Christopher N. Candlin

Concordancing and the Teaching of the Vocabulary of Academic English

espanolEl proyecto descrito en este articulo ha utilizado el programa de concordancia Microconcord, con el Microconcord Corpus of Academic Texts (1993) con el fin de ofrecer a aquellos alumnos que no esten familiarizados con el lenguaje del discurso academico algunos de los elementos mas frecuentes y significativos del vocabulario del Ingles academico. El proyecto ha desarrollado una serie de materiales para su uso en el aula y para el aprendizaje independiente, indicado tanto para hablantes nativos de ingles como para estudiantes no nativos de ingles. Los materiales abordan de forma detallada palabras muy frecuentes comunes a todos los campos del aprendizaje academico, y no intentan incluir terminos especializados o tecnicos asociados a disciplinas especificas. Los participantes en el proyecto estan convencidos del valor que tiene la concordancia en el desarrollo de materiales didacticos centrados en el vocabulario y la gramatica, y de la linea entre ellos. El presente articulo describe el enfoque utilizado y examina la logica de ese enfoque. EnglishThe project described in this article has used the concordancing program, Microconcord, with the Microconcord Corpus of Academic Texts (1993) to introduce students unfamiliar with the language of academic discourse to some of the most important, frequent and significant items of the vocabulary of academic English. The project has developed materials for classroom use and independent learning intended for native speakers of English as well as students of non-English speaking background. The materials deal in detail with frequently used words which are common to all fields of academic learning, not attempting to include specialized or technical vocabulary items associated with specific disciplines. Those working on the project are convinced of the value of concordancing in the development of teaching materials focusing on vocabulary and grammar and the line between them. This article describes the approach used and deals with the rationale behind that approach

Health Care Communication: A Problematic Site for Applied Linguistics Research.

In this chapter, we address, selectively, how applied linguists and those concerned with discourse analysis in particular, have recently approached the study of health care communication, especially in intercultural contexts, and relate these approaches to studies undertaken by researchers in other academic disciplines such as the sociology of medicine and by health care practitioners in the course of their own work. At issue will be questions concerning selected sites and themes, the degree of distinctiveness of research methodologies and different understandings of what counts as data, and questions concerning reflexivity and practical relevance in terms of the use to which findings can be put. Appreciating areas of difference and similarity is a necessary basis for establishing the desirable, but potentially problematic, partnerships among academic disciplines and between such disciplines and the work of professional practitioners, both in research and in professional development. As a sample site in the delivery of health care in the framework of cultural and linguistic diversity, we identify nursing, and use this site and its practices to advocate the collaboration of applied linguists, professional practitioners, and researchers from other areas of social science in the exploration of health care communication in multilingual/multicultural contexts and elsewhere.

Discourse, expertise, and the management of risk in health care settings

This special issue identifies three interrelated constructs-discourse, expertise, and the definition and management of risk-located in various health care sites: genetic counseling, nursing, and medical practice. The articles highlight the relation between the management of risk situations and the nature of expertise displayed or achieved by practitioners and their patients or clients. Professional expertise is differentiated and multifaceted, concerning not only the exercise of discipline-specific professional practices and behaviors but also intimately related to the management of discoursal practices. The articles suggest that health care outcomes can be related closely to the quality of the discoursal encounters between professional practitioners and their patients or clients, among professional practitioners themselves, or both. The research we present evidences differentiated goals and outcomes from a range of professional encounters. It focuses especially on the resource of discoursal strategies drawn on in the achievement of discoursal and professional goals by both professional and lay participants.

Mixed-methods research in language teaching and learning: Opportunities, issues and challenges

This state-of-the-art paper foregrounds mixed-methods research (MMR) in language teaching and learning by discussing and critically reviewing issues related to this newly developed research paradigm. The paper has six sections. The first provides a context for the discussion of MMR through an introductory review of quantitative and qualitative paradigms. In the second section we discuss the nature and scope of MMR, its underlying principles, and its techniques and procedures. In the third section we discuss trends in MMR in language teaching and learning, and review 40 published papers in 30 journals related to this field, covering one decade (2002–2011). Issues and challenges facing MMR and its researchers are discussed in the fourth section, while in the fifth we discuss the significance of replicating MMR studies in language teaching and learning. Finally, we conclude by presenting prospects and avenues for further developing mixed-methods research.

