A Cultural Journey through the English Lexicon [Unabridged] 1443835099, 9781443835091

Table of contents :
Contents
Introduction • Roberta Facchinetti
Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice, Languages and Cultures: The Glass-ceiling (Effect) • Silvia Cacchiani
Metaphors we Translate by? Towards a Domain-based Approach to Conventional Metaphor in L2 Translation Pedagogy • Dermot Heaney
A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law • Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri
‘Europeanization’ of Family Law: Interaction/Intersection of Cultural and Lexical Diversities • Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi
Register Variation in Tourism Terminology • Virginia Pulcini
New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media • Richard Chapman
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites of European Countries: Lexical Choices in Sweden and Greece • Costanza Cucchi
Unexpected Lexical Creativity: The Rise of Context-dependent Cultures? • Francesca Vigo
World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks: How is Plurality Represented? • Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato
Lexicon and Intercultural Competence in EFL Manuals • Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore
The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency • Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

Citation preview

A Cultural Journey through the English Lexicon

A Cultural Journey through the English Lexicon

Edited by

Roberta Facchinetti

A Cultural Journey through the English Lexicon, Edited by Roberta Facchinetti This book first published 2012 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2012 by Roberta Facchinetti and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-3509-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3509-1

CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Roberta Facchinetti Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice, Languages and Cultures: The Glass-ceiling (Effect) ..................................................... 7 Silvia Cacchiani Metaphors we Translate by? Towards a Domain-based Approach to Conventional Metaphor in L2 Translation Pedagogy............................ 35 Dermot Heaney A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law.......................... 63 Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri ‘Europeanization’ of Family Law: Interaction/Intersection of Cultural and Lexical Diversities .............................................................................. 85 Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi Register Variation in Tourism Terminology ........................................... 109 Virginia Pulcini New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media.......... 133 Richard Chapman Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites of European Countries: Lexical Choices in Sweden and Greece ................................. 153 Costanza Cucchi Unexpected Lexical Creativity: The Rise of Context-dependent Cultures?.................................................................................................. 183 Francesca Vigo World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks: How is Plurality Represented?............................................................................................ 201 Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

vi

Table of Contents

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence in EFL Manuals ......................... 235 Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency ...... 265 Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

INTRODUCTION ROBERTA FACCHINETTI

This book has been envisaged as a metaphorical journey through the English lexicon, viewed as a vehicle and a mirror of cultural identity. Our journey takes off from the cultural implications of one word (glassceiling) and moves on to discuss the issue of translatability of English phrases and metaphors. Then we touch on genre-specific terms – particularly the lexicon of law, of tourism and of sport websites – and land on the slippery slope of lexicological studies of English as a Lingua Franca. Finally, we focus on lexicon from the perspective of English language teaching, bearing in mind that increasing attention is being devoted to teaching language and culture in integrated ways. More specifically, in the first chapter (“Cultural keywords across communities of practice, languages and cultures: The glass-ceiling (effect)”), Silvia CACCHIANI explores the meaning dynamics behind the conceptualization of glass-ceiling (effect) as a general term and a cultural keyword, its related word-formations and the mechanism of reconceptualization of its calque, loan translations and related compounds in Italian. To do so, she focuses on meaning descriptions in expository texts from the specialist press, research articles, dictionaries, glossaries, encyclopaedic entries and textbook sections. The data show that, while English glass-ceiling describes a (hidden) limit and a barrier to the advancement of women and other minorities – thus covering potential cultural keywords such as ‘equal opportunities’ (for all) and ‘social mobility’ in a fluid society –, its Italian calque and loan translations show conceptual narrowing in that they appear to only address gender ‘(in)equality’. From word-meaning to metaphorical sense, in the second chapter Dermot HEANEY (“Metaphors we translate by? Towards a domain-based approach to conventional metaphor in L2 translation pedagogy”) explores the potential usefulness of a systematic comparative analysis of sourcelanguage and target-language conventional metaphors in discourse, to define cross-cultural congruence and non-congruence in their use. By means of two comparable corpora of texts on the discourse of industrial

2

Introduction

heritage museology in the Italian-English language pairing, the author analyzes source domains in congruent conceptual metaphors to identify differences in their frequency and in their respective linguistic realizations, particularly for the light these shed on variations in cultural attitudes and values. The analysis suggests how a systematic approach to conventional metaphor can increase trainee translators’ figurative awareness and strengthen their intercultural sensitivity concerning the cultural implications of the lexico-grammatical choices involved in translating conventional metaphors. The issue of translatability is at the core of the following chapter as well, which dips the paintbrush into the legal discourse of European and non-European countries. Daniela TISCORNIA and Maria-Teresa SAGRI (“A computation approach to meaning evolution in law”) start from the assumption that such specific terminology expresses the legal concepts which operate in the different countries and further mirrors the differences between the various systems and the varying interpretations of lawyers in each system. Bearing this in mind, they posit that the translation of legal terms is virtually impossible in certain legal domains. Indeed, the translational correspondence of two terms may satisfy neither the semantic correspondence of the concepts they denote nor the requirements of the different legal systems. Bearing this in mind, the authors illustrate the usefulness of computational tools in supporting the study of the interrelation between legal language and legal phenomena and propose the design of a formal framework aimed at filling the gap between dogmatic conceptual models and lexical patterns extracted from texts. Still dealing with legal discourse, Patrizia ARDIZZONE and Giulia Adriana PENNISI (“‘Europeanization’ of family law. Interaction/ Intersection of cultural and lexical diversities”) focus on the lack of a uniform terminology in European legal family laws, due to their culturebound great variety. The authors discuss such issues as the relativity and perspectival structure of family law knowledge and the translatability of domestic orientations and highlight how the linguistic and cultural constraints acting upon the latest most important EU family law documents (the so-called ‘Brussels regulations’) reflect either the success or the failure of EU institutions in the attempt to overcome legal, cultural and terminological diversities in national substantive family laws. Finally, they advocate the need for the establishment of a set of standards, on the one hand, and the creation of a ‘common core’ of family law rules, on the other, as one of the main goals of the EU institutions in order to make the principle of community freedom effective.

Roberta Facchinetti

3

Moving from legal lexicon to the terminology used in expert-to-expert tourist communication, Virginia PULCINI (“Register variation in tourism terminology”) posits that, due to the influence of English as a Lingua Franca, Italian tourism discourse has borrowed many English terms, which often coexist with Italian equivalents, giving rise to ‘multiple terminology’ and thus violating the terminological principle of monoreferentiality. Drawing on a corpus of specialized tourist texts, the author argues that, in Italian, English terms are often preferred by professionals not only for socio-cultural, stylistic and pragmatic reasons, but also for semantic ones; indeed, anglicisms seem to better fulfill the terminological principle of monoreferentiality with respect to Italian equivalent terms. Touching on the terminology of sport as it transpires in the New Media environment, Richard CHAPMAN (“New sport media language: Lexicon and culture in new media”) explores BBC live event webpages, which offer a rich mix of text, sms, twitter and blog contributions, with quotations from radio and TV broadcasts. In such new environment, limitations of time and space (a web-page produced in real-time) permit analysis of ‘real’ constraints on language, while the novel mode – which the author terms “written-to-be-read-as-spoken” – emphasizes the potential significance of this resource in studying lexicon, syntax and sociolinguistics. While analyzing these webpages, the author discusses (a) if and to what extent these ‘official blogs’ constitute a different dialect from ‘mainstream’ English, (b) if students should learn and be tested on its lexicon and, finally, (c) if the technology typifying these webpages has profound effects on the development of English lexicon and language in general. Discussing ‘Internet-English’ leads us to deal in more detail with English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Specifically, Costanza CUCCHI (“Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF company websites of European countries: Lexical choices in Sweden and Greece”) verifies whether Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions can explain the lexical choices in the ELF websites of two companies respectively from Sweden and Greece, which differ significantly along Hofstede’s dimensions. Assuming that national identity is particularly manifest in food and drink, the author has set up a corpus of local cheese and chocolate companies. Her quantitative and qualitative analysis of the corpus testifies to the fact that the companies studied put different emphasis on tradition, quality, achievement and experimentation, thus confirming that Hofstede’s model may be utilized in linguistic research to unveil lexical choices related to cultural differences, even when English is used as a Lingua Franca.

4

Introduction

In turn, Francesca VIGO (“Unexpected lexical creativity: The rise of context-dependent cultures?”) posits that, although a language is normally related to a culture, this is not entirely true in ELF contexts, since there is no one single culture to refer to. Starting from this assumption, the author advocates a reflection on the concept of ‘speech community’, in order to show how content-focused ELF speakers may turn into lexical creative agents, as her corpus of job interviews testifies to; she further shows that, in job interviews conducted in English by non-native speakers of English, appropriateness is assessed against company and not linguistic needs. In such contexts, managers become lexical creative agents, since they coin new words for specific corporate aims, while the company itself can be paralleled to a ‘culture’. Thus, job interviews can be considered examples of ELF speakers’ pragmatic attitude towards language innovation and variation. Linking up the world of ELF to that of English Language Teaching (ELT), Paola VETTOREL and Sara CORRIZZATO (“World Englishes and ELF in ELT textbooks: How is plurality represented?”) posit that the diversification of English into a plurality of Englishes calls into question which varieties could and should be included in ELT textbooks. In this chapter, they investigate representations of World Englishes, English as an International Language and ELF in a corpus of upper secondary school ELT civilization textbooks in the Italian educational context. Their data testify to the fact that recognition is given to the role of English as an international language and Lingua Franca of communication, though often with reference to its global spread rather than in connection to relevant research in ELF. The next chapter is also dedicated to the role played by culture in ELT textbooks, particularly for the study of English lexicon. Specifically, Maria Angela CERUTI and Lucilla LOPRIORE (“Lexicon and intercultural competence in EFL manuals”) illustrate the preliminary results of a case study carried out on four of the main coursebooks currently in use in Italian schools at intermediate level. The study investigates the relation between the pedagogical tasks devised for learners’ lexicon development and the cross-cultural awareness tasks linked to the source texts aimed at developing learners’ intercultural communicative competence. The results suggest that the close connection between the cultural dimension of lexicon and that of the texts learners are presented with is often overlooked; indeed, the types of tasks proposed seem to pay very little attention to the relevance of specific language and cross cultural awareness activities within multilingual contexts.

Roberta Facchinetti

5

The book ends with the chapter by Andrea NAVA and Luciana PEDRAZZINI (“The General Service List: Vocabulary selection beyond frequency”), which focuses on general English words and their cultural implications both for teaching and research purposes, thus recalling from a different perspective some of the topics touched on in the previous chapters. The authors focus on a set of ‘subjective’ culture-bound criteria implemented in the creation of Michael West’s General Service List, dating 1953 and aimed at defining the core vocabulary of English. Although partly based on ‘less scientific’ criteria than contemporary endeavours, the General Service List proves to be as reliable and of practical relevance in syllabus and material design and language testing as recent corpus-based projects. Indeed, with the advent of statistical lexicology, emphasis has increasingly been placed on word frequency regarded as ‘objective’ vis-à-vis ‘subjective’ selection criteria based on common knowledge and experience. Nava and Pedrazzini’s study proves that these very ‘subjective’ selection criteria often embody cultural bias. The above-mentioned eleven chapters, each marking a stop in this journey through the English lexicon, are a selection of the papers originally presented at the LEXIS conference in Verona on 11-13 November 2010, entitled The study of lexicon across cultural identities and textual genres. The research studies presented here testify to the fact that in English – and overall in language – word contextualization or lack of contextualization impinges on linguistic utterances and leads to differing interpretations of the textual message. This book may be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students who are concerned with the study of the English lexicon, bearing in mind that, be it made by general words or by specialized terms, by metaphorical phrases or by terminological listings, lexicon provides the bricks of any language, and language, in turn, needs the cornerstone of Culture to stand firmly and thrive. Verona, September 2011

CULTURAL KEYWORDS ACROSS COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES: THE GLASS-CEILING (EFFECT) SILVIA CACCHIANI (UNIVERSITY OF MODENA AND REGGIO EMILIA)

1. Introduction: Contemporary Western society and the glass-ceiling (effect) The changing character of contemporary Western society brings to the fore the urgent need to renegotiate the roles and identities of employed and unemployed men and women at the intersection of their public and private lives, within the relevant communities of practice and the society at large. Although more and more women and members of ethnic minorities have entered the job market, discrimination continues in the workplace and social mobility is still an issue, possibly due to the persistent nature of cultural values, stereotypes and ideology from the past. They are deeply entrenched in society and communities of practice, and reflect and foster the apparent legal and attitudinal barriers which prevent women and members of ethnic minorities from reaching the top of the corporate hierarchy and climbing up the career ladder in a changing society. This is the so-called glass-ceiling (effect), where glass ceiling qualifies as a cultural keyword in the sense of Williams (1983 [1976]). As such, it constitutes the vocabulary that allows for the explanation of the ideology of a specific culture and society. If we extend the notion of culture to disciplinary and professional communities, or communities of practice defined by co-participation in specific activities and centered on core keyconcepts that characterize their discourse (Wenger 1998), then the glassceiling (effect) is a keyword in specific communities of practice. As a recent general term from the soft sciences and a semispecialist word, glass ceiling is found in corporate relations and the welfare state,

8

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

(micro-)economics, gender studies, law, politics, sociology. It is used in academia, in the public and private sectors, by professionals and nonprofessionals in profit and non-profit organizations, and by the general public as well. The term was first coined in the mid-eighties and gained general currency in the mid-nineties in the US. It is said to have been initially used in an interview with the Washington Post (Gl15) by Alice Sargent, a Fortune 500 consultant, to describe women “looking up at the top and not making it into the board room of the executives suites” in corporate America. Following the recommendations of the First Glass Ceiling Report (1991) and the Second Glass Ceiling Report (1995), however, the term then evolved to address the inequities faced not only by women, but also by members of other minorities in the workplace and brought to the fore the need to renegotiate the power relations, roles and identities of employed and unemployed men and women within communities of practice and the society at large (Cacchiani 2008). Glass ceiling has recently hit the Italian language as a gap filler and a cultural loan. More specifically, it is now used along with its loan translations (soffitto di cristallo [crystal ceiling], soffitto di vetro [glass ceiling], tetto di cristallo [crystal roof], tetto di vetro [glass roof]). It serves as a cultural keyword in the specialist press, academia, political debates, forums organized by non-profit organizations, professionals in profit and non-profit organizations. While in Italian glass ceiling and its loan translations cut across disciplinary boundaries and communities of practice, however, they do not appear to have gained general currency. Glass ceiling is not an established word yet. Witness to this is its absence from most Italian dictionaries, with one exception being Lo Zingarelli 2011 (cf. Section 4).1 This chapter takes a look at the meaning dynamics behind the conceptualization of glass ceiling as a cultural keyword in English and, 1

GRADIT (Grande Dizionario Italiano dell’Uso) and later additions (Nuove Parole dell’Uso, Volumes 7, 8) do not record the neologism. Similarly, glass ceiling and its loan translations are not included in the Vocabolario Treccani (http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario). They are found neither in the neologisms webpage (http://www.treccani.it/Portale/sito/lingua_italiana/neologismi/) nor in the vocabulary of economics pages (http://www.treccani.it/Portale/sito/lingua_ italiana/parole/delleconomia/). Whereas ample coverage is given for recent words used in the press and also found at the interface of economics, the sociology of work and the sociology of family life (e.g. inattivo [economically inactive]), glass ceiling is not recorded in the Treccani.it. Glass ceiling and its counterparts are not recorded in the Accademia della Crusca/La lingua in rete/Parole Nuove webpage (http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/parole/parole.php?ctg_id=58) either, nor in most desk dictionaries.

Silvia Cacchiani

9

second, the process of (re-)conceptualization of glass ceiling and its loan translations in Italian. To this purpose, in Section 2 we deal with corpus design, motivate and articulate our procedure. Section 3 concentrates on English glass ceiling, its genetic motivation (Radden and Panther 2004) and conceptual broadening, mostly based on information from the Oxford English Dictionary and on meaning representations from encyclopaedias, research articles and the quality press. Additionally, we touch upon words whose sense extension can be motivated, i.e. made conceptually possible, along the same lines (e.g. glass cliff, greenhouse effect), and related phraseologies. Section 4 addresses the question: how do glass ceiling and its loan translations emerge as constructs which structure and conceptualize an otherwise barely structured situation in private, public, institutional and professional settings in Italy. The main findings are then briefly summarized in the concluding section of the chapter.

2. Data and methodology Since our focus is on the conceptualization of glass ceiling in English and on its (re-)conceptualization in Italian, we shall deal with the representation of knowledge-oriented information (cf. Bergenholtz and Tarp 1995). Specifically, we shall carry out a qualitative corpus-based investigation mainly into text passages which instantiate the expository text type (Werlich 1983 [1976]),2 or information mode (Smith 2003), in the meaning descriptions (Wiegand 1992) of glass ceiling provided in general dictionary entries, specialized dictionary entries and glossaries, general and specialized encyclopaedic entries (for English), introductory textbooks (for Italian), as well as natural definitions in discourse (specifically, in research articles and the quality press). We extend Wiegand’s (1992) notions of lexicographical definition and lexicographic meaning description to natural definition and meaning description in discourse. Following Wiegand (1992), a lexicographical definition is a text made up of a definiendum (LZGA [Lemmazeichengestaltangabe], definitor (definition copula or absent relational expression) and definiens, e.g. a meaning paraphrase (BPA [Bedeutungsparaphrasenangabe]). Lexicographic meaning descriptions 2

The expository text type relates to the cognitive process of comprehension. The encoder explains how component elements interrelate in a meaningful whole. He/she presents constituent elements that can be synthesized into a composite concept (a term) or a mental construct (manifested in a text), or, the other way round, constituent elements into which concepts or mental constructs of phenomena can be analyzed (Werlich 1983 [1976]).

10

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

answer potential questions on the part of the intended user in order to solve specific problems in actual situations of use. In terms of Langacker’s (1987, 1991) Cognitive Grammar, definiendum and definiens are things which belong to the same nominal predication, while the definitor or equivalence relation is a process or atemporal relation.3 This is the textbase of exposition (Werlich 1983 [1976]), also called information mode (Smith 2003). It is characterized by the prevalence of general statives, which do not express particular events or states and say something about a kind or an abstract individual (generic sentences), or express a pattern or regularity rather than specific episodes or isolated facts, while still concerning objects and individuals which are located in the world (generalizing sentences) (Smith 2003: 24). Passages from the corpus are selected for analysis with the help of these features.

2.1. Data The present study is based on two corpora which comprise texts on the glass ceiling and related phenomena in English and Italian. Asymmetries in the use of glass ceiling across the two lingua-cultures result into discrepancies in corpus size and genre distribution. While the English subcorpus is bigger and more varied, the Italian subcorpus is more restricted in size and coverage of genres and disciplines (Table 1). Since the sample initially chosen from Italian journal research articles (RAs) and encyclopaedic entries did not return any hits for glass ceiling or its loan translations, we partly altered the initial corpus design and methodology. For the sake of comparability, the Italian corpus thus comprises expository passages from RAs from edited volumes available at Google Libri (http://books.google.it/advanced_book_search) and manually transcribed expository sections on the sociology of family life and the sociology of work, which were selected from chapters of introductory textbooks.

3 The definiendum is the trajector or primary figure. The definiens is the landmark or secondary conceptual entity (Langacker 1987).

