociohistorical context. "
  2. "Study the processes by which biomedical categories like ""normal"", ""pathological"", etc. have been constructed, from the perspective of discourse analysis. "
  3. Analyse discourse from different perspectives and suggest ways to improve the construction of this discourse.
  4. Analyse discourse on scientific and technical knowledge throughout history, using the tools of the different traditions in discourse studies.
  5. Analyse the sex-/gender-based inequalities and gender bias in one's own area of knowledge.
  6. Communicate by making non-sexist, non-discriminatory use of language.
  7. Construct texts or other communicative tools for passing on ideas and concepts.
  8. Identify different linguistic and rhetorical resources used throughout the history of science and technology that have played a key role in the progress of the different disciplines.
  9. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  10. Produce organised, correct discourse, oral and written, in the corresponding language.
  11. Recognise the different discourse genres in the field of scientific literature, together with their sociohistorical nature.
  12. Search for and select information sources, assess their importance, and use them in interpreting topics and issues of social interest.
  13. Situate different visions of the world, together with their influence on scientific practice, in their socio-historical context, on the basis of textual analysis.
  14. Use digital tools to collect, classify, analyse and interpret significant data related to language studies.
  15. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

 THEME 1. Discourse and argumentation. The discursive genre of the scientific article.
1) History of discursive traditions in the field of science and technology. Examples of their evolution.
2) Linguistic characteristics of current academic language. Scientific communication: specialised and popularisation texts.

THEME 2. The history of the language of science and technology. Origins and evolution of scientific language.
1) Middle Ages and Renaissance (Golden Age).
2) Enlightenment and 19th century.
3) Ss. XX-XXI.

THEME 3. The dictionary as a legitimiser and disseminator of science and technology.
1) Science and technology in modern lexicography: European monolingual dictionaries.
2) Institutional lexicography.

Methodology

The detailed timetable with the content of the different sessions will be displayed on the day the course is presented. It will also be posted on the Virtual Campus where students will be able to find a detailed description of the exercises and practices, the various teaching materials and any information necessary for the proper monitoring of the course.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Classroom practice and text commentary 16 0.64 3, 4, 12, 6, 7, 15, 10, 14, 8, 9, 11
Theoretical lessons 33 1.32 3, 4, 5, 12, 6, 7, 2, 14, 8, 9, 11, 1, 13
Type: Supervised      
Tutoring and work supervision 4.25 0.17 12, 6, 9, 11, 1
Type: Autonomous      
Study and preparation of work 84.75 3.39 4, 12, 6, 7, 2, 1, 13

Assessment

Students will be assessed through the elaboration of two practicals (20% of the mark each), a presentation and oral defence of one of these practicals to be chosen by the student (20%), and an exam (40%).
The evaluation process will take into consideration the mastery of oral and written expression (spelling mistakes and normative errors, if any, will weigh negatively in the grade).
All assessment activities are compulsory and will be carried out on the dates agreed at the beginning of the course (the dates will be indicated on the Virtual Campus of the subject during the first weeks of the course). Failure to carry out any of the evaluable activities will result in the final grade of NOT EVALUABLE.

Recovery: The practical and the exam are recoverable tests if a median mark of no less than 3.5 points is obtained.

In the event that a student is found to have committed any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be initiated. In the event of several irregularities occurring in the assessment acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam 30 % 1.5 0.06 4, 12, 10, 2, 11, 1, 13
Exhibition and oral defence of the work 30 % 0.5 0.02 12, 6, 7, 10, 14
Preparation of a written work 40 % 10 0.4 3, 4, 5, 12, 6, 7, 15, 10, 14, 8, 9

Bibliography

Alberola, P. et al. (1996): Comunicar la ciencia. Teoria i Pràctica dels llenguatges d’especialitat, Picanya, Ediciones del Bullent
Alcaraz, E. (2003): El inglés profesional y académico, Madrid, Alianza.
Auger, P.- Rousseau, L. J. (2003): Metodología de la investigación terminológica. Málaga: Universidad de Málaga.
Bargalló, M. et al. (eds.) (2001): Las lenguas de especialidad y su didáctica. Actas del Simposio Hispano-Austriaco, Tarragona, Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
Cabré, M. T. (1993), La terminología. Teoría, metodología, aplicaciones, Barcelona, Antàrtida-Empúries.
Clavería, G. (2016): De vacunar a dictaminar. La lexicografía académica decimonónica y el neologismo, Madrid, Iberoamericana.
Garriga, C. (2019): "La lengua y el tecnicismo en el siglo XX", en Silva Suárez, M. (ed.), Técnica e ingenirería en España, Zaragoza, Real Academia de Ingeniería / Institución Fernando el Católico, pp. 109-170.
Guerrero Ramos, G. (1995): Neologismos en el español actual, Madrid, Arco/libros
Gutiérrez Cuadrado, J, / Garriga, C. (2019): "El vocabulario científico y técnico del español entre los siglos XIX y XX: planteamientos generales", Revista de lexicografía, 25, 193-218. <https://revistas.udc.es/index.php/rlex/article/view/rlex.2019.25.0.6000>
Gutiérrez Rodilla, B. (1998): La ciencia empieza en la palabra, Barcelona, Ediciones La Península.
Gutiérrez Rodilla, B. (2005): El lenguaje de las ciencias, Madrid, Gredos.
Holmes, Frederic L. (1991): "Argument and Narrative in Scientific Writing".In: Dear, Peter, The literary structure of scientific argument: historical studies, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 164-181. <https://es1lib.org/book/2746663/0c2f83>
Lerat, P. (1997): Las lenguas de especialidad. Barcelona, Ariel.
Nieto-Galan, A. (2011): Los públicos de la ciencia, Madrid, Marcial Pons.

Software

No se requiere software específico.