Construction of context for field-specific terms in textbooks and nonfiction
Keywords:
context, discourse analysis, language awareness, nonfiction, textbooksAbstract
The concept of language awareness has become central in Finnish schools and curricula
during recent years. An essential part of language awareness is the notion of field-specific
(subject-specific) languages. Informed by critical language awareness, the article examines
how writers construct a context for the field-specific terms they introduce in the text. The data
consists of textbooks and popular science books. By means of linguistic discourse analysis,
text sequences introducing field-specific terms are categorized according to the elements
that are constructed as a relevant context in the text: e.g. connecting the term to implicit
or explicitly named communities, individual people, time and place, as well as representing
the term without any social or historical context. By making visible the social and historical
context of terms, writers can help readers to gain access to the discourse of field-specific
knowledge. Linguistically aware representation of field-specific terms is relevant not only
in school but also more broadly in the public communication of research-based knowledge.