Silvia Cacchiani

11

Table 1: Materials. ENGLISH (90 RAs, 2000-2010): http://192.167.125.34:9003/unimore/az/unimore AAAPSS: Annals of the American JOBM: Journal of Organizational Academy of Political and Social Behaviour Management Sciences JVB: Journal of Vocational AE: Applied Economics Behaviour AP: American Psychologist LE: Labour Economics CPA: Critical Perspectives on LQ: The Leadership Quarterly Accounting OD: Organizational Dynamics EL: Economics Letters PAR: Public Administration Review GC: Gender and Competition PRR: Public Relations Review GM: Gender Medicine PS: Political Studies HR: Human Relations PSP: Political Science and Politics HRMR: Human Resources QREF: The Quarterly Review of Management Reviews Economics and Finance IJHM: International Journal of RRPE: Review of Radical Political Hospitality Management Economics IM: Information and Management SIJ: Service Industries Journal JAE: Journal of Asian Economics SMJ: Strategic Management Journal JAP: Journal of Applied Psychology SR: The Sociological Review JCE: Journal of Comparative SSJ: The Social Science Journal Economics SSR: Social Science Research JEEA: Journal of the European ST: Sociologie du Travail Economic Association WSIF: Women’s Studies International JLE: Journal of Labour Economics Forum JM: Journal of Management 4 ENCYCLOPAEDIAS: GC1: Reference for Business: Business Encyclopaedia 2nd ed.: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/For-Gol/Glass-Ceiling.html GC2: Encyclopaedia of Management: http://www.enotes.com/managementencyclopedia/women-minorities-management GC3: www.reference.com GC4: Feminism and Women’s Studies: http://feminism.eserver.org/the-glassceiling.txt GC5: Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.com GC6: C.E. Van Horn, H.A. Schaffner (eds), Work in America. An Encyclopaedia of History, Policy and Society: http://books.google.it/books? GC7: E.W. Chen (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Asian American Issues Today, Volume 1: http://books.google.it/books? RESEARCH ARTICLES

4 Surprisingly, glass ceiling is not recorded in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.Britannica.com).

12

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

GC8: E.M. Trauth (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Gender and information Technology. IGI Global, Disseminator of Knowledge. The Glass ceiling in IT ONLINE DICTIONARIES/GLOSSARIES: Gl1-Gl15: 15 definitions from specialist websites, including the Washington Post Politics Glossary DICTIONARIES: Oxford English Dictionary online, 2nd ed. and later additions: www.oed.com MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (MEDAL): www.macmillan.com Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary (CALD): www.cambridge.com QUALITY PRESS: The Economist (1996-2010): www.economist.com: 8 texts MISCELLANEOUS: MISC: British Library, Electronic Resources at the British Library: http://www.bl.uk/collections/wider/eresourcese.html#E ITALIAN RESEARCH ARTICLES: 30 RAs from edited volumes searched through Google Libri: books.google.it/advanced_book_search DICTIONARIES: Lo Zingarelli 2011: www.zanichelli.dizionari.it Il Ragazzini 2011: www.zanichelli.dizionari.it ENCYCLOPAEDIAS: 0 hits TEXTBOOKS: 2 of 15 textbooks: IT1, IT2 QUALITY PRESS: Il Sole 24 ORE (1996-2010): www.sole24ore.it: S241-S2416

2.2. Methodology The assumption behind the study was that expert members of a community of discourse (Swales 1990) and a community of practice (Wenger 1998) have individual conceptualizations of specific notions, which, however, meet and overlap to a large extent (cf. e.g. Engberg 2009). The Economist and Il Sole 24 ORE address professionals and educated readers, i.e. expert members of the community of practice. Definitions and/or meaning descriptions are only expected to be used where glass ceiling has not entered current usage. New N-N compounds, Adams (2001) argues, have a labelling function. They count as the short for a longer, defining expression which is regularly found in the immediately preceding or following linguistic co-text. Dictionary definitions assist the knowledge-oriented needs of their intended users; they provide facts, i.e. uncontroversial information. In extensive encyclopaedic entries and selected passages from introductory textbooks, definitions and meaning descriptions provide ample domain coverage in order to help non-expert members of the discourse community, i.e. marginal and peripheral participants, build a broad and relatively comprehensive (however partial) conceptualization. By contrast, RAs (peer-to-peer communication) bank on the domain expert’s specialized

Silvia Cacchiani

13

conceptualization of glass ceiling, a general term which applies to multiple subfields and a word in general language, with specialist meanings in various disciplines. The RA writer may use definitions, comments and meaning descriptions to foreground one or more selected elements in the content domain of glass ceiling, he/she may define and operationalize the variable glass ceiling as an indicator to test models and hypotheses in the Methodology section, or he/she may reconceptualize the term against the background of data analysis in the Conclusions. In order to trace the development of specific conceptualizations for glass ceiling, the Italian calque and its loan translations, we center our attention on expository texts, meaning descriptions, and comments (i.e. segments providing information, cf. Wiegand 1992) on the semantics and use of glass ceiling, explanatory sequences, specialist explanations, and specialist detail. Broadly speaking, while selecting degree of detail and type and amount of cognitive-propositional, procedural, and episodic information, they variously help the reader build (partial) conceptualizations on the basis of underlying image schemas, non-situational frames and situational scenarios. We address the issue from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Given different uses and corpus discrepancies, however, we differentiate our analysis of the two sub-corpora slightly. We first decided to deal with the meaning description of glass ceiling given in general dictionaries, with special attention to the information provided by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The meaning predictability of glass ceiling is first discussed within the Theory of Meaning Predictability (Štekauer 2005). Explicit definitions, meaning representations and encyclopaedic information come from the set of extended concordance lines and, when appropriate, from the source texts (mainly synopses) returned calling up the Viewer function of the WordSmith Tools software (Scott 2010 [1997]). They are used to address conceptual motivation in glass ceiling and related wordformations. To this purpose we integrate insights from Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen’s (2005) categorization of different types of knowledge, and Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff 1987; Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 1999). Touching upon the linguistic clues to focus on the semantic relations and schemes establishing between words in expository texts and using additional data from wordlists and concordances, we characterize glass ceiling as a cultural keyword first, and then relate it to other cultural keywords (Williams 1983 [1976]; Stubbs 2001), and key terms in sociology (e.g. social mobility). Second, in Section 4 we discuss the mechanism of (re-)conceptualization, motivation, sense extension and conceptual narrowing of the Italian calque and its loan translations, with

14

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

an eye to related terms, and the role they play in (re-)shaping the vocabulary of Italian culture.

2.3. Framework of analysis The advantage of this integrated approach rests on the reflection it will offer on the formal and semantic properties of glass ceiling as a cultural keyword, related compounds, and their calques and loan translations in Italian.5 Although much research has been carried out on the description and theoretical modelling of compounding,6 Štekauer’s (2005) Theory of Meaning Predictability of context-free naming units (MPT) deserves pride of place as the first coherent and systematic analysis of the issue across word-formation types. Word formation (Štekauer 2005) starts with the act of naming (i.e. identifying and categorizing) an object of the extralinguistic reality according to the naming needs of a limited number of members of a given speech community. At a conceptual level, logical predicates (noemes) and the most general conceptual categories combine so as to reflect the actual (usually prototypical, in the sense of Rosch 1978) features of the object. Conceptual categories comprise Substance, Action (Action proper, Process, State), Quality, and Concomitant circumstance (e.g. Manner, Time, Place). By contrast, the Word-Formation Component accounts for actual word-coinages via productive and regular Word Formation Rules applying at the semantic, onomasiological, onomatological and phonological levels. Individual logical predicates are mapped from the conceptual to the semantic level of the linguistic sign via semes (semantic markers) which constitute the semantic structure of the linguistic sign. At an onomasiological level, a distinction can be made between the onomasiological base (head, determinatum) and onomasiological mark, which, if complex, consists of determining and determined constituent. Based on the criterion of which constituents of the onomasiological structure are linguistically expressed at an onomatological (or morphematic) level via the Form-to-Meaning-Assignment Principle, five Onomasiological Types (OTs) can be identified: OT I: piano [Object] play [Action] – er [Agent]; OT II: teach [Action] – er [Agent]; OT III: honey [Object] 5

For the purposes of this paper, we define a compound as “a lexeme containing two or more potential stems [and, therefore,] at least two roots” (Bauer 1983: 28). 6 See Lieber and Štekauer (2009) for a thorough review of theoretical linguistic and psycholinguistic research on compounding.

Silvia Cacchiani

15

(Action) bee [Agent]; OT IV: lion heart [(Substance) Pattern] – ed [Quality]; OT V: show [Action ĺ Substance]. OT III and OT V are less predictable than OT I, OT II and OT IV, where the relation between constituents does not engender multiple potential interpretations. Factors which variously interact with OT in order to increase meaning predictability of context-free naming units are: single, strong predictable reading; productivity and unambiguous interpretation of the underlying word-formation type; productivity and unambiguous interpretation of the morphological type; a combination of prototypical semes (Level 4 - Level 4 combination) across word constituents as against general and classificatory, or idiosyncratic semes (Level 2 and Level 3, and Level 5 semes, respectively); reference to permanent cross-constituent relations; interpretation based on analogy-based schemes; knowledge of the meaning of the motivating words and world-knowledge. The language user’s linguistic, conceptual and world knowledge, as well as feature prototypicality within a category, analogy based scheme/template, and stable relations, are all notions extensively investigated and put to use in Cognitive Linguistic investigations into the processes of compound formation and understanding.7 In Cognitive Grammar, word formations are composite units or constructions in which two or more components integrate on the basis of semantic and phonological relations (Langacker 1987: valency relations) between their respective substructures. Within Cognitive Linguistics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the theory of metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 1999; Lakoff 1987), can provide post-hoc explanations for the valence relations (Štekauer 2005: correspondence relations) established between components (Štekauer 2005: semes) within word formations. Conceptual Metaphor Theory sees metaphors as cognitive mappings of one conceptual domain onto another, rather than as a mere linguistic phenomenon. In turn, metonymies map one conceptual category onto another within the same conceptual domain or more specific frame in the same idealized cognitive model (ICM). A domain is broadly defined as any kind of conception or realm of experience in conceptual space serving as the conceptual basis of linguistic meaning (Langacker 2008: 45). An ICM (Lakoff 1987) is a cognitive structure, which is idealized for the purposes of understanding and reasoning and has the function to represent reality from a certain perspective. ICMs designate any concept construed on the basis of our world knowledge. They comprise non-operational models, which provide propositional knowledge 7 See Heyvaert (2009) for an introduction to Cognitive Linguistics approaches to compounding.

16

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

organized in sets of predicate-argument relationships (frames), imageschematic pre-conceptual topological representations (image schemas), and operational models (metaphor and metonymy), which operate on frames and image schemas. Metaphorical expressions are based on an analogy schema, i.e. analogy between source domain and target domain. Most importantly, within Conceptual Blending theories (Fauconnier and Turner 2002),8 conceptual metaphor can be seen as a type of conceptual blending, in which the two input spaces are the source and target domain of the metaphor.

3. Formal and semantic properties of English glass-ceiling (effect) Glass ceiling has two senses, which correspond to two different morphological constructs. As an endocentric subordinate compound, it instantiates the head-complement of relation, used in automobile industry, architecture, arts, painting, construction, or technology. As a metonymic exocentric compound, it is based on an analogy schema (or metaphorical relational schema). A CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTY is used to denote a CATEGORY not explicitly mentioned in the compound, whereby glass ceiling (1) stands for glass-ceiling effect or glass-ceiling phenomenon (2): (1) This means that, in Spain, there is a glass ceiling for the more educated, while for the less educated there is not. (AE1) (2) Similar to Whites and Blacks this indicates a glass ceiling effect, where women who managed to climb to the top are experiencing the highest wage disparity. (SSR2)

8

Conceptual Blending theories (e.g. Fauconnier and Turner 2002) incorporate Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Its fixed, generic domains are replaced by schematic and specific knowledge dynamically structured in the language user’s partial, specific mental spaces, i.e. partial representations of elements (discourse entities) and frames (relations between elements) of any given scenario. Conceptual Blending theories view word formation and the interpretation of the underlying semantic motivation in terms of the language user’s online language processing: elements within contextually relevant source inputs (SIs) are activated on the basis of long-term supra- and extralinguistic knowledge, they (can) evoke common abstract schemas and images in the generic space (GS) and yield a blended space, or blend (Fauconnier and Turner 2002), which accommodates the selected elements from the SI(s) and can elaborate new meanings (emergent structure) (Cacchiani, in press).

Silvia Cacchiani

17

More specifically, the exocentric compound glass ceiling identifies a form of discrimination which affects women first and foremost and, second, members of ethnic minorities, as is variously recorded under the corresponding entries in MEDAL (3), CALD (4) and OED (5): (3) glass ceiling NOUN – COUNTABLE an unfair system that prevents some people, especially women, from reaching the most senior positions in a company or organization. (MEDAL) (4) glass ceiling NOUN a point after which you cannot go, usually in improving your position at work. Various reasons are given for the apparent glass ceiling women hit in many professions. (CALD) (5) glass-ceiling (GLASS, n.1, addition series 1997) Add: [IV.] [16.] GLASS-CEILING orig. U.S., an unofficial unacknowledged barrier to personal advancement, esp. of a woman or a member of an ethnic minority in employment. Also transf. (OED)

Glass ceiling distributes its meaning between ‘glass’ and ‘ceiling’. The (predictable) semantic shift of glass-ceiling from glazed ceiling / roof to ‘unofficial and unacknowledged barrier to personal advancement’ is expected to result from knowledge of the literal meaning of glass and ceiling, that is, from the knowledge of relevant aspects of artefacts (Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen 2005: knowledge of material culture) (italics and inverted commas in 6a and 6b, adapted from Cacchiani 2008): (6a) ceiling, ceiling, vbl. n.: […] II. concr. 5. a. esp. The ‘undercovering’ of a roof or floor, ‘concealing’ the timbers; ‘the plaster top of a room’. 6. d.: ‘an upper limit (to quantity, prices, expenditure, etc.), a maximum’. 7. Comb., mostly attrib., as ceiling-board […]. (OED) (6b) GLASS, n.1: I. as a substance. 1. a ‘substance, in its ordinary forms transparent, lustrous, hard, and brittle’, […] 3. b. esp. as used in horticulture for greenhouses, frames, etc. Hence, greenhouses, etc., collectively. 7. A ‘pane of glass’, esp. the window of a coach, etc.; the plate of glass covering a picture; a glazed frame or case (e.g. for the ‘protection’ of plants). IV. attrib. and comb. 14. simple attrib., passing into quasi-adj. a. ‘Made of glass’. […]

18

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice 15. general comb.: […] c. similative, as glass-clear (cf. OE glœshluttor), -coloured, -green, -grey, -hard adjs.; also glass-like adj. and adv. (OED)

The metaphorical reading of glass ceiling activates the ‘transparent’ and ‘hard’ zones (as against ‘concealing’ something) for ‘glass’, and ‘undercovering of a roof’ plus ‘upper limit’ for ‘ceiling’. Within Štekauer’s (2005) Meaning Predictability Theory, the interpretation of glass ceiling is thus based on correspondence relations between the ‘hard’, ‘transparent’ features for ‘glass’ (onomasiological mark), and the ‘upper’ interior surface features ‘of a room’ or building used for ‘covering’ for ‘ceiling’ (onomasiological base). In the most predictable context-free interpretation of glass ceiling, the onomasiological mark and onomasiological base combine in ‘the overhead inside glass lining of a room’, based on a composition relation.9 The conceptual bridge between the literal and figurative reading of glass ceiling and the semantic shift from type of ceiling made of glass to ‘unofficial’ and ‘unacknowledged barrier to personal advancement’, however, can be amply motivated and predictable only against the relevant cultural and world knowledge.

3.1. English glass ceiling: Motivation To specify what makes glass ceiling conceptually possible, this section offers a corpus-based, qualitative analysis of definitions, meaning descriptions and comments on the semantics and use of glass ceiling, specialist explanations and specialist detail in encyclopaedic entries, in manually selected extended concordance lines and in source texts. As mentioned above, conceptual metonymy and conceptual metaphor interact in glass ceiling, an exocentric compound.10 Within Conceptual 9 Onomasiological mark: glass: Seme levels: 1 – SUBSTANCE; 2 – [Inanimate]; 3 – [Construction Material] [Having Texture] [Having Colour]; 4 – [Solid] [Strong] [Transparent]. Onomasiological base: ceiling: Seme levels: 1 – SUBSTANCE; 2 – [Inanimate]; 3 – [Surface]; 4 – [Upper interior surface of a room or building]; [For covering]. Context-free interpretation: WF type: [Stative (= Material) – (State) – Patient]; Level 4 – Level 4 combination: the overhead inside glass lining of a room, based on the composition relation (Cacchiani, in press, revised). 10 To put it with Benczes (2006), glass ceiling qualifies as a creative compound with metaphorical profile determinant, metaphorical modifier and metaphorical relation between the two. The emergent signification results from context-bound conceptual integration.

Silvia Cacchiani

19

Metaphor Theory (Cacchiani 2008), glass ceiling finds its motivation in the orientational metaphors UP-DOWN and the Career ICM: SUCCESSFUL IS UP versus UNSUCCESSFUL IS DOWN; HAVING A CAREER IS UP. Associated metaphors comprise DIFFICULTIES ARE IMPEDIMENTS TO MOTION, which links with superordinate concepts such as FORCE and CONTROL and motivates conceptualizing glass ceiling as a limit, barrier, obstruction and impediment, and a strong negative force controlling and keeping down women and other minorities, e.g. (7) and (8): (7) Heard enough about the glass ceiling – the force that allegedly prevents women from occupying top jobs? (MISC_Forbes1) (8) Glass ceiling is the term used to describe barriers that prevent women and minorities from advancing to management positions in corporations and organizations. (GC1a)

Negative connotations also attach to ceiling in connection with its use for metaphors of anger. As extensively argued by Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen (2005: 189-192, quoted in Cacchiani 2008), ceiling counts as an element of the HOUSE frame, which is variously used in Indo-European languages and in the Western world in general to express not only anger (English: to hit the ceiling, German: an die Decke gehen [to jump to the ceiling]), but also boredom and depression (German: jmdm. fällt die Decke auf dem Kopf [the ceiling falls down on one’s head]). Conceptual metaphors and knowledge of material culture account for collocations such as to bump into / hit the glass ceiling, to break / crack / crash through / smash / splinter the glass ceiling, or the glass ceiling is shatterproof versus the glass ceiling is in pieces. Next to glass ceiling, other compounds have been created on the basis of the same knowledge of material culture, knowledge of artefacts, and image mappings: •

•

Compounds that name related types of discrimination: sticky floor, coined to describe women’s low wage and wealth gap; greenhouse effect, or the positive discrimination towards women on sexist grounds (i.e., the reverse glass ceiling); glass floor, or the “force that, independent of women’s income, seems to keep their share of total wealth up to – and beyond – male levels” (MISC_Forbes1). In other words, glass floor (Cacchiani 2008, revised) covers the discriminations suffered by male graduates who find it harder than their female counterparts to get a highly-paid, permanent job due to the potential pro-female bias of men and women in power who would rather hire young women (and attractive young women in the case of male directors) (CG5a). Compounds used to identify the extent of discrimination, such as concrete ceiling (GC5a). Based on knowledge of material culture and artefacts

20

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

•

•

•

(unlike glass, concrete structures are not brittle and transparent, and have a very high compressive strength), concrete ceiling describes a socioeconomic barrier which is created by race and gender. The resulting phenomenon, faced by minority women, is much stronger than the glass ceiling. Compounds which name causes and effects or highlight selected complementary aspects of the glass ceiling phenomenon: the glass wall naturally limits upward advancement by means of restricting the lateral mobility necessary for gaining relevant corporate experience (GC1a); glass cliff selects a different property of glass and points to the precarious situation of women and members of minorities in the top ranks, e.g. women executives; sticky ladder is “a term used to describe women’s struggle to reach the top of the corporate ladder” (GC3a); the glass-bridge effect establishes “institutionalized mechanisms to encourage women and other minorities to find ways to traverse professional hurdles that can feel as threatening as crossing a visual cliff” (PSP1). Compounds that highlight discriminations in specific sectors: celluloid ceiling, which describes statistical under-representation of women in creative positions in Hollywood (GC3a, GC5a); rose-coloured glass ceiling, which refers to female prostitutes investing on porn websites (Cacchiani 2008). Compounds pointing to other domains of application: the other glass ceiling (Cacchiani 2008), or the unequal distribution of work at home.