Developing legal writing materials for English second language learners: problems and perspectives

Although in recent years we have seen a significant increase in the development of resources for legal writing, very few of them are targeted at second language learners. This article reviews currently available legal writing books in terms of their suitability for use in EALP writing contexts. It concludes that, although certain aspects of the available books can be useful, most are generally unsuitable for use in such contexts. Three approaches are then offered for developing legal writing materials that will meet the criteria of suitability. First, the materials can be customized in various ways to meet the needs of second language users studying law in the medium of English. Second, the materials can adopt a more language and discourse-based approach. Third, rather than packaging materials exclusively in book form, they can be made available as a computer-mediated resource bank. This article derives from ongoing work in a 3year, university-funded project entitled ‘‘Improving Legal English: Quality Measures for Programme Development and Evaluation’’, based at the City University of Hong Kong. # 2002 The American University. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Categorization and explanation of risk: A discourse analytical perspective

Categorization—generally understood as definition of situations (including events, actions, roles/identities, knowledge claims etc) in everyday and professional/institutional settings—is a meaning-making activity, deeply embodied in human experience and understanding. Language and discourse play a significant part in how we categorize events and things in discipline-specific ways. Contributors to this Special Issue of Health, Risk & Society approach risk categorization and its explanatory status in a range of healthcare settings—genetics, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hormone replacement therapy—from a discourse analytical perspective (broadly defined as language and interaction in context-specific environments). Research practice—what we choose to study, how we select our data sites and analytic frameworks and how we formulate our findings—constitutes categorization work par excellence and so remains a candidate project in reflexivity.

Nursing through Time and Space: Some Challenges to the Construct of Community of Practice

This chapter addresses a number of issues which relate to the construction over time and space of professional discourses within the practice of nursing. Discussion of these issues draws on the now well-established construct of communities of practice, first developed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) and now extensively adopted across a range of social, educational, human and management disciplines. One objective of the chapter is to draw on the discussion of nursing practice to offer a critical perspective on this construct.

Framing the child at risk

Abstract Risk Assessment Reports are one form of accounting practice which delineate the space of risk considered in a child abuse neglect investigation. The paper analyses two Risk Assessment Reports, contrasting what is reported, what is directly observed and what is hypothesized and implied by child protection practitioners during the assessment of risk. From an analysis of these two reports (each 4 – 5 pages long), the paper identifies the rhetorical strategies and their realizations used by two practitioners in framing the child at risk. The paper problematizes the tension between the institutional need to constrain the exercise of professional judgement through Risk Assessment Models, and the extent to which practitioners actually localize the framing of risk to specific areas of investigation.

‘She is not coping’: Risk Assessment and Claims of Deficit in Social Work

In this chapter, we focus our discussion on the professional site of statutory child protection and show how a discourse of deficit is consequential to the framing of risk in child neglect situations. To illustrate our points, we provide case study evidence from one social worker’s account of a child neglect case. We use an ethnomethodological discourse approach (Garfinkel 1964, 1967, 1996) to analyse the social worker’s written risk assessment of a child neglect situation. Risk Assessment Reports are written accounts of how the institutional member, in this case the social worker, perceives risk, and are one example among the many other types of reporting practices evident in statutory child protection (see Hall et al. 2006; Munro 2004, 2008). We argue that the analysis of such an account can therefore be revealing of how the risk situation is constructed by the institutional member, in this case a social worker (Garfinkel 1967; Hall et al. 2006; Sarangi & Roberts 1995).

What Actions Are Being Taken Here, by Whom and Why?

This chapter is concerned with the key question ‘What actions are being taken here, by whom and why?’ It focuses on exploring discourse in social action through ‘mediated discourse analysis’ (MDA) and ‘professional vision’, drawing from Scollon and Goodwin, respectively. The chapter also deals with identities and roles in discourse, drawing upon social psychology and the work of Tajfel. Key MDA concepts introduced include mediated action, sites of engagement, mediational means, practices and nexus of practice. Three key practices in professional vision are discussed: coding, highlighting and producing/articulating representations. Social psychological approaches to discourse analysis are discussed, both experimental and discursive, focusing on identities, roles and accommodation. Communication Accommodation Theory is introduced, as is a model of social psychological approaches to discourse analysis.