3.2. Glass ceiling as a cultural keyword The glass-ceiling effect is described as unfair discrimination (both access discrimination and discrimination on the job) which affects the socioeconomic status of women, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities (HRMB2), single mothers (GM1), as well as gay tories in the UK Parliament (MISC_Independent1), in the context of norms, rules, and values to which they do not accommodate easily, and of sociodemographic and socio-cultural stereotypes. One example is (9), which voices the currently prevailing opinion on career women (here, media women) as against career men, and reflects gender stereotyping of work: jobs are either male or female, and women are promptly associated with the cultural keyword ‘family’ (Williams 1983 [1976]: 131-134; Stubbs 2001): (9)

She can report from a war zone or the lobby: but punditry is for guys, and letting her edit is always ‘a gamble’. […] Media woman is invariably described as pushy and ambitious, qualities deemed reprehensible in her, although entirely natural to her male colleagues.

Silvia Cacchiani

21

(MISC_NewStatesman1) (emphasis added, adapted from Cacchiani 2008)

Restricting the discussion to women, breaking through the glass ceiling would amount to renegotiating the sociocultural values encoded in keywords such as ‘work’, ‘job’ and ‘career’, which are traditionally associated with paid job and promotion for men, and ‘family’ and ‘home’, traditionally associated with women (‘family’, Williams 1983 [1976]). The debate on the glass ceiling clearly raises issues of gender ‘equality’ (Williams 1983 [1976]: 117-119) against the background of tacit gender assumptions which maintain the divide between family roles and the imbalance between paid and unpaid work in family life (the other glass ceiling) (cf. Cacchiani 2008). Table 2 shows the top 104 content words and relevant function words in encyclopaedic entries, which give a broad, uncontroversial overview of the glass-ceiling phenomenon. Its purpose is to bring to the fore the extent to which glass ceiling interacts with other culturally significant keywords. Table 2: Encyclopaedias [wordlist 1 (F)]. N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Word* Freq. % WOMEN 422 2.17 169 0.87 CEILING 164 0.84 GLASS MEN 95 0.49 MINORITIES 61 0.31 56 0.29 COMMISSION MANAGEMENT 53 0.27 GENDER discrimination 51 0.26 POSITIONS 46 0.24 LABOR 42 0.22 equal PAY 41 0.21 CORPORATE 39 0.2 DISCRIMINATION 39 0.2 ADVANCEMENT 38 0.2 BARRIERS 38 0.2 FEMALE 37 0.19 JOBS 37 0.19 36 0.18 REPORT EQUAL opportunity, pay, rights 34 0.17 LESS 34 0.17 MALE 34 0.17

N 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73

Word Freq. % POWER 19 0.1 PROGRESS 19 0.1 ROLES 19 0.1 WAGE gap 19 0.1 wage GAP 17 0.09 GOVERNMENT 17 0.09 HARASSMENT 17 0.09 OCCUPATIONS 17 0.09 DOMINATED 16 0.08 HIGHER 16 0.08 INCREASE 16 0.08 LOWER earnings, rates 16 0.08 SOCIAL ladder 16 0.08 WORKERS 16 0.08 CAREER 15 0.08 CHILDREN 15 0.08 15 0.08 DOL lower EARNINGS 15 0.08 affirmative ACTION 14 0.07 AFFIRMATIVE action 14 0.07 ASIAN 14 0.07

22

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

N Word* Freq. 22 TOP level 33 23 top LEVEL 32 24 AMERICAN 31 25 LAW 30 26 SEXUAL discrimination 30 27 WOMEN’S 29 28 RECOMMENDATIONS 28 29 BUSINESS 27 30 BUSINESSES 27 31 EMPLOYMENT 26 32 EMPLOYEES 25 33 same, equal RIGHTS 25 34 SAME rights 25 35 WHITE males 25 36 MALES 24 37 WOMAN 21 38 WORKFORCE 24 39 COMPANIES 22 40 FAMILY 22 41 LAWS 22 42 MINORITY 22 43 ROLE 22 44 EMPLOYERS 21 45 WORKING minority, force 21 46 WORKPLACE 21 47 JOB 20 48 LEADERSHIP 20 49 MEMBERS 20 50 DIFFERENCES 19 51 EXECUTIVE 19 52 working, labor FORCE 19 * Lower case is used for frequent collocates.

% 0.17 0.16 0.16 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

N 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104

Word Freq. % CHILD 14 0.07 CORPORATIONS 14 0.07 EDUCATION 14 0.07 14 0.07 INITIATIVE PRESIDENT 14 0.07 SEX 14 0.07 UP 14 0.07 BARRIER 13 0.07 BOARD 13 0.07 CARE 13 0.07 GROUPS 13 0.07 ORGANIZATION 13 0.07 OWNED 13 0.07 PROFESSIONS 13 0.07 PROMOTION 13 0.07 DIVERSITY 12 0.06 EMPLOYED 12 0.06 GROWTH 12 0.06 MANAGERS 12 0.06 equal OPPORTUNITY 12 0.06 SUPPORT 12 0.06 EMPLOYEE 11 0.06 HUSBAND 11 0.06 social LADDER 11 0.06 11 0.06 LEVELS 11 0.06 OPPORTUNITIES SIMILAR 11 0.06 SOCIETY 11 0.06 WIFE 11 0.06 AFRICAN 10 0.05 AMERICANS 10 0.05

Based on extended analysis of the corresponding concordance lines, comments can be made on the table and, interestingly, on the way the words in the list relate to roles, values and stereotypes for men and women, as well as to relations between men and women in the workplace and in family life. Single underlining is used for ‘woman’ (‘women’, ‘woman’, ‘female’) and all the tokens that combine with the roles, values and stereotypes traditionally associated with ‘women’ / ‘woman’: ‘child’, ‘children’,

Silvia Cacchiani

23

‘family’, ‘care’, ‘wife’, ‘husband’. ‘Women’ ranks first in the wordlist (422 hits), far outnumbering ‘minorities’ (61 hits). This suggests that while research on the glass ceiling is mainly concerned with ‘gender discrimination’, other types of discriminations are discussed. As a matter of fact, women are on a par with other minorities (dashed underlining), which comprise ‘Asian’ and ‘African minorities’, as against ‘white males’. Double underlining is used for words traditionally associated with roles, values and stereotypes for ‘man’. ‘Men’ and ‘male’ associate with ‘management’, ‘advancement’, ‘employers’, ‘leadership’, ‘executive’, ‘education’, ‘president’, ‘up’, ‘board’, ‘top level’, ‘business’, ‘employment’, ‘power’, ‘progress’, ‘professions’, ‘promotion’, ‘employed’, ‘managers’. The glass-ceiling effect describes impediments (‘barriers’, ‘discrimination’) to the mobility of minority individuals between different levels. ‘Labor’, ‘wage gap’, and ‘workforce’ go hand in glove with ‘working minorities’ (italics). There are different levels of inequality, severity or closedness. The Second Glass Ceiling Report was released in November 1995 and addresses inequities faced by women, non-white women (as against ‘white males’) and ethnic minorities (e.g. the expatriate glass ceiling). It was a strategic plan working towards equality and equal opportunities (bold, italics in the table) for all minorities. Additional evidence comes from expository passages from RAs. The glass-ceiling effect is understood as an unofficial unacknowledged barrier to personal advancement (12). While it is especially used of women, and gender plays a major role in its conceptualization (10), other factors are also taken into account, including class discrimination, ethnic and racial inequalities (11: ‘class and race processes as well as gender processes’): (10) By the glass ceiling approach, administration is thought to be, in principle, independent of gender. But there are underlying connections between modern states and the gender system. A large body of research shows how state agencies and policies regulate the lives of women, both in the family and in the public realm (Borchorst 1999; Mikanagi 2000), and this research has widened to include the gendered lives of men (Scourfield and Drakeford 2002). (PAR2) (11) the common outcome of these inequality processes in the rich industrial nations of the North is that the persons at the top of most organizations are likely to be white men; they are very privileged and have great class power compared with most other people in the organization. The processes of exclusion that constitute a glass ceiling are class and race processes as well as gender processes. Most studies of the production of class, gender and racial inequalities in organizations have focused on one or another of these categories,

24

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice rarely attempting to study them as complex, mutually reinforcing or contradicting processes. (ST1) (12) These results provide evidence that the family structure and glass ceiling hypotheses do not overlap in their prediction of turnover intentions. The indicator of family structure (number of children), and of the glass ceiling (career opportunity), continued to be significant in this summary model. Each contributed unique variance to the prediction of turnover intentions. The predictors accounted for all but 1% of the variance that sex contributed to the prediction of turnover intentions. (JVB1)

In (12), glass ceiling stands in a semantic relation, accounted by the cause-effect schema,11 to ‘family structure (number of children)’ and ‘turnover intentions’ (both ‘family structure’ and the glass ceiling are shown to contribute ‘unique variance to the prediction of turnover intentions’ (12)). The same schema accounts for ‘sex’ and ‘turnover intentions’, while an identity (‘X is a Y’) relation (or identification schema based on equivalence between trajector and landmark) holds between glass ceiling and ‘career opportunity’. Administration and gender should not overlap, as brought to the fore by the identification schema which accounts for ‘by the glass ceiling approach administration is thought to be, in principle, independent of gender’ (10). However, ‘state agencies and policies regulate the lives of women (controller-controlled schema), both in the family and in the public realm’. Research on the glass ceiling also includes the ‘gendered lives of men’, which thus stand in a partitive (‘X is part of Y’) relation to the glass ceiling and in a similarity (‘X is similar to Y’) relation (covered by the identification schema) to the lives of women, their antonym (accounted for by the opposition schema, understood here in a broad sense, so that it can account for different types of exclusion and opposition relations): the lives of men and women are both ‘gendered’ (identification schema) and controlled (controllercontrolled schema) by ‘state agencies and policies’. In supply-side explanations of the glass ceiling this is accounted for in terms of ‘important attribute differences between men and women’ (cause-effect schema): (13)

11

are often referred to as “supply-side” theories and address ability and motivation factors that are thought to distinguish between male and female managers: Supply-side explanations for the glass-ceiling all argue that, on average, there are important attribute differences

See Ruiz de Mendoza (1996) and Ruiz de Mendoza and Otal (1999) for a more complete account of the classification of relational arcs of conceptual schemas.

Silvia Cacchiani

25

between men and women that tend to prevent women from processing into the highest levels of management. (HR1)

Both men and women are members of modern states (10), organizations (11, 13) and society (12) (partitive relation, container schema), but in (13) the reason for the glass ceiling is motivated genetically (via natural gender differences), in the same vein as, based on their natural roles, women are traditionally associated with ‘family’ and men with ‘work’. Examples (10) to (12), however, make clear that the processes of exclusion that constitute a glass ceiling are ‘class’ and ‘race’ processes as well as ‘gender’ processes (co-meronymy (11), based on an opposition schema). Although the frequency list in Table 2 does not return the word ‘class’, ‘class’ is a dimension along which ‘gender’ and ‘race’ inequalities vary significantly. In the light of this, the Second Glass Ceiling Report gives recommendations for businesses and corporate organizations to dismantle barriers, for state and government to support the renegotiation of the roles of men and women, majority and minority groups in society (passing adequate legislation), and for schools, media, community organizations, advisory organizations and other institutions to help break the glass ceiling. This is part of a two-way process which is expected to eventually lead to the reconceptualization of cultural keywords such as ‘men’, ‘women’, ‘family’, ‘work’, ‘(in)equality’ while broadening the conceptualization of glass ceiling to include equal opportunities and social mobility for all, in response to the changing role of men and women in a fluid society.

4. Italian glass ceiling and loan translations Glass ceiling was borrowed from English by Italian as a gap-filler and cultural loan. Together with its loan translations (soffitto di cristallo [crystal ceiling], soffitto di vetro [glass ceiling], tetto di cristallo [crystal roof], tetto di vetro [glass roof]), it has reached the specialist press, academia, and political debates. However, possibly due to a different socio-cultural context, glass ceiling does not seem to have gained general currency. It is not an established word and is not familiar to a large enough subset of the speech community at large to make it worth listing in reference works (cf. Section 1, footnote 1). Witness to this the fact that specialist encyclopaedias and introductory works written by Italians do not devote sections to the phenomenon. Information on the glass ceiling, instead, can be found in introductory works translated from English into Italian, where soffitto di vetro [glass ceiling] is defined as the unofficial and unacknowledged barriers which

26

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

prevent women and minorities from advancing to management positions in corporations and organizations and relates to the need for equal opportunities in a fluid society. Unlike white men, women and ethnic minorities tend to get stuck at the bottom of the career ladder. Additionally, race has a stronger negative influence on occupational prestige (or the social value of a job) and career opportunities. This goes against the notion of fluid societies, which allows social mobility and equal opportunities for all individuals (IT2: Giusti and Frezza 2004). With the only exception of Il Ragazzini 2011, bilingual dictionaries do not provide a dictionary equivalent for glass ceiling in the English – Italian section (‘glass’, B, glass ceiling). On the assumption that the intended target user does not share knowledge about glass ceiling, the compiler adds to tetto di cristallo, one of four translation equivalents, a meaning paraphrase which takes into account women and minorities. The glass ceiling is thus understood as an unofficial barrier that impedes women and minorities’ career advancement, i.e. their advancement to upper management or other senior positions: (14)

glass / [...]/ B a. attr. […] Ƒ glass ceiling, tetto di cristallo (barriera non ufficiale che impedisce alle donne e o agli appartenenti a minoranze di salire ai vertici della carriera). (Il Ragazzini 2011)

The Italian loan translations (tetto di cristallo and soffitto di cristallo, soffitto di vetro and tetto di vetro) are all based on their literal counterparts, and represent metaphorical sense extensions along the lines observed for glass ceiling. The different socio-cultural context, however, leads to conceptual narrowing in Italian. While specialists are aware of race, class and gender inequalities, the focus in Italy is exclusively on women. Soffitto di cristallo encodes one reading of the glass ceiling, narrowing its conceptualization to the original meaning of the loanword. This is apparent in the definition of soffitto di cristallo from Lo Zingarelli 2011. According to the meaning description, soffitto di cristallo labels a set of ‘sociocultural barriers to women’s professional advancement and success, experienced in hierarchical organizations in particular’: (15) soffitto […] s.m. 4. (sociol.) Soffitto di cristallo, insieme degli ostacoli socioculturali che si frappongono all’affermazione professionale delle donne, spec. nelle strutture aziendali gerarchizzate. (Lo Zingarelli 2011)

Silvia Cacchiani

27

Turning now to communication among professionals, Il Sole 24 ORE uses both glass ceiling and tetto / soffitto di cristallo / vetro. Unlike The Economist, where short meaning descriptions are not given in the immediately preceding or following co-text of glass ceiling on the assumption that it represents shared knowledge between writer and educated reader, Il Sole 24 Ore gives (optional) loanword, loan translation (soffitto di vetro, soffitto di cristallo, tetto di vetro, or tetto di cristallo), and short meaning description: (16) “[…] persone con qualità riescono a farcela, indipendentemente dal genere”. Quello che in sociologia è definito glass ceiling (in italiano soffitto di cristallo, ndr) – ovvero l’impenetrabilità dei posti di potere e di vertice da parte delle donne – è (S24_2) “[…] highly skilled individuals make it, independent of gender”. What sociologists define the glass ceiling (Italian: soffitto di cristallo) – or women’s inability to reach the top levels of management and other leadership positions – is […]

Soffitto di cristallo and other loan translations are not treated as shared knowledge. They receive a meaning description because they represent cultural loans and relatively recent terms with a new (re-)conceptualization based on words initially used outside the new specialized context. Third, as compared to the English glass-ceiling (effect), they undergo conceptual narrowing in that they appear to focus exclusively on women, gender discrimination and career. Example (17) – where no translation equivalent is given for glass ceiling and, surprisingly, race and ethnic discrimination come into play – is no exception to the rule. It is a translation which combines the features of comments and glossaries in order to report on a class action for racial discrimination taken by four black employees against Coca Cola, North America, in the context of a different demographic, socio-cultural and socio-economic reality. (17) l’azienda di Atlanta secondo sei tipologie di discriminazione: 1) valutazioni; 2) retribuzioni; 3) promozioni; 4) glass ceiling (ostacoli rispetto ad avanzamenti di grado basati su pari opportunità); 5) glass walls (ostacoli rispetto alla mobilità intra-aziendale); 6) […]. (S24_4) [the Atlanta-based corporation according to six types of discrimination: 1) employee evaluation and assessment, 2) pay, 3) promotion opportunities, 4) glass ceiling (barriers to equal opportunity career advancement), 5) glass walls (impediments to move laterally from department to department), 6) […].]

RAs adopt loan translations (soffitto di vetro or soffitto di cristallo, though not tetto di vetro or tetto di cristallo) and exclusively address the

28

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

renegotiation of the roles and identities of men and women in Italian society dealing with issues such as women at work, women managers and the welfare state, women and finance, women and business, work, family, and career: (18) Nel mondo, il soffitto di vetro esiste un po’ ovunque, ed è stato indicato come una delle ragioni per le quali sempre più donne escono dalle organizzazioni per diventare imprenditrici. (CO1) [Broadly speaking, the glass ceiling exists all around the world. It is understood as one of the factors that has increasingly forced more than a few women to quit corporate organizations and start their own enterprise]. (19) Oltre al classico soffitto di cristallo, esiste anche un pavimento di cristallo per le lavoratrici italiane, perché sono discriminate sia all’ingresso (peggiori posizioni, minori salari), sia nella carriera. (GP2) [Next to the proverbial glass ceiling, Italian female workers suffer the sticky floor, in that they are faced with access discrimination (i.e. worse, less prestigious jobs and lower pay) and career discriminations on the job]. (20) Il problema comunicazionale tra uomini e donne c’è sempre stato. […] Oggi si è esteso nei luoghi professionali, nei luoghi in cui gli uomini erano abituati a esercitare da soli quel dominio che oggi sentono minacciato dall’invasione dell’esercito in rosa. Sempre più imprenditrici fanno nascere nuove imprese e professioni, notaie e avvocate sono titolari di avviati studi, […]. Sempre più donne superano quel soffitto di cristallo che per troppo tempo aveva ostacolato la loro evoluzione professionale. (PP1) [The persistent communication gap between men and women represents a major concern in gender communication. […] The gender communication gap is still an issue in today’s organizations, where male leadership is threatened by the ‘pink workforce’, or women who are now reaching the top levels of management. More and more women entrepreneurs start new businesses and get to create new professions for themselves. Female notaries and female lawyers own successful practices, […]. An increasing number of women are breaking the glass ceiling, which has kept them, for such a long time, from developing professionally and making a career.]

As far as motivation is concerned, the orientational metaphors UP – the metaphor DIFFICULTIES ARE IMPEDIMENTS TO MOTION, the Career ICM and the superordinate concepts FORCE and CONTROL still highlight the similarity between glass ceiling and unacknowledged, hidden barriers to mobility, so as to make the soffitto di cristallo, its loan translations and related word formations conceptually possible. And yet, DOWN,

Silvia Cacchiani

29

Italian glass ceiling and its loan translations lose the negative connotations of anger, boredom and depression grounded in the HOUSE frame (cf. Section 3.1), not available to Italian idioms. Additionally, while researchers adopt soffitto di cristallo and soffitto di vetro, tetto di cristallo and tetto di vetro are also widely attested, and the four constructs are often used interchangeably. The distinction between external and internal upper limits is neutralized. By virtue of the uppermost position of tetto [roof] in the building, and by analogy with soffitto di cristallo [glass ceiling], tetto di cristallo [glass roof] turns into a selective metaphor which does not highlight the meaning ‘covering and protecting the building’ and can thus be used for the hidden barriers to women’s professional advancement. Women si scontrano con [bump into], subiscono [suffer], distruggono [break], fanno a pezzi [splinter], infrangono [crash into], si confrontano con [are faced with], superano [overcome] il soffitto / tetto di vetro / cristallo. Other expressions parallel their English counterparts, e.g. rupe di vetro / precipizio di vetro [glass cliff], which selects fragile from knowledge of material culture and of relevant aspects of artefacts (specifically, glass), or pavimento di cristallo, which, however, translates English sticky floor rather than glass floor. Pavimento di cristallo and sticky floor describe women’s low wage and wealth gap. Glass floor, instead, describes negative discriminations against men, often on sexist grounds (cf. Section 3.1), and appears to name a reality that is unknown to Italy or at least a phenomenon that is not yet widely perceived.12 In a similar fashion, glass wall (obstacles to lateral mobility, cf. Section 3.1 and example (17), this section) and greenhouse effect (positive discrimination towards women on sexist grounds, cf. Section 3.1) would describe scenarios that are still perceived by many as foreign to corporate culture in Italy. We can hardly regard muro di vetro as the domain-specific equivalent of ‘glass wall’. Muro di vetro is currently used in sociology to describe obstacles to dialogue, e.g. dialogue between religions and barriers in gender communication. It is used in the press (though not in the specialist press) as a near-synonym of the glass-ceiling effect within corporations, but does not appear to have undergone conceptual narrowing yet. One such example is il Muro di vetro di Wall Street [Wall Street’s Glass Wall], possibly a clever wording for Wall Street’s glass ceiling, or 12 Given the current debate on the glass ceiling in Italy, suggesting that Italian translates ‘sticky floor’ as pavimento di cristallo because vetro and cristallo word formations might function as leader words (Malkyel 1966) for other constructs, appears to be a possible, though less plausible, explanation than the one provided by the need to coherently structure different socio-cultural realities.

30

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

perhaps chosen by the author as more apt to describe the gender divide and resulting legal battle taken by women employees against Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley (http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2000/settembre/16/ Wall_Street_guerra_dei_sessi_co_0_0009169697.shtml). Effetto serra [greenhouse effect] is much less likely to undergo sense extension from the retention of solar radiation, in that it departs more clearly from the scheme of glass ceiling and, based on knowledge of aspects of artefacts and natural phenomena, from the conceptualization of glass ceiling and other glass- compounds. Rosa [pink, rose-coloured] deserves one final word in connection with this. It stands metonymically for female, as in Italian quote rosa [reserved seats for women in Parliament], which represents a first step towards redressing the imbalance between men and women in politics. When used in reference to female occupations, rosa is found to combine with words denoting women’s achievements at work, in the enterprise, in politics, and sports, within a changing socio-cultural landscape which calls for the renegotiation of female roles and identities (cf. per troppo tempo; sempre più donne fanno nascere; sempre più donne superano, from (20)). One example is esercito in rosa, for ‘female occupation/workforce’ (20). Its closer English counterpart, ‘pink-collar (workers)’ does not point to women’s achievements. It is used of women employed in traditionally female-oriented jobs, which usually pay a significantly smaller amount of money than blue-collar or white-collar jobs. While they follow the same metonymic extension, rosa and ‘pink’ develop opposite facets and have opposite semantic prosodies. Likewise, ‘rose-coloured’ does not appear to point to positive accomplishments in ‘rose-coloured glass ceiling’, which, besides referring to female prostitutes now investing on porn websites (cf. Section 3.1), describes the fact that “women leaders don’t speak up against unequal treatment in the workplace” (MISC_BusinessWeek1).

5. Conclusions This chapter has set out to explore the meaning dynamics behind the conceptualization of glass ceiling as a general term and a cultural keyword, and the mechanism of (re-)conceptualization of glass ceiling and its loan translations in Italian. It is apparent from the analysis that glass ceiling finds its motivation in knowledge of material culture and aspects of artefacts. Most importantly, sense extension is grounded in the activation of the orientational metaphors UP-DOWN and the Career ICM (SUCCESSFUL IS UP versus UNSUCCESSFUL IS DOWN; HAVING A CAREER IS UP). Associated metaphors

Silvia Cacchiani

31

comprise DIFFICULTIES ARE IMPEDIMENTS TO MOTION, which links with superordinate concepts such as FORCE and CONTROL and motivates conceptualizing glass ceiling as a limit, barrier, obstruction and impediment, and thus a strong negative force controlling and keeping down women and other minorities. Negative connotations also attach to ceiling, which counts as an element of the HOUSE frame and is used for metaphors of anger. Twenty-five years since glass ceiling was first used as a metaphor for the barriers to women’s professional advancement in corporate organizations, and following the publication of the Second Glass Ceiling Report (1995), the debate has rapidly come to cover not only negative discrimination against women, but also positive discrimination towards women (glass floor, greenhouse effect) and negative discrimination against men (glass floor), both in the workplace and in family life (the other glass ceiling). Most importantly, the glass ceiling is understood as a set of discriminations (also demographic discriminations such as class and race, cf. the expatriate glass ceiling) and barriers (whereby race has a stronger negative influence than gender on occupational prestige and career opportunities) affecting groups that for some reason do not accommodate to the traditional roles, values, and stereotypes of a changing society. All this clearly broadens the debate on the English glass ceiling effect to address issues such as equal opportunities for all individuals and social mobility in a fluid society that faces a wide range of social transformations following higher standards of education for men and women, the expansion of the markets, the contradictions of consumption, the effects of itinerant labour, and new levels of poverty in the new economy and the globalized world. While activating the same metaphors, Italian soffitto / tetto di cristallo / vetro undergoes conceptual narrowing due to the different socio-economic and socio-cultural landscape. Since the main emphasis in Italy lies into renegotiating the roles and identities of (white) women mainly in the workplace, the debate on the soffitto / tetto di cristallo / vetro exclusively invites the reconceptualization of cultural keywords such as ‘family’, ‘work’, ‘career’, ‘(in)equality’, and their association with ‘man’ and ‘woman’. Gender inequalities do not appear to go on a par with concerns about class and race discrimination. Potential cultural keywords such as equal opportunities for all and social mobility, therefore, only play a minor part (if at all) in the debate on the Italian glass ceiling and in its conceptualization.

32

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

References Adams, Valerie. 2001. Complex Words in English. Harlow: London. Bauer, Laurie. 1983. English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Benczes, Reka. 2006. Creative Compounding in English. The Semantics of Metaphorical and Metonymical Noun-Noun Combinations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Bergenholtz, Henning and Sven Tarp. 1995. Manual of Specialized Lexicography. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Borchorst, Anette. 1999. Feminist thinking about the Welfare State. In Myra Marx Ferree, Judith Lorber and Beth B. Hess (eds.), Revisioning Gender. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 99-127. British Library. Electronic Resources at the British Library. http://www.bl.uk/collections/wider/eresources/title/eresourcese.html#E (accessed 15/12/10). Cacchiani, Silvia. 2008. On the role of knowledge and images in post factum explanations of culturally significant N-N compounds: The glass-ceiling. In Marcella Bertuccelli Papi, Antonio Bertacca, Silvia Bruti (eds.), Threads in the Complex Fabric of Language. Linguistic and Literary Studies in Honour of Lavinia Merlini. Pisa: Felici Editore. 523-528. —. in press. Understanding [N-N]N compounds. In Atti del 24° Convegno Nazionale della Associazione Italiana di Anglistica. Challenges for the 21st century: Dilemmas, Ambiguities, Directions. 1-3 October 2009. CALD: Cambridge Advanced Learners’ Dictionary. http://www.cambridge.com (accessed 12/15/10). Dobrovol’skij, Dimitri and Elisabeth Piirainen. 2005. Figurative Language: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Linguistic Perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Engberg, Jan. 2009. Individual conceptual structure and expert’s efficient communication. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 22. 223-243. Fauconnier, Gilles and Mark Turner. 2002. The Way we Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books. First Glass Ceiling Report: U.S. Department of Labor. 1991. A Report on the Glass Ceiling Initiative. Washington: GPO. Giusti, Domenico and Elisabetta Frezza. 2004. L’Essenziale di Sociologia. Zanichelli: Bologna. Translation of: Andersen, Margaret L. and

Silvia Cacchiani

33

Howard F. Taylor. 2003. Sociology. The Essentials. Thomson Wadsworth: Belmont. GRADIT: De Mauro, Tullio. 1999, 2003, 2007. Grande Dizionario Italiano dell’Uso. Volumes 3, 7, 8. Torino: UTET. Heyvaert, Liesbet. 2009. Compounding in cognitive linguistics. In Rochelle Lieber and Pavol Štekauer (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Compounding. New York: Oxford University Press. 233-254. Il Ragazzini 2011. http://www.zanichelli.dizionari.it (accessed 12/15/10). Il Sole 24 ore. http://www.sole24ore.com (accessed 12/15/10). Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, Fire and Dangerous Things. What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. 1999. Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to the Western Thought. New York: Basic Books. Langacker, Ronald W. 1987. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol. 1: Theoretical Applications. Stanford: Stanford University Press. —. 1991. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol. 2: Descriptive Applications. Stanford: Stanford University Press. —. 2008. Cognitive Grammar. A Basic Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. Lieber, Rochelle and Pavol Štekauer (eds.). 2009. The Oxford Handbook of Compounding. New York: Oxford University Press. Lo Zingarelli 2011. http://www.zanichelli.dizionari.it (accessed 12/15/10). Malkyel, Yakov. 1966. Genetic analysis of word formation. In Thomas A. Sebeok (ed.), Current Trends in Linguistics. Vol. 3: Theoretical Foundations. The Hague: Mouton. 305-364. MEDAL: MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. http://www.macmillan.com (accessed 12/15/10). Mikanagi, Yumiko. 2000. A Political explanation of the gendered division of labor in Japan. In Marianne H. Marchand and Anne S. Runyan (eds.), Gender and Global Restructuring. London: Routledge. 116-128. OED: The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., later additions). http://www.oed.com (accessed 12/15/10). Radden, Gunter and Klaus U. Panther (eds.). 2004. Studies in Linguistic Motivation. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Rosh, Eleanor. 1978. Principles of categorization. In Eleanor Rosch and Barbara B. Lloyd (eds.), Cognition and Categorization. Hillsdale: Erlbaum. 27-48.

34

Cultural Keywords across Communities of Practice

Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, Francisco J. 1996. Semantic networks in conceptual structure. Epos. Revista de Filología 12. 339-356. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, Francisco J. and José L. Otal Campo. 1999. Some notes on abstract cognitive models. In Julián de las Cuervas and Dalida Fasla (eds.), Contribuciones al studio de la Lingüística Aplicada. Castellón: Asociación Española de Lingüística Aplicada. Scott, Mike. 2010 [1997]. WordSmith Tools. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Scourfield, Jonathan and Mark Drakeford. 2002. New Labour and the “problem of men.” Critical Social Policy 22. 4. 619-640. Second Glass Ceiling Report: U.S. Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. 1995. A Solid Investment: Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital: Recommendations of the Glass Ceiling Commission. Washington: GPO. Smith, Carola S. 2003. Modes of Discourse. The Local Structure of Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Štekauer, Pavol. 2005. Meaning Predictability in Word Formation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Stubbs, Michael. 2001. Words and Phrases. Corpus Studies of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell. Swales, John. 1990. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Economist. http://www.economist.com (accessed 12/15/10). Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Werlich, Egon. 1983 [1976]. A Text Grammar of English. Heidelberg: Quelle und Meyer. Wiegand, Herbert E. 1992. Elements of a theory towards a so-called lexicographic definition. Lexicographica 8. 175-285. Williams, Raymond. 1983 [1976]. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana Press.

METAPHORS WE TRANSLATE BY? TOWARDS A DOMAIN-BASED APPROACH TO CONVENTIONAL METAPHOR IN L2 TRANSLATION PEDAGOGY DERMOT HEANEY (UNIVERSITY OF ‘TOR VERGATA’, ROME)

1. Introduction As is clear from the subtitle of this chapter, I accept Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003 [1980]: 3) belief that “our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature”. This could hardly be otherwise; after all, I have expressed the target domain concept of initial ideas in terms of the source domain image scheme of FORWARD MOVEMENT, and this, in turn, underlies the conceptual metaphor of the JOURNEY, further extended by the lexical item ‘approach’. As Elena Semino (2008: 5) states, “over the last three decades […] much attention has been paid to the presence of large numbers of highly conventional metaphorical expressions in language, which we often use and understand without being conscious of their metaphoricity”. Semino (2008: 227) also notes that conventionality is a matter of degree, and Kövecses (2002: 248) sees it in terms of a continuum. The degree of conventionality dealt with here is at the very opposite extreme to novel or creative metaphor, and generally it is so entrenched as to be barely recognizable as such. This chapter adds to the burgeoning literature by considering the phenomenon through the prism of translation: the analysis presented here derives from the experience of advanced L2 translation teaching in the Italian-English pairing and the kinds of challenges posed by the transfer of texts that regularly feature such expressions. Gibbs (1999: 47) has defined metaphor as “one of the most complicated topics in the intertwined domains of language and thought”, while translation is widely recognized

36

Metaphors we Translate by?

as being one of the most complex of all human activities, in which, as Gentzler (2001 [1993]: 203) puts it, “the number of borders being crossed in one translation is always multiple”. Given the combined intricacy of the linguistic and cognitive processes at play, not to mention the cultural variations frequently entailed in the translation even of conventional metaphor, these initial findings are offered in tentative spirit and in full recognition of the difficulties this process poses for L2 trainee translators.

1.1. The cross-cultural dimension In a study of cultural variation in conceptual metaphor Kövecses (2005: 67) states “we expect conceptual metaphors to vary cross-culturally. This is almost as natural and obvious as the variation of metaphors at the level of metaphorical linguistic expressions”. Conceptual metaphor theorists, with due caution, suggest that conceptual metaphors are very frequently universal (see Kövecses 2002: 253), common, that is, to diverse cultures. It will be of clear use to translators to verify whether or not source domains and their linguistic expressions are congruent across a language and culture pairing for the same discourse. However, Kövecses (2002: 248) points out “where a conceptual metaphor is universal, its universality obtains at a generic level, while the same conceptual metaphor shows cultural variation at the specific level”. Among the possible reasons he provides for specific differences is “variation in the particular elaborations of conceptual metaphors” (2002: 183). He describes this process as one in which a congruent metaphor is ‘filled out’ in such a way that it receives a unique cultural content at a specific level”, in other words, it is “instantiated in culture-specific ways at a specific level” (2005: 68). As the language pairing discussed here belongs to what Kövecses (2005: 68) broadly defines as the same “sphere of civilization”, in congruent conceptual metaphors the variations may be minimal and often take the form of slight lexico-grammatical differences in their respective realizations, such as variations at the level of word class, mood, or at the level of sense relations. However, as David Katan (2004 [1999]: 339) points out, “difference is more insidious, the more hidden it is”, a particularly apposite observation in the case of conventional metaphor, very frequently not perceived as such. Such ‘small’ differences may in fact embody significantly different cultural values and priorities; they may reflect stylistic preferences and social orientations, as expressed in register, for example, or approaches to cohesion that may ultimately be ascribable to aesthetic values and installed cultural attitudes as to how intratextual reference should be expressed. Given the pervasiveness of

Dermot Heaney

37

conceptual metaphor and the relatively low sensitivity to the kinds of lexical and cultural implications entailed (see section 2.1), the scope for culturally skewing a text by inappropriate lexical choices would appear to be considerable even in cases of intercultural congruence. Naturally, it is of equal use for translators to identify areas of noncongruence in the use of conceptual metaphor across cultures, particularly the phenomenon described by Kövecses (2005: 82) as ‘preferential conceptualization’, in other words, “the case in which a culture uses a set of source domains for a particular target domain or, conversely, a culture uses a particular source domain for the conceptualization of a set of different target domains”. Boers and Demecheleer (cited in Kövecses 2005: 236) attribute such variations to “different salience of concepts across cultures”. For example, to express the target domain of the ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INSTITUTION, the image schema of PROCREATION is often favoured in the Italian corpus, specifically in the form of the source domain BIRTH. While the same image schema can be used in English, it does not occur at all in the relevant parallel corpus. Instead, a search of the BNC indicates the source domain BIRTH tends to be used for events that are felt to be in some way remarkable or exceptional, often marking historical turning-points, as can be seen in such collocations as “the euro is born” or “the birth of the euro” (see Semino 2008:103). It is far more common in English to use the source domain of BUILDING for the target domain ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INSTITUTION as a corresponding conventional metaphor, realized with lexical items from the relevant semantic field, like ‘set up’, ‘found’, ‘foundation’. This option is also available in Italian, though it is not the preferred one in this discourse. This is a simple example of the diverging salience of concepts and congruent salience of concepts across cultures, and how they simultaneously come into play in the translation of a frequent target domain. As is clear from the above examples, the lexis of conventional metaphor is normally drawn from the common word stock, so common, indeed as to barely attract attention to its metaphoricity. In fact, so familiar is the lexis of most source domains that it has generally become fully lexicalized and students frequently anticipate no significant problems in translating it. However, such simplicity can be misleading. Successful translation of many apparently ‘unproblematic’ texts would frequently appear to entail sensitivity to quite complex cultural factors like conceptual salience, on the one hand, and to the social and aesthetic values of linguistic choices, on the other. What follows is an attempt to explore how a more systematic approach to conventional metaphor can help students deal more sensitively with this aspect of cultural mediation.

38

Metaphors we Translate by?

1.2. Conventional metaphor in the literature of translation pedagogy The literature on translation pedagogy does not regularly focus on conventional metaphor. The nearest Mona Baker comes to dealing with it in her influential guide to translation, In Other Words (1992), is the chapter on the challenges of translating idioms and fixed expressions. In an important study of translation in the Italian-English combination, Taylor touches on conventional metaphor in sections dealing with sense relations and with lexicography (1998: 42-43), but otherwise does not deal with it as a discrete issue. Laviosa (2008 [2005]: 32) refers to Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003 [1980]: 3) argument that metaphor is “pervasive in everyday life” and specifies that “many common concepts, experiences, or emotions are constantly expressed metaphorically”. This is followed by examples of the kinds of translation problems posed by two common conceptual metaphors MONEY is FOOD and TIME is MONEY (2008 [2005]: 32-33). Newmark’s (1988: 104) approach to metaphor as a whole is more exhaustive, presumably because of his view that “the most important particular problem is the translation of metaphor”. Accordingly, he devotes an entire chapter to the taxonomy of metaphor, from ‘dead’ to “original metaphors” (1988: 106-113). Of these categories, the most relevant to the present chapter is that of ‘dead’ metaphors, namely, metaphors “where one is hardly conscious of the image” (1988: 106). Of this category Newmark (1988: 106) observes that “normally dead metaphors are not difficult to translate, but they often defy literal translation, and therefore offer choices”. In my experience, the translation of ‘dead’ metaphor, especially into the second language is far from simple. On the contrary, it is an aspect of translation that regularly proves more challenging than terminology for advanced students. What follows is an attempt to explore the implications of focusing more systematically on conventional metaphor by applying the approach outlined by Laviosa more extensively to a particular discourse, with a view to understanding more clearly the choices mentioned by Newmark.

1.3. Terms This chapter crosses the boundary between conceptual metaphor theory and translation theory. To avoid confusion in the use of terms, ‘domain’ denotes the linguistic realizations of a given semantic area used to reconstruct one generally abstract concept (target domain) in terms of another more concrete one (source domain). In line with the conventions

Dermot Heaney

39

of conceptual metaphor theory, these domains are expressed in block capitals. ‘Discourse’ is used to refer to the particular type of language in action in texts relating to descriptions of company museums. The terms ‘source’ and ‘target domains’ resemble ‘source’ and ‘target texts’, conventionally used in translation studies to indicate the original text and the translation of it. To avoid any possible confusion, the former is referred to with the conventional abbreviation ST, the latter with TT; similarly SL and TL are used to designate ‘source language’ and ‘target language’ respectively.

2. Conventional metaphor and translation 2.1. Visibility and figurative awareness According to Knowles and Moon (2006: 6), […] conventional metaphors […] are metaphorical usages which are found again and again to refer to a particular thing […] these kinds of usages are institutionalized as part of the language. Much of the time we hardly notice them at all, and do not think of them as metaphorical, when we use or encounter them […] The term dead metaphor is sometimes referred to conventional metaphors, especially those which people do not recognize as metaphorical in ordinary usage.

Semino (2008: 19) argues that, “other things being equal, the more conventional a metaphorical expression, the less likely it is that it will be unconventionally used and recognized as a metaphor”. What is more, the literature indicates that where metaphors occur in discourse they do so overwhelmingly in a conventional form, “so that, by and large, we are not consciously aware of their metaphoricity when we produce or interpret them” (Semino 2008: 99). When it comes to applying them, “in normal circumstances we are unaware of the figurativeness of conventional metaphors: we simply use them as we would ordinary, non figurative meanings or words”. (Knowles and Moon 2006: 79). Each of these analyses indicates that conventional metaphor is likely to be more unnoticeable to native speakers, for whom, as Knowles and Moon (2006: 23) suggest, analysis of the metaphoricity of conventional metaphors is “an unnatural exercise”. As Cameron (1999: 24) states, “to label a particular metaphor ‘dead’ is in effect to assign it to a very low probability of being given “active analogical processing by members of a particular discourse community”.

40

Metaphors we Translate by?

2.2. Typical translation problems deriving from conventional metaphor The low visibility of conventional metaphors, and source language reader/translators’ low “figurative consciousness” (Knowles and Moon 2006: 79) as native speakers entail specific practical issues for translations into the second language. In their chapter dedicated to metaphor across languages, Knowles and Moon (2006: 82) refer to “distracting lexical devices” as one of the principal consequences of such conventional metaphor unawareness in L2 translation. Specifically, they draw attention to the difficulties entailed in the polysemous nature of conventional metaphor, often resulting in “the use of non-institutionalized metaphorical equivalents” (2006: 91). During translation, equivalence is frequently not achieved in the TT because students may not always succeed in distinguishing between a lexicalized metaphor and the core meaning when translating into their L2. Other frequent aspects of polysemy that come into play in the L2 translation process are: (a) translating a conceptual metaphor with its etymological origin in the TL, in such a way as to restore its historical metaphoricity; (b) translating certain conventional metaphorical verbs in such a way as to achieve inappropriate personification in the TL, because they are collocated with an inappropriate subject. Above word level, the most frequent loss of equivalence occurs at the level of collocation, especially when the SL conventional metaphor and its collocate(s) are translated literally, or when the conventional metaphor is translated with appropriate equivalence but the collocate is not, and vice versa, resulting in infrequent and highly marked combinations. On the plane of textual equivalence, a particular effect of low “figurative awareness” (Knowles and Moon 2006: 79) is the choice of corresponding metaphors that differ in their frequency or formality in a given discourse (Knowles and Moon 2006: 90). Instances or combinations of them can appear inappropriately literary in the TL (Knowles and Moon 2006: 90). The data used for this study also points to the role played by conventional metaphor in textual cohesion in Italian texts, so that it is frequently extended through synonymy and superordinators, sense relations widely used to achieve textual cohesion in Italian texts, whereas English relies more heavily on-pro forms, repetition and hyponyms (analyzed more exhaustively in section 4.3).

Dermot Heaney

41

2.3. Systematizing conventional metaphor in L2 translation pedagogy The data suggests that loss of equivalence is more likely to occur in the L2 translations of conventional metaphor than, for example, in the translation of terms, or non-metaphorical aspects of the lexico-grammar. Indeed, so frequently does it lead to lost equivalence that a more systematic approach to the issue appears to be in order. However, mention of systematicity and conventional metaphor in the same breath inevitably entails consideration of conceptual metaphor. As Knowles and Moon (2006: 41) state, “the idea that metaphors are systematic is fundamental to conceptual metaphor theory”. Semino (2008: 34) explains how “groups of expressions reflect conventional patterns in thought, known as conceptual metaphors […] systematic sets of correspondences or ‘mappings’ across conceptual domains, whereby a ‘target’ domain […] is partly structured in terms of a different ‘source’ domain”. She also refers to the idea of “discourse systematicity” in other words, “when particular linguistic metaphors are used within specific discourse communities” (2008: 34), a concept that is also extended to particular uses or discourses, a linguistic phenomenon that is highly relevant to the present discussion. Cognitive linguists stress that conceptual metaphor structures thought on the basis of experiential, sensory-motor perceptions that also determine their expression in language. As Knowles and Moon (2006: 40) explain: “Source domains supply frameworks for target domains: these determine the ways in which we think and talk about entities and activities to which the target domains refer”. We might add that it also determines the way in which we write about these domains. However much cognitive linguists stress the importance of the concept-for-concept substitution underlying their theory, the literature acknowledges that conceptual metaphor is usually expressed in language: “linguistic metaphors, or metaphorical linguistic expressions, are linguistic manifestations of conceptual metaphor” (Kövecses 2002: 39-40). Written language is the primary focus of translators; consequently this chapter, rather than considering the experiential, cognitive-sensory perceptions underpinning conceptual metaphor theory, concentrates on linguistic instantiations and any cultural differences they may entail. To ask L2 translators to work at any other level is to further complicate an already complex and challenging activity. As Knowles and Moon (2006: 85) in their chapter devoted to metaphor across languages, state, “[…] cross linguistic discussions naturally focuses on language, and that is what we will do here”.

42

Metaphors we Translate by?

2.4. Dead, conventional or conceptual metaphor? Any discussion of non-novel or non-creative metaphor entails a careful choice of terms. Kövecses (2002: ix) describes the options: […] most [conventional metaphors] are so mundane that a very commonly heard charge can be levelled against them, that they are simply ‘dead’ metaphors – metaphors that may have been alive and vigorous at some point but have become so conventional and commonplace with constant use that they have lost their vigour and they have ceased to be metaphors at all.

As a cognitive linguist, Kövecses is at pains to offset linguistic predictability with the cognitive vitality of such realizations and their importance to our thought processes. Yet, in the course of translation, such ‘dead’ metaphors can assume an inappropriately lively form that linguistically fails to achieve adequate lexical or, in the case of collocations and idioms, above-word-level equivalence (Baker 1992: 4681). Furthermore, the vigour of conceptual metaphor can, paradoxically, only be weakened in the ST when its translation is insufficiently conventional. In other words, no matter whether we consider this phenomenon as a purely linguistic one, or a mainly cognitive one, the problem for L2 translators is making sure ‘dead’ metaphors stay dead. That said, the preferred term used here is “conventional metaphor”, a definition accepted by discourse and cognitive linguists to denote “wellworn, clichéd ways of talking about abstract domains” (Kövesces 2002: 30).

3. The data Semino (2008: 191) states that “corpus-based metaphor study is a relatively new area”. Of the approaches she outlines (2008: 199), this study is based on the third, which “involves the analysis of comparable corpora in different languages in order to investigate similarities and differences in metaphor use across cultures”. Semino (2008: 206) also describes how such corpora are “applied to the cross-linguistic equivalent of the metaphors used in different languages within particular genres and in relation to particular topics”. The data used for this analysis is grouped in comparable parallel corpora, described by Picchi and Peters (quoted in Olohan 2004) as being composed of “texts that share common features, e.g. function, text-type, domain, topic, period of publication”. The Italian corpus is comprised of museum profiles accessed on a portal for an

Dermot Heaney

43

association of Italian industrial heritage and company museums. These texts also doubled as source texts for translation during the course. The only part of the portal translated into English is the home page. No translations were available for individual profiles. Less homogeneous, the English language corpus has been assembled from a range of company and industrial heritage museum sites written in the British English dialect. The greater homogeneity of the Italian language corpus may account for certain aspects of conventional metaphoricity, and this will have to be taken into consideration when making any generalizations about systematic patterns of conventional metaphor usage in this discourse.

3.1. Conventional metaphor identification criteria Having designed comparable corpora for the course, the next step is to actuate Metaphor Identification Procedures (Low 1999: 48). However, as Low cautions: Essentially any research project needs to include overt discussion of the extent to which the reader can be confident about the nature of the data which has been selected or omitted from the study, about the techniques of analysis and the categorization used, and about the extent to which the data supports the conclusions proposed.

Identification of conventional metaphor is a lengthy procedure, not without possible inconsistencies that may actually be magnified in the construction of comparable corpora. The basic difficulty in achieving consistency across two corpora is that the individual researcher may be more sensitive to the phenomenon in one corpus (presumably the L2 one) than in the other (presumably the L1 one). Further basic drawbacks derive from the unilateral nature of the procedure. One not insignificant source of imbalances is overreaction to the phenomenon by what Low (1999: 53) calls “hypersensitive metaphor recognizers [who] might identify a larger set of items as metaphoric than do other identifiers”. With these basic qualifications in mind, the general approach adopted is in line with Alice Deignan’s (1999: 180) recognition that “the researcher uses informed intuition to decide whether a particular citation of a word is metaphorical within his or her definition of metaphor”. For the purposes of this study, lexical items were defined as conventionally metaphorical when they satisfied one or more of the following conditions: •

The word is polysemous and dictionaries distinguish between a literal meaning and a figurative one, even if the latter is so widely used that it largely has replaced the former meaning;

44

Metaphors we Translate by? • • •

when the definition in the dictionary refers to an etymological core meaning, though the item is currently used more frequently in its figurative sense in other domains; when the conventional metaphoricity of a lexical item is obvious because of the source domain concept it expresses; whenever past translation assignments have indicated that a lexical item is a conventional metaphor that is frequently not identified as such.

Before moving on to review the findings, some final qualifications need to be made about these metaphor identification criteria. It is quite possible that differences in lexicographical conventions between Italian and English dictionaries may lead to the identification of greater metaphoricity in the Italian corpus than in the English one. Italian monolingual dictionaries tend to distinguish quite clearly between literal meanings and figurative ones, and between ‘extended usage’, entailing the use of the word in other domains; English dictionaries, especially more recent corpus-based ones, are far less likely to do this. Moreover there is what might be termed an etymological bias in most full-length authoritative Italian dictionaries, in which the etymological meaning is in initial position, even if it is an infrequent usage, a far less frequent practice in English language dictionaries. It is interesting to note that this order is often maintained in the Italian-English entries in bilingual dictionaries, despite the relative infrequency of usage. This can and does lead to the kinds of non-equivalence and non-congruence listed among the above criteria.

4. Levels and domains of conventional metaphoricity in the corpora The application of conventional metaphor identification procedure revealed substantial differences in the levels of conventional metaphoricity within the two corpora. In the Italian one it accounted for 4.3% of the entire corpus against just 1.6% of the English one, a discrepancy that appeared to warrant further analysis. At first sight, this may appear to be a surprising outcome, especially considering the heterogeneous nature of the English corpus, where greater stylistic variation between the individual texts composing it might lead to expectations of a wider repertoire of conventional metaphor. The second interesting finding, though one that is not pursued here, suggested that while there is less use of conventional metaphor within the English corpus, there is a greater likelihood of encountering evidence of

Dermot Heaney

45

playful, topic-triggered metaphor (Semino 2008: 27). For example, a visit to a brewery museum is described as “thirsty work”, while another text for a slate factory museum describes how slate “roofed the industrial revolution”. This data indicates broad socio-cultural differences between how the same discourse is realized in the two cultures. While conventional metaphor is less likely to be used extensively in English, topic-triggered metaphors for humorous purposes are more likely to occur. In English the expressive and directive text functions would appear to prevail, in Italian they appear far more muted. A wider use of conventional metaphor does not necessarily entail greater expressiveness; on the contrary, it may well indicate greater formality and a generally more conservative approach to the topic.

4.1. Comparison of source domains for conventional metaphor in the corpora The next step was to group the metaphors in each corpus under “source domains”, namely, the concepts used to reconstruct another concept, the “target domain”, in more immediately accessible terms. This was followed by definition of the frequency of source domains within the overall use of conventional metaphor and by the identification of any congruence or noncongruence of conventional metaphor use between the two corpora. The next stage in the analysis was to identify possible lexico-grammatical patterns for the realization of congruent domains and to consider possible socio-cultural reasons for them.

4.2. Frequent domains Tables 1 and 2 show the first 10 domains in each corpus, ranked in order of frequency. The figure 100% indicates that the source domain does not occur in the corresponding corpus for this discourse. The analysis in this chapter is mostly confined to common occurrences within the first ten rankings in each corpus in terms of frequency. The source domains ranked 9 and 10 in Table 2 do have corresponding ones in the Italian corpus. However, as these are ranked 12 and 11 respectively, they do not appear in the tables. Nevertheless, in these cases, too, the findings of the analyses conducted within samples taken from the tables are applicable.

46

Metaphors we Translate by?

Table 1: Conventional metaphor source domains in the Italian corpus. Source Domains 1. JOURNEY 2. HOSPITALITY 3. PROCREATION 4. BULDING 5. NARRATION 6. PLANT 7. OPEN UP/OUT 8. WEALTH 9. BODY 10. TESTIFY

% of CM 8.90 7.20 7.10 6.80 6.07 3.90 3.70 3.30 3.30 2.80

% +/- EC + 52.60 + 64.40 +100.00 + 93.00 + 30.00 + 65.60 +100.00 + 4.40 + 75.00 +100.00

Table 2: Conventional metaphor source domains in the English corpus. Source Domains 1. JOURNEY 2. NARRATION 3. WEALTH 4. HOSPITALITY 5. STABILIZE 6. TO REANIMATE 7. CONTAIN 8. PLANT 9. DEPICTION 10. PROTECT

% of CM 12.80 12.80 10.50 9.60 5.90 5.50 3.60 3.20 1.80 1.30

% OF IC 47.00 70.00 85.00 43.50 84.60 100.00 100.00 34.40 33.00 23.00

The tables reveal significant levels of congruence between source domains and their rankings within each corpus. Three out of the first five domains occur in the first five positions. These congruent domains account for 22.8% of instances of conventional metaphor in the Italian language corpus and for 35.2 % of total instances in the English language one. However, it also emerges that conventional metaphors for source domains in the Italian corpus are consistently realized with a wider range of lexical items from the appropriate semantic field, over a third or twice as frequently. Table 3 compares the most widely used source domain in each corpus: JOURNEY for the target domains EXHIBITION or HISTORY OF A COMPANY or of a MUSEUM. Semino (2008: 81) refers to JOURNEY metaphors as highly conventional and pervasive in English, and this is evidently the case in Italian, too, as is demonstrated by their joint highest

Dermot Heaney

47

frequency ranking. Moreover, it is a metaphor that has “global systematicity” (Semino 2008: 106), i.e., it occurs in many genres and discourses. It is a “wide-scope” (Semino 2008: 34) source domain that can be conventionally applied to a range of target domains. In this case, the metaphorical mapping reformulates the EXHIBITION; THE MUESEUM HISTORY, THE COMPANY HISTORY or LEARNING ABOUT THEM, in terms of a JOURNEY (often of exploration). Table 3: Comparison of most widely used source domains in both corpora. ITALIAN CORPUS SD JOURNEY FREQUENCY percorso 21 punto di riferimento 8 approdare 4 ripercorrere 3 scoprire 3 viaggio 3 Tappa 3 itinerario 3 alla scoperta di 2 orizzonte 2 condurre 1 risalire 1 risalita 1 esplorare 1 raggiunta 1 guidare 1 si parte 1

ENGLISH CORPUS SD JOURNEY FREQUENCY discover 6 explore 6 follow 4 trace 4 journey 2 lead 2 travel 1 looking for 1 stroll 1

Table 3 indicates that there is no correspondence between the two most frequent lexical items from the semantic field that realises the source domain. The Italian “percorso” (path, trail, route, course) – a lexical item Semino (2008: 92) defines as an “image schema […] based on the physical experience of motion in space” – is not matched by a corresponding hyponym in the English corpus. This in itself would be useful information for an L2 translator faced with the far from simple task of choosing between the various possible alternatives, not to mention their collocates. Though this is a wide scope conventional metaphor, aspects of its use can become problematical in translation, making it a common example of a conventional metaphor that can become ‘over-lively’ because undue

48

Metaphors we Translate by?

importance is given to word-for-word lexical equivalence in the target language. The lexis taken from the semantic field of the source domain is considerably more extensive in the Italian corpus than in the English one, featuring a wider range of hyponyms. The dominant part of speech for realizing the corresponding domain in the English corpus is the verb in the imperative mood. The only corresponding noun in the English corpus is the superordinator ‘journey’. Needless to say, bi-lingual dictionaries do not provide this kind of information, with the result that students can spend a lot of time fruitlessly searching for a hyponym that very often does not collocate with the co-text or context. Paradoxically, then, the more common a conventional metaphor in the ST, the greater the likelihood that it will be expressed using a wider repertoire of synonyms and hyponyms, often involving problems of lexical and contextual collocation for the translator. (1) ST1 Il Museo Zambon ospita, attraverso un percorso all’interno di 6 container, prodotti, oggetti, fotografie e disegni che rimandano ad alcuni temi molto cari all’azienda. TT1a Through the walk into the six containers, visitors can travel back in time, from the early years to the present day TT1b The Zambon museum displays, through its internal tour organised into six containers, a wide range of products, objects, pictures and drawings which recall some of the most important themes for the company. TT1c The exhibition at the Museum is organised into six containers, displaying a wide range of products, objects, pictures and drawings which recall some of the most important issues for the company TT1d Zambon Museum consists of 6 containers, displaying products, objects, photographs and drawings that remind some important features of the company.

This sample of TTs illustrates the kinds of pitfalls entailed in translating the lexical item ‘percorso’. It is not the only conventional metaphor in the sentence, further testimony of its pervasive use: the first clause also includes “ospitare”, covered below in Section 4.4. TT1a shows the fairly typical choice of an inappropriate hyponym, in this case ‘walk’, which would be a highly infrequent solution in the TT. Indeed, in the English corpus ‘walk’ is not used metaphorically at all. In TT1b ‘tour’ does collocate with the context (there are fifteen hits in the English corpus), although the collocates immediately following it are not convincing. This confirms Hatim and Mason’s (1990: 232) point that in translating metaphor “any literal translation is likely to result in a set of

Dermot Heaney

49

low frequency collocations and coherence will thereby be more difficult to recover”. TT1c and TT1d strike me as being more successful attempts to deal with the conventional metaphor in the second clause. In this case, the target domain EXHIBITION is translated: due to its simplicity as a concept it has no need of the conceptual metaphor, anyway. It is true that the final one, the most convincing translation of the source domain, includes a mistake in the final clause, but this type of error is easily explained and rectified by consulting a monolingual dictionary. Table 4: Comparison of the source domain NARRATION in each corpus. ITALIAN CORPUS SD NARRATION FREQUENCY raccontare 24 racconto 4 narrazione 3 lettura 2 rilettura 2 chiave di lettura 2 narrare 1 scrivere 1 leggere 1 narratore 1

ENGLISH CORPUS SD NARRATION FREQUENCY story 24 legendary 3 account 1 tale 1

The source domain of NARRATION, mapped onto the target domain of HISTORY OF A COMPANY or DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTION PROCESS, is realized with almost two-thirds more related lexical items from the relevant semantic field. This would appear to be due to patterns of repetition, recurrence (the use of different relations to the same broad source domain) and to extension (expressions of metaphor from the same semantic field, or evoking the same domain, used in close proximity) (Semino 2008: 23-24). (2) ST2 La narrazione del museo si svolge come un nastro attraverso i sei container nei quali il visitatore percorre una sorta di “viaggio nel tempo, tornando alle origini e percorrendo lo spazio temporale fino ad arrivare ai giorni nostri. TT2a Like a conveyer, the tale narrated at the Museum takes place into six containers where the visitor walks through a kind of “time travel, going back to the origins of the company and living the story from the past until today.

50

Metaphors we Translate by? TT2b The story of the Museum is explained through these 6 containers where the visitor makes a kind of «time travel», going back to the origins and travelling through the space of time until today TT2c Zambon Museum consists of 6 containers, displaying products, objects, photographs and drawings that remind some important features of the company TT2d Zambon Museum consists of 6 containers which show products, objects, photographs and drawings referring to some important features of the company

TT2 is a graphic illustration of a literal translation of conventional metaphor. Moreover, the student fails to recognize that the verb ‘svolge’ is not used with the original literal meaning of ‘open out/unwind’ but as a conventional metaphor for ‘take place’ or ‘perform’; hence the forced simile of a ‘tale’ resembling a ‘conveyor’. Interestingly, ‘percorre’ (used to realize the source domain JOURNEY, discussed in Example 1) involves the difficulty of collocating ‘walk’ with ‘travel’, which further underlines the importance of sense relations in the transfer of conventional metaphor. In TT2b the use of the source domain NARRATION to substitute that of JOURNEY, expressed once again with ‘percorre’, is altogether more conventional in English and shows how switching source domains can aid effective translation. TT2b marks an improvement, principally because the collocation used for the NARRATION source domain is far more frequent than in the previous example, though ‘told’ would have been even more frequent and hence a more acceptable collocate. Examples TT2c and TT2d are a further illustration of how a more radical approach to conventional metaphor, whereby the student takes the cue for translation choices from the target domain, is an enabling strategy. The only difference between them is the ungrammatical usage of ‘remind’, once again an error that can be easily rectified by referring the student to a corpus-based monolingual dictionary. Interestingly, the examples of successfully translated conventional metaphor are followed by loss of grammatical equivalence. This may be coincidental, but it may also indicate that the concentration required to translate the conventional metaphor into the L2 may decrease the translators’ concentration on other aspects.

4.3. Conventional metaphor and cohesion The use of greater number of lexical items in the Italian corpus to realize many source domains is conceivably due to its greater homogeneity, as this would entail the use of a wider lexis for a given domain for the

Dermot Heaney

51

purposes of textual cohesion. Intratextual cohesion in Italian is predominantly achieved with superordinator-hyponymy and synonymy sense relations. English, on the contrary, relies more heavily on proforms and repetition. Viewed from the perspective of cohesion, it is unsurprising that the most widely used conventional metaphor is exploited over a wider range of lexically related items in the source language. The data suggests that a possible strategy for the transfer of such source domains is to use a more restricted number of hyponyms and collocates along with more repetition and pro-form cohesion, alternating with translation of the target domain. Conversely, despite their difference in frequency, source domains that are elaborated using a similar number of lexical items are much less likely to be the cause of marked or infrequent collocations and usage in the target language. This is the case with the target domain of EXHIBITS/INFORMATION, reconstructed in terms of WEALTH AND POSSESSIONS (table 5). Table 5: Comparison of the source domain WEALTH in each corpus. ITALIAN CORPUS SD WEALTH FREQUENCY patrimonio 23 ricco (di) 11 ricchezza 3 eredità 1 ereditare 1

ENGLISH CORPUS SD WEALTH FREQUENCY legacy 5 rich 5 wealth 3 inheritance 3 treasure 3 richly 2 treasure trove 1

Similarly, the source domain STABILIZE A STRUCTURE – also discussed in some detail by Kövecses (2002: 32) – used here for the target domain INSTITUTION/PROJECT (Table 6) gives rise to far fewer problems in translation. This would appear to be because though the Italian corpus reveals a wider use of different word classes, lexical variation in the form of hyponyms and synonyms is far less marked.

52

Metaphors we Translate by?

Table 6: (ranked 13) Comparison of the source domain STABILIZE in each corpus. ITALIAN CORPUS SD STABILIZE sostenere sostegno supporto supportare rafforzare

FREQUENCY 3 2 3 2 1

ENGLISH CORPUS SD STABILIZE FREQUENCY support 8 reinforce 2

4.4. Conventional metaphor and sense relations A further problematic aspect of conventional metaphor translation concerns polysemy, namely when a lexical item in the source domain may be translated differently depending on the target domain it is used to conceptualize. A straightforward example of this is the lexical item ‘raccogliere’ (‘to gather crops’, ‘to harvest’, ‘to collect’), which alone accounts for 33% of the total lexis used to realize the wide scope source domain PLANT – analyzed in some depth by Kövecses (2002: 98-101) – used in this case to reformulate the target domains MUSEM/ EXHIBITS. However, within the same corpus it was also used with its alternative meaning of ‘to include’, ‘to comprise’, ‘to number’. This suggests that an important aspect of the translation of conventional metaphor is distinguishing when a given metaphor is being used, albeit briefly, beyond the scope of the dominant target domain for a given discourse, in other words, when a conventional metaphor is not being used discourse systematically, but is being momentarily used global-systematically (Semino 2008: 34, 107). Example 3 illustrates this dual use of the lexical item “raccogliere”. (3) ST3 L’Archivio Guzzini ha due identità: una reale e una virtuale. La prima raccoglie quasi 1400 pezzi esposti a Recanati. TT3a The Guzzini Archive takes visitors on a ‘real’ and virtual journey. The ‘real’ tour includes an exhibition of almost 1,400 items on display in Recanati (about 1,000 objects belonging to the Fratelli Guzzini, about 300 to iGuzzini illuminazione and about 50 to Teuco) ST4 Il Museo fa parte dell’Associazione Les Hénokiens che raccoglie le imprese familiari internazionali con oltre duecento anni di vita TT4a The Museum is part of the Les Hènokiens Association, which gathers international family-run companies with more than 200 years of experience.

Dermot Heaney

53

Superordinator-hyponym relations are involved in another bilingual paring of a conventional metaphor. In this discourse, the source domain HOSPITALITY/ACCOMODATION is mapped onto the target domain of SITUATE IN A MUSEUM. In Italian this source domain is typically realized through synonymy (‘ospitare’, ‘accogliere’ – ‘to host’ and ‘to welcome’). Although it is used more frequently in Italian, the English corpus uses a greater range of lexical items to realize the corresponding metaphor (‘to host’, ‘to house’, ‘to accommodate’, ‘home’). In Italian ‘ospitare’ is polysemous, covering the distinct target domains of TO SITUATE IN A MUSEUM PERMANENTLY and TO SITUATE IN A MUSEUM TEMPORARILY; a distinction covered by two hyponyms in the corresponding source metaphor in English: TO HOUSE and TO HOST respectively. This consistently emerged as a problem for translators, as can be seen in the following sample: (4) ST5 Dal 1863 l’azienda storica ha sede presso Palazzo Alinari, in Largo Alinari, che in continuità con il passato ospita la lastroteca, i laboratori fotografici, la fototeca, la stamperia d’arte, le Raccolte Museali e la Biblioteca. TT5a The main office of our historic house is at Palazzo Alinari in Largo Alinari which, maintaining the continuity of the past, hosts since 1863 the plate collection, the photographic lab, the photographic library, the art press, the Alinari Museum and the Library. ST6 Le Raccolte Museali della Fratelli Alinari conservano oltre 2.750.000 negativi b/n e colore su vari supporti (dalle lastre ai fotocolors) e oltre 900.000 positivi in tiratura d’epoca, vintage prints, tra cui stampe su carta salata, all’albumina, al bromuro, negativi calotipi, dagherrotipi. TT6a The Alinari Museum hosts more than 2,750,000 b/w or colour negatives on different materials (from plates to color slides) and more than 900,000 historical slides, vintage prints, including salted paper prints, albumen prints, bromide prints, calotypes, daguerrotypes ST7 Il Museo inoltre ospita una biblioteca specializzata in Storia della Fotografia, che conserva oltre 20.000 volumi dedicati al settore (manuali, cataloghi, riviste) TT7a Moreover, the museum houses a library dedicated to the history of photography, which contains more than 20,000 volumes (handbooks, catalogues and magazines)

It is quite likely that in TT5a the choice falls on ‘hosts’ for reasons of cohesion: to the ear of the Italian translator the repetition of ‘house’ in close proximity is unacceptable; this could have been obviated by substituting ‘company’ for the first instance. TT6a shows the kind of choice deriving from the greater number of hyponyms available for the

54

Metaphors we Translate by?

realization of the source domain in English. In TT7a the source domain is rendered effectively, achieving the same level of conventional metaphoricity. As Chilton and Schaffner (2002: 29) observe, conventional metaphors can provide intratextual coherence within texts. Sense relations play a crucial role in establishing the semantic fields of source domains and in maintaining textual cohesion throughout a discourse. Understanding this aspect of conventional metaphor is likely to increase the effectiveness of L2 translations.

4.5. Cross-cultural implications of congruent source domains Congruence of conventional metaphor source domains does not necessarily entail congruence of lexico-gramatical realizations, and any variations at this level are quite probably ascribable to cultural differences in approaches to this discourse. For example, the wider use of the imperative mood for this discourse in English is likely to reflect a current trend towards the “marketization” (Fairclough 1995: 130-66) of institutional discourse of this kind and the greater degree of interaction this implies may also reflect the encroachment of “synthetic personalization” (Fairclough 2001 [1989]: 52, 179) in official discourse in that culture and society. Similarly, the lexico-grammatical realizations of the conventional metaphor within the same discourse in Italian indicate that these social and cultural values are less prominent. This also tells us something about the more vocative text function preferred for this discourse in the English corpus, and reveals significant cultural attitudes to public information about these initiatives, all of which can be used to increase intercultural sensitivity of students working in this area of translation. Cohesion and how it is achieved also reflects significant cultural values informing linguistic choices and systems. For instance, the Italian range of hyponyms and their deployment as cohesive devices in the form of synonyms reflect important aesthetic expectations and values of that culture, while in English it would appear that cohesion is not regarded as the locus of stylistic refinement and is expected to be handled in a more utilitarian fashion.

5. Non-congruent source domains So far we have concentrated on the complexities inherent in congruent source domains of varying frequency. However, Tables 1 and 2 also reveal significant levels of non-congruence between the source domain realizations of conventional metaphor in each corpus. For example, the source domain

Dermot Heaney

55

TESTIFY (and related nouns “testimony” and “witness”) mapped onto the abstract target domain concept TO SHOW CONVINCINGLY or the more concrete ITEM/ EXHIBIT. Table 7: Frequency of the non-congruent source domain TESTIFY. SD: TESTIFY testimoniare testimonianza testimone

FREQUENCY 9 9 1

The only correspondence in the English corpus is the verb “witness”, which actually occurs three times, but not metaphorically, rather with its core meaning of to “see something take place”. Moreover, it is used in the imperative, which once more reflects the greater use of the directive text function in the texts comprising the English corpus. In this case bilingual dictionaries provide very few consistently reliable indications as to the scope of the conventional metaphor in terms of domains, or about crosscultural variations in terms of register and frequency. (5) ST8 un centro di documentazione non solo sul caffè e i prodotti ad esso correlati, ma anche una raccolta di articoli e testimonianze che permettano di leggere l’avventura imprenditoriale dell’azienda in tutte le sue sfaccettature da quello economico a quello storico a quello culturale. TT8a […] whose aim is to become a documentation centre about coffee and its related products, just like a gather of objects and witnesses about all the different aspects of the company’s entrepreneurial adventure TT8b […] that aims at becoming a document centre not only for coffee and the products which are related to it, but also for a collection of articles and attestations that allow to explore all the different economic, historical and cultural aspects of the business story of the company. TT8c The aim of the project is to create a documentation centre devoted to coffee and its derivatives and a collection of articles and stories, in order to provide economical, historical and cultural insights into the company history TT8d The library, indeed, aims to provide not only documents about coffee and related products, but also a collection of articles and papers that introduce and enhance the history of the company by showing it from new different angles, for example from economic, historical and cultural points of view.

56

Metaphors we Translate by?

The sample in Example 5 offers a cross-section of the kinds of problems caused by the use of lexical items realizing the conventional metaphor TESTIFY. The first opts for a literal translation that, as pointed out above, is not used for the target domain of ITEMS or DOCUMENTS in English. TT8b and 8c indicate that the students are aware that “testimonianze” is being used as a conventional metaphor, but they commit themselves to “attestations” and “stories”, each of which is too specific for the context. TT8d, on the other hand, opts for a superordinator that achieves a convincing level of vagueness, a further reason why conventional metaphors are quite frequently used.

5.1. Approaches to non-congruent source domains Non-congruence, of course, quite frequently entails relatively few translation problems. A good example is the high frequency Italian source domain BIRTH/PROCREATION for the target domains of BEGINNING/ ESTABLISHMENT/INVENTION. The likely reason for this is that so wide is the scope of these domains in the SL that students have acquired greater expertise in handling them. Nevertheless, non-congruence can indicate important cultural orientations in the conceptualization of abstract meanings. If the whole range of conventional metaphors in the corpus is analyzed, including those metaphors not ranked among the first ten in each set, the Italian corpus includes more conventional metaphors that have no equivalent in the English one. This is not entirely surprising, given the higher rate of overall metaphoricity in the Italian corpus. Identifying differences in the preferred frameworks for conceptualizing abstract meanings across languages should help translation students avoid introducing an inappropriate framework. This can be done either by selecting an alternative source domain for the target domain, if there is evidence that a sufficiently institutionalized one is available, or by accepting Knowles and Moon’s (2006: 91) advice that “the only or best translation would be non-metaphorical”.

5.2. Cross-cultural issues in the translation of non-congruent conventional metaphors Non-congruent source domains in the parallel corpus, not unexpectedly, throw certain cultural differences into greater relief. For example, among the conventional metaphors with no English counterpart are FAMILY and SOCIAL RELATIONS (‘adozione’, ‘coniugare’, ‘accompagnare’, ‘affiancare’) for the abstract target domain of COOPERATION, and the

Dermot Heaney

57

BODY (‘articolato’, ‘articolarsi’, ‘cuore’) for the target domain of STRUCTURE and FACULTIES (‘memory’) for the abstract one of HISTORY. These would appear to indicate significant differences in concerns and values in the two cultures. Familial relations, for example, represent a core value in Italian society, and this would appear to be reflected in the use of conventional metaphors in this particular discourse. Moreover, like BIRTH, these are examples of personification, which uses the experience and knowledge of human beings as a source domain (see Semino 2008: 101, Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 33-4, Kövecses 2002: 35, 49-50). Attention has been drawn to the way the English corpus tends to use highly interactive imperative mood in its linguistic realization of conventional metaphors. Semino (2008: 103) observes “the presentation of nations as anthropomorphized entities may facilitate a sense of identification and emotional involvement on the part of citizens”. It is not inconceivable that the more extensive use of personifying conventional metaphors in the Italian corpus ensures that the museum or foundation being described does not appear excessively remote or formal, but more human and warm; in short, familiar. Another source domain that is far less frequent in the English corpus is that of PLANT (see Table 2), (‘raccolta, raccogliere’, ‘frutto’, ‘campo’) a wide scope image schema (see Semino 2008: 200-201). This would also seem to indicate a preference for ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ conventional metaphors within this discourse, a feature that may also help attenuate the formality and impersonality of the Italian text as a whole. In cases of non-congruence, it is quite likely that translators may run into trouble because they do recognize the cultural value embodied by superordinators. Newmark (1988: 110) touches on the vagueness that ‘stock’ metaphor allows the writer. However, he is openly critical of this approach, noting that translator “may clarify, demystify, […] make honest a somewhat tendentious statement”. Often, of course text producers need to generalize because they do not have sufficiently precise or complete information on the topic they are writing about. In such cases, conventional metaphors can be suitably vague and more appropriately translated with a superordinator. More importantly, we need to remember that what would be considered vague and unhelpful in one culture may be considered unduly blunt, didactic, or even unacceptably patronizing in another, where it may be taken to indicate an assumption of inadequate communication skills on the part of the text interpreter of such discourse. Limon (2008: 60) touches on this cultural leaning when writing of the Slovenian-English pairing:

58

Metaphors we Translate by? There are, for example, differences between cultures as to whether responsibility for effective communicative [sic] is seen to lie primarily with the writer or reader. In English there is a tendency towards the former – if the communication fails we do not blame the reader for not making enough effort, but assume what was said was insufficiently clear or wellorganized. In other cultures it is seen as the reader’s responsibility to understand what the writer intended to say and writers prefer to offer hints and nuances rather than make direct statements.

Katan (2004 [1999]: 245-259) indicates how such micro-cultural preferences may be attributable to macro-cultural orientations. One distinction he makes between cultural outlooks is between High Context Communication cultures and Low Context Communication cultures. These differences are also expressed in different expectations as to “how much information (text) needs to be made explicit for communication to take place” (2004 [1999]: 245). In his (2004 [1999]: 251) view HCC cultures place greater emphasis on indirectness, while LCC cultures give greater importance to directness. He locates Italy within the HCC camp, while “the English language itself is decidedly LCC in comparison with many other languages”. These different cultural orientations would also appear to underpin the difference in the proportion of lexical items used to realize conventional metaphors, both congruent and non-congruent, within each language in this discourse. Given the frequency of conventional metaphor, understanding the contextual reasons for this should enhance translation.

6. Closing remarks 6.1. Cross-linguistic aspects of translating conventional metaphor Trainee L2 translators normally work on discourse where metaphor is not used creatively but conventionally. Its very conventionality means that it is a quantitative rather than qualitative aspect of translation and, therefore, one that students are likely to encounter regularly. On the basis of these two corpora, Italian appears to make a consistently wider use of conventional metaphor than English in this discourse. There is considerable evidence that students have acquired competence in handling some discourse systematic and global systematic conventional metaphors, presumably because of repeated exposure to them in the course of their studies. Nevertheless, certain aspects of conventional metaphor use can

Dermot Heaney

59

entail considerable difficulties. The principal reasons for this would appear to be: •

• • • •

conventional metaphors are exploited using a greater range of senserelations than is conventionally used for purposes of cohesion in the TL (which is the source of forced collocations or inadvertent metaphoricity); polysemous metaphors entail the choice of a range of hyponyms, although these may not be used frequently in the source domain of the TL, resulting in forced collocations; many source domain metaphors are superordinators that are not translated with a corresponding superordinator that is not too exclusive or specific in meaning for the context of the TL; as they are polysemous, the scope of some source domains lies outside the dominant target domain of a given discourse, i.e., when there is a shift from discourse systematicity to global systematicity; they do not appear to be used at all in that particular domain in the L2 TL.

Rather than dealing with single instances of conventional metaphor as they occur, defining the frequency, congruence or non-congruence of source domains in the source and target languages for a particular discourse can provide a spectrum of information that is likely to be useful to both L2 translator trainees and their teachers. Regarding high frequency congruent metaphors, it is useful to understand the proportion of lexis from the semantic fields used to realize each source domain: this provides pointers to translation strategies that have a bearing on frequency, collocation and cohesion in the TL. It is also useful to understand aspects of polysemy, especially when this entails a change from discourse systematic metaphor to a global systematic one. At the other extreme, identifying non-congruent domains will indicate the need for alternative strategies that possibly require the abandonment of a source domain because it does not appear to collocate with this particular discourse in the target language; another possible strategy is domain switching in the case that another source domain is more conventionally used for the target one in the TL.

6.2. Cross-cultural implications of translating conventional metaphor Conceptual metaphors are also vehicles of culture. The very fact that they are conventional would appear to imply that. Quite frequently they appear to be universal, and a systematic comparative analysis of conventional

60

Metaphors we Translate by?

metaphors within a discourse can shed important light on significant areas of cultural congruence and shared conceptualizations. By contrast, they can also highlight variations across cultures. The most obvious kind is when there is no corresponding source domain in one of the languages in the pairing. Each set of the ten most common conventional metaphors for this discourse includes source domains that are not used at all in the corresponding one. The example of BIRTH and TESTIFY in the Italian corpus has already been discussed in section 5; the remaining one is OPEN UP/OUT for the ORGANIZATION OF A MUSEUM. In the English corpus, the same is true for REANIMATE (“bring /come to life”) for the target domain of EXPERIENCE, and CONTAIN for the target domain INCLUDE. In such cases, students can cross-check which source domain is preferred for the corresponding target domain in the corpus and make adjustments accordingly, rather than translating literally and risking markedly infrequent collocations. Other variations may occur at the level of preferential conceptuallization and different levels of salience for some concepts. As seen in Tables 1 and 2, a systematic approach can highlight such variations relatively quickly and can be of use to translators in pin-pointing areas where variation will obviously be called for in the interests of maintaining conventionality and avoiding what might be termed the ‘Lazarus effect’, whereby otherwise dead metaphors take on a new and unwarranted lease of life and expressive vitality, because they are not translated using the preferential form of conceptualization for a given target domain and do not collocate with it conventionally. The data also suggests that where there is congruence between conventional metaphors, there are very frequently likely to be lexicogrammatical variations in how they are instantiated in each language. These differences in how a shared conventional metaphor is ‘filled out’ in each language are also likely to be ascribable to variations in cultural values and in trends in each respective cultural context. The frequency with which the texts in the Italian coprus use a far larger range of lexical items from the same semantic field to realize a given conventional metaphor, indicates that this may be so for reasons of cohesion, and suggests that students will need to factor this into how they translate such lexical realizations. In turn, the regularity with which the imperative mood is used in the realization of certain conventional metaphors in English reflects socio-cultural trends that this discourse embodies. Such information on cultural differences entailed in realizing this pervasive figure of speech should boost students’ intercultural sensitivity (see Bennett, cited in Katan 2004 [1999]: 330-340), increasingly deemed an

Dermot Heaney

61

essential aspect of translation training and assessment in the more recent literature on cultural mediation.

References Baker, Mona. 1992. In Other Words. London / New York: Routledge. Cameron, Lynne. 1999. Operationalising ‘Metaphor’ for Applied Linguistics Research. In Lynne Cameron and Graham Low (eds.), Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3-28. Chilton, Paul Anthony and Christina Schaffner. 2002. Introduction: Themes and principles in the analysis of political discourse. In Paul Anthony Chilton and Christina Schaffner (eds.) Politics as Text and Talk: Analytic Approaches to Political Discourse. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 1-43. Deignan, Alice. 1999. Corpus-based research into metaphor. In Lynne Cameron and Graham Low (eds.) Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 177-199. Fairclough, Norman. 1995. Critical Discourse Analysis. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. —. 2001 [1989]. Language and Power. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Gentzler, Edwin. 2001 [1993]. Contemporary Translation Theories. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Gibbs, Raymond. 1999. Researching metaphor. In Lynne Cameron and Graham Low (eds.), Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 29-47. Hatim, Basil and Ian Mason. 1990. Discourse and the Translator. London / New York: Longman. Katan, David. 2004 [1999]. Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing. Knowles, Murray and Rosamund Moon. 2006. Introducing Metaphor. London / New York: Routledge. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2002. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press. —. 2005. Metaphor in Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. 2003 [1980]. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Laviosa, Sara. 2008 [2005]. Linking Wor[l]ds: Lexis and Grammar for Translation. Naples: Liguori Editore.

62

Metaphors we Translate by?

Limon, David. 2008. Company websites, genre conventions, and the role of the translator, Cultus, 1:1, Terni: Iconesoft Edizioni. Low, Graham. 1999. Validating metaphor research projects. In Lynne Cameron and Graham Low (eds.), Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 48-65. Newmark, Peter. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International. Olohan, Maeve. 2004. Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies. Abingdon / New York: Routledge. Semino, Elena. 2008. Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge / New York: Cambridge University Press. Taylor, Christopher. 1998. Language to Language: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Italian/English Translators. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

A COMPUTATION APPROACH TO MEANING EVOLUTION IN LAW DANIELA TISCORNIA AND MARIA TERESA SAGRI (ISTITUTO DI TEORIA E TECNICHE DELL’INFORMAZIONE GIURIDICA CNR, FIRENZE)

1. Introduction A recently emerging approach within legal theory proposes to apply evolutionary science methods to law. Whether we agree or not with this proposal, it demonstrates the need for applying an evolving perspective to legal issues. The common approach among legal theorists is to question traditional and given concepts of law and to see whether they are immutable or not. Basic notions of law are not just questionable as such, but because they are subject to historical changes and evolutions, just like everything else is. The idea of questioning what has been considered for many years given in a certain contest, might be a useful way of finding new solutions to new problems and questions. Since nothing is isolated but almost everything is connected with global reality, changes in the world will affect even old beliefs and well-established ideas and, in addition, will produce different outcomes depending on the previously existing context. Moreover, we believe that old solutions to new problems or new solutions to old problems might not be the best choice as lawyers, courts and legislators can make mistakes; this is another reason why legal concepts should not be taken for granted. The dynamic nature of legal concepts has its counterpart in the evolution of meaning in legal terminologies. Law and language are strictly connected, as they are two autonomous but structurally similar systems: both are endowed with rules that underlie the construction of the system itself, guide its evolution and guarantee its consistency. Both are conditioned by the social dimension in which they are placed, whereby they dynamically define and fix their object in

64

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

relation to a continually evolving social context. As a consequence, legal concepts should be considered as an open textured repository of meaning, whose content is dynamically modified by the influence of external factors. In this context, terminological projects based on a socio-cognitive approach that takes into account the interaction between language, the mind and the social world, seem to fit the complexity of law better than the traditional ‘univocity’ ideal,1 that assumes, in technical domains, a strict correspondence between term and concept. If we move from a monolingual (and national) dimension to a multilingual (and transnational) dimension, there is a second consequence: legal terminologies used in both European and non-European legal systems express not only the legal concepts which operate in the different countries, but further reflect the profound differences existing between the various systems and the varying interpretations of lawyers in each system. Given the structural domain specificity of legal language, we cannot speak about ‘translating the law’ to ascertain correspondences between the legal terminology in various languages, since the translational correspondence of two terms satisfies neither the semantic correspondence of the concepts they denote, nor the requirements of the different legal systems.

2. Objective and scope of the study The chapter has a twofold goal: firstly, it aims at illustrating the complexity of legal language, and at showing how the conjunction of lexical/terminological resources built on the principles of cognitive semantics and conceptual structures, such as ontologies, have a complementary role in representing meaning evolution and in investigating social and cultural influences in linguistic uses and; secondly, it highlights the potential of ICT tools provided by computational linguistic and by ontology engineering, not only for the implementation of practical solutions, but also for pointing out the interrelation between legal language and legal phenomena. From a more technical perspective, methodological approaches based on “ontology building” techniques will be briefly described and the design of a formal framework able to fill the gap between dogmatic conceptual models and lexical patterns extracted from texts will be proposed.

1

“Traditional terminology believes that the concept system is to be seen as independent from the term system, and that consequently, unlike words, terms are context independent: the meaning of a term is a concept”. (Tennerman 1997: 53).

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

65

3. Language and law Legal knowledge strictly depends on its linguistic expression: the law has to be communicated and social and legal rules are mainly transmitted through their oral and written expression. Even in customary law, there is almost always a phase of verbalization that enables legal rules to be identified or recognized; even if the law cannot be reduced to the language that expresses it, nonetheless, it cannot escape its textual nature. Another characteristic of the law is that it is framed through many levels of discourse: •

•

•

•

•

Legislative language is the ‘object’ language because it is the principal source of positive law that, in the broad sense, also includes contracts and the so-called soft law; the constitutive force of written sources derives from the stipulatory nature of legislative definitions and of authentic interpretations that assign a conventional meaning to legal concepts in relation to the specific domain; Judges interpret legal language in an ‘operative’ sense in order to apply norms to concrete cases: the main function of the judicial discourse lays, therefore, in populating the extensional dimension of the object language, instantiating cases throughout judicial subsumption; the language of dogmatics is a reformulation of legislative and judicial language, aimed at building conceptual models of the normative contents: whilst being a metalanguage with respect to legislative and judicial language, it is a linguistic object as well, based on the analysis of the universe of the juridical debate; legal theory expresses the basic concepts, the systemic categories of the legal system (for example, subjective right, liability, sanction, legal act, cause, entitlement [...]). The building blocks and construction rules of legal theory are independent of an observable reality, but also of positive legal systems, which constitute possible models of them. Its scope is mainly explanatory, thanks to links either to dogmatics or to extra linguistic entities as they emerge through the sociological analysis of law; on a higher level, the role of philosophy of law is to trace the border between law and ethics, expressing both general principles and value judgements, as well as their ordering criteria.

In the perspective of analytic philosophy, knowledge of law cannot be separated by its linguistic manifestation, which constitutes the only referent to which the meaning of legal concepts can be referred. This is also true with respect to the border between legal theory and dogmatics, which may be seen as a genus/species relationship, or in a model-theoretic interpretation, as a relation between a logical theory and its models. Legal

66

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

theory has an explanatory and prescriptive function because it constructs concepts independently of the normative statements and interpretative operations, whilst the conceptual models of dogmatics arise out of the analysis of legal texts that produces interpreted knowledge and they are, therefore, not susceptible to being generalized in an axiomatic theory. One of the most obvious demonstrations of this distinction is the creative role of legal translation, halfway between term equivalence setting and concept comparison. So, we shall start our analysis by looking at the linguistic characteristics of legal documents.

4. Legal text analysis When analyzing legal documents, a (not only terminological) distinction should be made between the linguistic form (statement) and the content (norm). Norms are conceived of as the interpreted meaning of written regulations that correspond to a partition in a legal text, like sections, subsections, etc.; or a norm can be built by interpreting a set of logically entailed linguistic expressions, for instance, the decision in a judgment, or set of legislative statements. Then, a methodology for meaning representation must be framed through a modular architecture where different aspects refer to specific analytic models and to appropriate tools.

4.1. The semantics of textual structures in legislation Despite the lack of specific rules governing the use of language, several legal documents have indeed fixed narrative structures, so that it is possible to detect semantic templates from typical linguistic structures. This is made possible by the application of computational tools able to map sets of linguistic expressions and syntactic structures to semantic information that can be considered in some way domain independent. More specifically, in legislation, we can define: •

a model of the logical structure of legislative texts, understood as a set of statements that enable the following elements to be identified: • information about the document structure: enacting authority, class of source, time, publication date, versioning, subject, partitions, etc. (Agnoloni et al. 2007). • classification of legislative statements according to their illocutory function (to define, to prohibit, to oblige, to sanction) (Biagioli and Grossi 2008). • distinction of language levels, for example, norms that talk about other norms (to repeal them, to amend them, etc.), (Spinosa et al. 2009).

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri •

•

67

dependency relations between classes of statements (for example, between a definition and a norm that uses the defined concept, between a norm that obliges and one that provides sanctions in the event of the breach of the obligation, etc.) (Biagioli and Grossi 2008).

a model of the inner structure of legislative statements, based on: • the interpretation of syntactic elements (even if, unless, notwithstanding, and/or, but otherwise, after) in terms of logical connectives among propositions (Allen and Saxon 1986), expressing disjunctions or conjunctions of factual conditions from which a legal effect or a legal qualification can be inferred.

This last point is a good example of the semantic complexity of legislative texts, where the logical connections among sentences can be interpreted in more than one way, bringing ambiguity and imprecision in the identification of the norm. The following is an example of the multiple meanings of ‘but’ (Visconti 2009). •

•

• •

BUT (adversative): “Payment to be […] by cash in exchange for all contractual documents, on or before arrival of the ship at terminal at Buyers’ option, but if the ship shall not have arrived within [...] days from date of bill of lading, payment to be made […] when required by Sellers” (Contract for Full Container Loads (FCLs) Cereals). BUT: only, no more than: “although the offence is but a minor misdemeanour (Supreme Court USA, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 2003). The courts do not make the law, but simply declare law. A judicial decision is but evidence of the law” (People ex rel. Rice v. Graves 242 A.D. 128, 273 N.Y.S. 582, 1934). BUT ‘outside of’, “without”: “The erection work cannot be stopped under any pretext but mutual agreement between the parties (Sale contract for machines, Bulgaria)” BUT determine the proximate cause of an injury: “in Negligence or other tort cases, courts have devised the ‘but for’ or ‘sine qua non’ rule, which considers whether the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant’s negligent act”.

4.2. The rhetorical structure of judicial decisions Legal professionals are fully aware of the difficulties in searching for relevant precedents which they can use to argue their side in a case. Precedent cases gathered in law reports or in case law data-bases are organized according to several subjective criteria. As recently pointed out “The principal contending methods of legal classification are formal classification of legal doctrine based on logical relations among legal rules; function-based classification based on the social roles of legal rules,

68

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

and reason-based classification based on common rationales underlying legal rules and decisions” (Sherwin 2009: 26). Automatic text analysis can contribute significantly to the identification of several levels of classification: • • •

the analysis of rhetorical structures in legal judgments, to identify the basic components of the reasoning process: facts of the case, decisions, arguments and grounds (Wyner et al. 2010); the weighting of the force of arguments (Wyner et al. 2010) and the identification of factors, that is, of relevant elements on which the decision for or against a side in a case is based (Ashley 2010); the extraction of the ratio decidendi on which outcomes are based or the legal (social) goals they intend to achieve (Wyner et al. 2008).

4.3. Generation of legal concepts As already pointed out, legal concepts are the product of the creative activity of dogmatics. Only in a few cases, legal concepts are elicited from the core meaning of a single norm, but, more frequently, they are built on a set of norms, through a process of abstraction and generalization, by collecting sets of normative conditions, from which a set of legal effects can be inferred.2 Definition are the usual way through which law-makers introduce new concepts into legal systems: •

Directive 97/7/EC, Article 2. “Definitions. For the purposes of this Directive: ‘consumer` means any natural person who, in contracts covered by this Directive, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or profession”.

Legislative definitions have a constitutive force, so we can assume that, for any new definition, a new concept is added in the legal system. To give an example, the corpus of EU legislation contains 4 definitions of the term “worker”. Constraining the common sense meaning (worker_1: a person who works at a specific occupation), the EU multiple definitions of the term ‘worker’ are: •

2

worker_2: any person who, in the Member State concerned, is protected as an employee under national employment law and in accordance with national practice;

A reformulation of Ross’ theory (Ross 1951) on legal concepts in terms of ontological analysis can be found in (Sartor 2007).

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri • • •

69

worker_3: any person employed by an employer, including trainees and apprentices but excluding domestic servants; worker_4: any person carrying out an occupation on board a vessel, including trainees and apprentices, but excluding port pilots and shore personnel carrying out work on board a vessel at the quayside; worker_5: any worker as defined in Article 3 (a) of Directive 89/391/EEC who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of his normal work.

The opposite case is that of deeming provisions, legislative statements that virtually enlarge the extensional meaning of a concept: •

•

Directive 1985/374/EEC, Art. 2, Definition of Producer: The manufacturer of a finished product, the producer of any raw material or the manufacturer of a component part and any person who, by putting his name, trade mark or other distinguishing feature on the product presents himself as its producer. Without prejudice to the liability of the producer, any person who imports into the Community a product for sale, hire, leasing or any form of distribution in the course of his business shall be deemed to be a producer within the meaning of this Directive and shall be responsible as a producer.

The regulatory part of a legislative text is composed of normative statements that: •

•

state the condition of applications of a concept, typically, a state of affair (action/event, agent(s), temporal/spatial circumstances): “Directive 97/7/EC, Article 6. 1. Right to withdraw. For any distance contract the consumer shall have a period of at least seven working days in which to withdraw from the contract without penalty and without giving any reason.” specify the extension or consequences of a legal status/effect in term of rights, duties, sanctions: “Directive 97/7/EC, Article 6. 2. Where the right of withdrawal has been exercised by the consumer pursuant to this Article, the supplier shall be obliged to reimburse the sums paid by the consumer free of charge.”

And, finally, case law contains assertions about the instance of concepts: •

Judgment of the French Court (First Chamber) of 10 March 2005. “The answer to the question referred must therefore be that Article 3 (2) of the Directive is to be interpreted as meaning that ‘contracts for the provision of transport services’ includes contracts for the provision of car hire services.”

70

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

One can expect that the semiotic characterization of normative statements corresponds to specific textual structures. Unfortunately, there is no correspondence between the semiotic distinction of norms in regulatory rules vs. constitutive rules and their linguistic expression. Regulatory rules provide a normative setting to existing forms of human behaviour, while constitutive rules create new forms of behaviour, or new legal entities (Searle 1969). In its linguistic realization, the expression ‘X is Y’ may introduce a new concept (X is Y in context C) or regulate the way for a state of affair to be legally valid (X must be Y) and this makes the setting out of a methodological process for matching texts and knowledge even more difficult.

4.4. Evolution and harmonization of legal concepts Changes in meaning of legal concepts occur within a diachronic process in relation to the cultural, political and social evolutions of the environment in which they are created. To be able to grasp the mutation in the social context, many legal concepts are open textured, and can be defined only extensionally through legal instances. As we have already mentioned, it is mainly through the work of the judiciary that the meaning terms, like ‘public policy’ or ‘public morals’ can be dynamically modified and registered. We cannot expect to find any direct referents in reality, but examples of factual situations denoting these kinds of concepts. A further phenomenon that influences the term/concept relationship within the legal domain is multilingualism, understood from a dual point of view: on the one hand, the previously mentioned difficulty of establishing meaning correspondences between concepts reflecting different legal systems (and social/cultural contexts), in order to find consistent horizontal equivalences (Ajani 2007) between legal terminologies; on the other, the need to guarantee vertical consistency between the legal language of the national system and a transnational legal language, in primis that of European Union law, where the need to produce conceptually equivalent legislative texts requires harmonized and inevitably generic terminological choices to be made. This phenomenon is particularly evident in the English context. In the early period of European law-making, the predominance of French has left a significant mark on legislative drafting, which is more evident in common law countries, whilst in civil law countries, like in Italy, the influence of French codifications had already influenced language, by the introduction of an important number of legal terms. To give some examples of the European impact on U.K. legislation, stylistic tendencies,

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

71

as, for instance, the prevalence of abstract terms instead of verbs (‘opportuneness’)3 and formal expressions are unusual in common English, like “permit”, instead of “allow” and “consent” instead of ‘agreement’. By implementing European statutes within the U.K. legal system, the impact of the new linguistic uses produces alterations or duplications in meanings: ‘regulation’ is a kind of ‘secondary legislation’ in the national system of rules; it also denotes a legal act enacted by the European legislative bodies that has a direct binding force in Member States. Further examples can be found in commercial law, as in the 2002 Sale and Supply of Goods Act to Consumers Regulations, where a terminological (and conceptual) distinction is made between ‘warranties’, in charge of the seller unless the parties have commonly agreed otherwise; and ‘guarantees’, which are mandatory and binding for the seller towards the consumer when the transaction concern movables (UK implementation of Directive 99/44/EC). European Directives frequently employ legal terminology and concepts without defining them, or introduce new expressions, leaving their meaning ambiguous. This is the case of ‘gender mainstreaming’, introduced by Directive 2002/73/EC and re-used by the Art. 29 of Directive 2006/54/EC. In the EU context the concept expressed by ‘gender mainstreaming’4 intends to denote not only a general strategy against discrimination, decided on and checked by governmental bodies, but also a principle of equality, that must be promoted at all levels of the public sector administration. In adopting the expression, the EU law-makers seem to have assumed a metaphoric meaning far beyond the common sense use of the English term; furthermore, it should be noted that the notion of “policies and legislative instruments against discrimination in the activities of Public Administrations” already exist in the UK legal framework, but it is expressed by totally different linguistic patterns.5 A further example of a new term imported into EU legal terminology from a technical domain is “criminal hub”: “an entity that is generated by a combination of factors such as proximity to major destination markets, 3

Par. 4.3., Communication by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on “A more coherent contract law-An action plan” GUCE C 63-15.03.03, p. 15 “Further reflection on the opportuneness of non-sector specific measures such as an optional instrument in the area of European contract law”. 4 Cfr. (Fitzgerald 2002) and (Sharp 2003). 5 See, for instance, Art. 71 of the Race Relations Act, 1976, as amended in 2000, “[A public body] shall, in carrying out its functions, have due regard to the need a) to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and b) to promote equality and good relations between persons of different racial groups”.

72

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

geographic location, infrastructures, criminal group types and migration processes concerning key criminals or OC groups in general. A criminal hub receives flows from a number of sources and spreads its effects in the EU so forging criminal markets and creating opportunities for the growth of criminal groups that are able to profit from these dynamics”.6 Another factor influencing the evolution of meaning is the importation of terminology from other legal orders, a phenomenon that often brings with it a modification in the original meaning, due to the process of adaptation to the normative contexts in which the new terms are placed. There are some interesting cases regarding the English terms ‘copyright’ and “deregulation” imported into the Italian legal system. The former substitutes the term ‘diritto d’autore’ in legal practice. In effect, on a normative level, the concept is meant only to refer to the economic aspects of intellectual property and, therefore, to a more restrictive meaning than the original one in common law systems. The latter which has also entered into use in Italy by substituting the term ‘delegificazione’, means “delegation of law-making power to non legislative bodies”, and has, therefore, completely changed the original meaning which could be more correctly compared to ‘self regulation’ (definition of common rules of behaviour between private parties). In other cases, the importation of new terms is due to the introduction of new legal instruments within the Italian legal system, like: ‘class actions’ and ‘trusts’.

5. Computational approach In the same way as traditional standardized terminology evolves towards a multifaceted function-based categorization, computational linguistic is rapidly evolving from the implementation of statistical analysis towards a multi-layered process of text parsing. Many currently available Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications are enriching the traditional processing of the formal aspects of language (part of speech tagging, syntactic parsing) by implementing tools for ‘ontology learning’, a term that denotes a suite of methodologies and procedures for extracting the semantic content from linguistic objects. The more ICT tools became able for identifying, understanding and classifying semantic information in textual objects, the more the adoption of a bottom-up approach for capturing conceptual changes in law gives good results. Even if it must be considered that NLP applications in the 6

See InterActive Terminology for Europe (IATE); http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/ SearchByQueryLoad.do;jsessionid=9ea7991930d5e.

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

73

legal domain are aimed at responding to practical needs, like enabling document classification and conceptual and cross-lingual retrieval, nevertheless, the implementation of semantic processing techniques has given good results even from a linguistic/legal perspective, for monitoring the evolution of the law and legal language.

5.1. Extracting and representing meaning in computational models: Lexicons and ontologies The NLP parsing process works in layers of increasing complexity, exemplified in the so called ‘ontology learning cake’ (Gomez-Perez and Manzano-Macho 2003) and explained in (Buitelaar et al. 2006: 10) in the following way: “ontology development is primarily concerned with the definition of concepts and relations between them, but connected to this also knowledge about the symbols that are used to refer to them. In our case this implies the acquisition of linguistic knowledge about the terms that are used to refer to a specific concept in the text and possible synonyms of these terms. An ontology further consists of a taxonomy backbone and other, non-hierarchical relations. Finally, in order to derive also facts that are not explicitly encoded by the ontology but could be derived from it, also rules should be defined (and if possible acquired) that allow for such derivations.” The first steps in ontology learning concern the acquisition of terminology from corpora and its organization according to taxonomic and non-hierarchical relations. Since these structures refer to the semantic relations extracted from texts, they are usually called semantic lexicons, or lightweight ontologies. They are, in fact, able to capture the lexical semantics of terms, whose meanings merely depend on the definition of a network of semantic relations among them. .A standard model for building lexical ontologies is WordNet (Fellbaum 1998), a lexical database which has been under constant development at Princeton University. The wordnet model is built around the notion of synset, a set of terms that expresses the same unit of meaning. A synset is a set of one or more uninflected word forms belonging to the same part-of-speech (noun, verb, adjective) that can be interchanged in a certain context. For example, {action, trial, proceedings, law suit} form a noun-synset because they can be used to refer to the same concept. More precisely, each synset is a set of word-senses, since polysemous terms are distinct in different word-senses, e.g., {property_1, attribute, dimension} and {property_2, belongings, holding}. Each word sense belongs to exactly one synset and each word sense has exactly one word

74

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

that represents it lexically, and can be related to one or more word senses. Synsets are the nodes of a net structured by means of hierarchical relations (hypernymy/hyponymy) and non-hierarchical relations of which the most important are meronymys (between parts or wholes), thematic roles, instances-of. “In fact, WordNet merely attempts to map the lexicon into a network organized by means of relations. A lexicon can be defined as the mappings of words onto a concept”. (Felbaum and Vossen 2008: 120). In the legal domain, a multilingual semantic lexicon modelled along the line of WordNet and EuroWordNet7 has been realized within the LOIS Project,8 a collection of about 35,000 interlinked concepts in five European languages (English, German, Portuguese, Czech, English and Italian) (Peters et al. 2007). In the LOIS database, monolingual, independent wordnets are first created and then mapped to each other. This approach, adopted in the EuroWordnet project, determines the interconnectivity of the indigenous wordnets by means of the Inter-Lingual-Index (ILI), a set of equivalence relations of each synset with an English synset. Cross-lingual linking indicates complete equivalence, near-equivalence, or equivalence-as-ahyponym or hyperonym. Unlike the wordnets, the ILI is a flat list and, unlike an ontology, it is not structured through relations. ILI entries merely function to connect equivalent words and synsets in different languages. This methodological solution seems coherent with the assumption that, in legal language, every term collection belonging to a language system, and any vocabulary originating in a legal system is an autonomous lexicon and should be mapped through equivalence relationships to a pivot language, which acts as the interlingua. Language-specific synsets from different languages linked to the same ILI-record by means of a synonym relation are considered conceptually equivalent. The LOIS database was built in a semi-automatic way, using NLP techniques for morfo-syntactic parsing and conceptual clustering, to extract syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations between terms; from the output, sets of candidates for synonyms, taxonomies and non-hierarchical relations were then manually refined. Nevertheless, it must be noted that in the legal domain, the shallow semantic characterization of synsets generates ambiguities or loss of information in cases where domain and linguistic information overlap. To give some examples, in LOIS the sub-class relation (between ‘rental contract’ and ‘contract’), and the semantic specialization (between ‘unfair competition’ and ‘competition’) are not distinct; the lexical notion of 7

EuroWordNet (EWN), (Vossen 1998). Lois, Lexical ontologies for legal information sharing (Tiscornia 2006, Peters et al. 2007). 8

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

75

functional equivalence and the legal notion of similarity in functions overlaps, as among ‘Camera dei Deputati’, ‘Assemblée nationale’, ‘Congreso de los Diputados’. Most of the semantic combinatorial properties of lexical items are not explicitly represented and multi-words, like: ‘place of contract conclusion’, ‘offer acceptance’, ‘contract infringement’, etc.) cannot be expressed.

5.2. Formal ontologies In several computational applications, where what is required is a conceptualization of a very specific domain (intellectual property rights, family law, consumer protection, crime detection, service providing), in order to provide a shared understanding of basic rules of law, knowledge is modelled by legal experts without specific reference to linguistic sources. These models, organized in formal ontologies offer good solutions, as they provide a logical framework for the representation of a relatively limited set of legal concepts.9 Formal ontologies have a stratified structure: usually, the kernel legal concepts of legal theory are modelled in the so called core ontologies, while local concepts are the object of domain ontologies. In the pragmatic context of ICT, the boundary between the extralinguistic categories built by legal theory and the creative work of dogmatics on positive systems becomes purely methodological. The assumption underlining ontology building is to provide a means of communication, aimed at making a set of meaning assumptions that are shared and accepted by a social community explicit; therefore, the ontologist does not claim that what he/she builds is the “true” conceptualization, but that it is nothing more than a partial and non-exclusive interpretation, a possible model, of a piece of social reality. The distinction among core and domain ontologies generally reflects two methodological approaches: • 9

core ontologies10 are usually built top-down on the knowledge elicited from legal experts and include the formalization of basic concepts with

Literature on legal ontologies can be found in Benjamins et al. 2004, Breuker et al. 2006, Casanovas et al. 2008, Casellas 2008. 10 The two well-developed core ontologies for law are: the LKIF-Core ontology, developed within the ESTRELLA Project which is a modular collection of basic legal concepts aimed at supporting the implementation of rule-based knowledge bases for regulatory decision support systems (Hoekstra et al. 2007); the Core Legal Ontology (CLO) (Gangemi et al. 2003) which organises legal concepts and relations on the basis of formal properties defined in the DOLCE+ foundational ontology library (Masolo et al. 2002).

76

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

•

which legal theory commonly agrees. Their goal is to represent intentional descriptions of legal concepts as classes for guiding the interpretation of the world and explaining common sense reasoning. These models are embedded in a relatively small set of concepts, defined by a high number of constraints which encode the relations between individuals of classes through cardinality restrictions, property range and domain, disjointness, transitive and symmetric properties (Breuker et al. 2006). domain ontologies are mainly built bottom up, by extracting concepts from a collection of legal material; the choice about the levels of generalization is left to the developers but it mainly depends on the kind of applications and the results they expect to achieve, as they are expected to support classification, reasoning and the decision making process.

5.3. Anchoring terminologies to ontology Lexical and formal ontologies should not be considered as two alternative ways for meaning representation, but as two complementary frameworks, whose interconnection offers a promising solution for bridging the gap between text and knowledge. Since the ontological approach allows metalevel modelling, it is possible to connect the two by expressing the links among the conceptual/ontological characterizations of legal entities, their lexical manifestations and the universes of discourse that are their proper referents. The ontological layer is a shared conceptualization, a backbone to which legal terminologies extracted from multiple corpora can be aligned, thus migrating from the lexical notion of concept, like synset, to something more consistent from the semantic point of view. Secondly, they enable to disambiguate concepts, setting their meaning in a specific domain and perspective. The following figure is an excerpt of the architecture of the Dalos project.11 It shows how the two layers can be interconnected: • 11

the lexical layer contains lexicons extracted by using NLP tools12 from

Dalos (Drafting Legislation with Ontology-based Support) is an Eu-funded research project aimed at checking the terminological consistency of European legislation during the drafting process. see www.dalosproject.eu (Francesconi and Tiscornia 2008, Agnoloni et al. 2009). 12 The tools, specifically designed for processing English and other EU language texts, are GATE and T2K. GATE supports advanced language analysis owned/provided and maintained by the Department of Computer Science of the University of Sheffield. It supports advanced language analysis, data visualization, and information sharing in many languages. GATE has facilities for viewing,

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

•

77

a set of parallel corpora of EU legislation and case law.13 Extracted terminologies have been manually refined, producing four monolingual terminologies (in Italian, English, Dutch and Spanish), structured along the lines of WordNet, and formally codified14 as sets of instances of the Noun-Synset class, identified by an URI and described by OWL object properties that translate WordNet relations. Each Wordsense is also linked to its textual referent, a text fragment codified as an instance of the class Partition (Bacci et al. 2008). the ontological layer, built on top of the lexicon, is composed of a ‘concept layer’, a virtual flat list of synsets, linked by haslexicalization relations to monolingual synsets. Like in Wordnet ILI, it acts as pivot, to align synsets of different languages. They provide the extensional characterization of concepts but they do not carry any kind of semantic information, which is provided by the ‘ontological layer’ that formally describes the intentional meaning of core elements in the consumer law domain. In selecting candidates for the ontology, we have assumed that all concepts defined in the legislative corpus are relevant, as well as several concepts used in the definitional contexts, expressing the basic properties of the domain. The ontology has been modelled around the notion of ‘commercial transaction’ and the roles of agents (i.e., ‘supplier’, ‘consumer’), and entities involved in the regulated state of affairs. The task of the ontological layer is to assign a domain-specific characterization to entities at conceptual levels, and consequently, to explain and validate terminological choices at the lexical layer.

editing, and annotating corpora in a wide number of languages (based on Unicode) and has been used successfully for the creation, semi-automatic annotation and analysis of many electronic resources. It contains many modules for the annotation of textual material, such as parts of speech information, lemmatization, conceptual indexing and semantic annotation. T2K is a terminology extractor and ontology learning tool for the Italian language jointly developed by CNR-ILC and the University of Pisa (Department of Linguistics) which combines linguistic and statistical techniques to carry out the ontology learning task. Starting from a document collection, T2K acquires domain terminology (both simple and multiword terms) and organizes the set of acquired terms into a) taxonomical chains (reconstructed from their internal linguistic structure), and b) clusters of semantically related terms (inferred through distributionally based similarity measures). 13 The-domain chosen as a case-study in Dalos is consumer protection; the corpus is composed by 16 EU Directives, 33 European Court of Justice Judgments and 9 Court of First Instance Judgments). 14 See www.w3.org/TR/wordnet-rdf/.

78

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

Figure 1: Knowledge base architecture in Dalos.

6. Concluding remarks The complexity of modern law has highlighted the need for interdisciplinarity. The evolution of legal systems and the rising complexity of reality, globalization and specialization in each scientific field, made it clear that legal analysis cannot be closed within itself but it must be open to other disciplines. This multi-faceted analysis needs precise criteria and fixed limitations, otherwise it will lead to a chaotic mixture that will end up by complicating instead of explaining law and society. However, it can be seen as one of the tools available to lawyers nowadays, that should be used with awareness of its implications compared to other legal methods (i.e., the traditional and pure legal method which does not use other scientific fields except legal analysis). Indeed, it should not be seen as a substitute for traditional and pure legal research methods, but it should be seen as an alternative choice, in the sense of a different way of analyzing law and legal problems. The use of

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

79

tools taken from other disciplines, like the use of economics and sociology and even natural science, if pertinent, can enrich legal research. Even Information and Communications Technologies can play a role. The aim of computational applications is to provide communications among users from different countries, languages and cultures; to reach this goal, every solution cannot avoid to oversimplify the theoretical challenges. The integrated approach presented above intends to offer a methodological solution to a very controversial matter, the relation between lexical and formal semantics and to set out the possibility of mapping linguistic and ontological structures; “ontology built from text (also called ‘linguistic ontology’) is corpus-dependent [...] it means that even when different communities of practice share a same reality, it is not possible to define a sharable and reusable ontology from text as far as these communities use their own language” (Roche 2007: 51). In fact, the methodologies for conceptualization exclusively based on the bottom-up extraction of linguistic knowledge make two strong assumptions: that textual corpora contain all the information necessary to understand the meaning of term and that the reverse process is possible, namely, “that the conceptual structure matches the lexical structure and the former can be deduced from the latter” (Roche 2007: 51). On the other hand, top-down ontological models assume that a common cultural background exists, on which the main meaning commitments can be exploited and shared. In our proposal, we consider a middle-out level where language and concepts are integrated, but kept separated, to allow one (among the many) possible perspectives of a domain description to be expressed in an ontology, to which multiple contextualizations correspond in the lexicon. “A lexicon is not a very good ontology. An ontology, after all, is a set of categories of objects or ideas in the world, along with certain relationships among them; it is not a linguistic object. A lexicon, on the other hand, depends, by definition, on a natural language and the word senses in it. [...] it is possible that a lexicon with a semantic hierarchy might serve as the basis for a useful ontology, and an ontology may serve as a grounding for a lexicon” (Hirst 2004: 277). In the legal domain, the construction of ontologies encounters additional theoretical barriers. If we rely on the analytical view that legal knowledge lies entirely in the interpretation of written sources,15 the 15

The formalistic approach historically belongs to the civil law tradition, as for instance in the Italian legal system; Civil Code, Art. 12 General Provisions. Legal Interpretation. – “In applying the law, no other sense but that which is made apparent by the meaning of the words according to the links among them and by the intention of the legislator can be attributed to it; if a dispute cannot be solved

80

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

contradiction between the heterogeneity of legal systems and the need to communicate the law is re-proposed without practical solutions. Cultural dimension and social changes influence not only linguistic uses but also the process of contextual interpretation of written sources. On the extreme opposite side, the realistic16 approach considers that only the fundamental basic concepts of law (Hohfeld 1917) (“right”, “power”, “obligation”) can be considered universal, whilst the majority of legal concepts are no more than containers of meaning, or “formants” (Sacco 2005) that have their referents in social rather than physical reality. Without doubt, the conceptualization of law uses extra-linguistic knowledge that emerges from a theoretical debate, from a stratification of uses, from a collective or wide agreement about the meaning. Apart from being effective means of communication, what computer tools can offer in term of theoretical feedback is a tight framework and a clear language, by which to represent the complex and dynamic nature of the phenomenon.

References Agnoloni, Tommaso, Enrico Francesconi and Pierluigi Spinosa. 2007. XmLegesEditor: An opensource visual XML editor for supporting legal national standards. In Carlo Biagioli, Enrico Francesconi, and Giovanni. Sartor (eds.), Proceedings of the V Legislative XML Workshop. Florence: European Press Academic Publishing (EPAP). 239-251. Agnoloni, Tommaso, Lorenzo Bacci, Enrico Francesconi, Wim Peters, Simonetta Montemagni and Giulia Venturi. 2009. A two-level knowledge approach to support multilingual legislative drafting. In Joost Breuker, Pompeu Casanovas, Enrico Francesconi and Michel Klein (eds.), Law, Ontologies and the Semantic Web. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 177-198. Ajani, Gianmaria, Guido Boella, Alessandro Mazzei and Piercarlo Rossi. 2007. Terminological and ontological analysis of European directives: Multilinguism in law. In Radboud Winkels (ed.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL-2007). N.Y.: ACM Press. 348-353. Allen, Layman E. and Charles S. Saxon. 1986. Analysis of the logical structure of legal rules by a modernized and formalized version of with a single provision, other provisions that regulate similar cases or analogous material shall be referred to; if there is still doubt, the decision shall be based on general provisions in the national legal order.” 16 American realism reflects the importance of the binding force of case precedents in common law systems.

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

81

Hohfeld’s fundamental legal conceptions. In Antonio A. Martino and Fiorenza Socci. (eds.), Automated Analysis of Legal Texts: Logic, Informatics and Law. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 385-450. Ashley, Kevin. 2011. Legal ontologies. The case–based-reasoning perspective, in Merixtell Barreras, Mariangela Biasiotti, Pompeu Casanovas and Giovanni Sartor (eds.), Approaches to Legal Ontologies. Berlin: Springer. 99-115. Bacci, Lorenzo, Enrico Francesconi and Tommaso Agnoloni. 2008. Ontology based legislative drafting: Design and implementation of a multilingual knowledge resource. In Aldo Gangemi and Jerome Euzenat (eds.), Knowledge Engineering: Practice and Patterns, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference EKAW 2008. Berlin: Springer. 364-373. Benjamins, V. Richard, Pompeu Casanovas, Joost Breuker and Aldo Gangemi (eds.). 2004. Law and the Semantic Web. Berlin: Springer. Biagioli, Carlo and Davide Grossi. 2008. Formal aspects of legislative meta-drafting. JURIX’2008. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 192-201. Breuker, Joost, Aldo Gangemi, Daniela Tiscornia and Radboud Winkels (eds.). 2006. Ontologies For Law. Special issue of Artificial Intelligence and Law. 12/4. Breuker, Joost, Pompeu Casanovas, Enrico Francesconi and Michel Klein (eds.). 2009. Law, Ontologies and the Semantic Web. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Breuker, Joost, Rinke Hoekstra, Alexander Boer, Kasper Van den Berg, Rossella Rubino, Giovanni Sartor, Monica Palmirani, Adam Wyner and Trevor Bench-Capon. 2007. OWL Ontology of Basic Legal Concepts (LKIF-Core). Deliverable 1.4. Estrella.estrellaproject.org/lkif-core. Buitelaar, Paul, Philip Cimiano and Bernardo Magnini. 2006. Ontology learning from text: An overview. In Paul Buitelaar, Philipp Cimiano and Bernardo Magnini (eds.). Ontology Learning from Text: Methods, Applications and Evaluation. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 1-10. Casanovas, Pompeu, Giovanni Sartor, Rossella Rubino and Nuria Casellas (eds.). 2008. Computable Models of the Law. Berlin: LNCS, Springer. Casellas, Nuria, 2008. Modelling Legal Knowledge through Ontologies. OPJK: The Ontology of Professional Judicial Knowledge, Phd thesis, Faculty of Law, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Fellbaum, Christiane (ed.). 1998. WordNet: An Electronic Lexical Database. Boston: MIT Press. Fellbaum, Christiane and Piek Vossen. 2008. Challenges for a global WordNet. In Jonathan Webster, Nacy Ide and Alex Chengyu Fang

82

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

(eds.). Online Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Global Interoperability for Language Resources (ICGL 2008). City University of Hong Kong, January 8-12. 75-82. Fitzgerald, Rona. 2002. Making Mainstreaming Work. European Policies Research Centre. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde. Francesconi, Enrico and Daniela Tiscornia. 2008. Building semantic resources for legislative drafting: The DALOS project. In: Pompeu Casanovas, Giovanni Sartor, Rossella Rubino, Nuria Casellas (eds.) Computable Models of the Law. LNCS 4884. Berlin: Springer. 56-70. Francesconi, Enrico, Simonetta Montemagni, Wim Peter and Daniela Tiscornia. 2010. Legal Text Processing. Amsterdam: Kluwer. Gangemi, Aldo, Maria Teresa Sagri and Daniela Tiscornia. 2003. A constructive framework for legal ontologies. In V. Richard Benjamins, Pompeu Casanovas, Joost Breuker, Aldo Gangemi (eds.) Law and the Semantic Web: Legal Ontologies, Methodologies, Legal Information Retrieval, and Applications. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 97124. Gomez-Perez, Asunción and David Manzano-Macho. 2003. A survey of ontology learning methods and techniques, Ontoweb Deliverable 1/5. 78-85. Hirst, Graeme. 2004. Ontology and the Lexicon. In Steffen Staab, Rudi Stude (Eds.) Handbook on Ontologies in Information Systems. Berlin: Springer. 209-230. Hoekstra, Rinke, Joost Breuker, Mario Di Bello and Alexander Boer. 2007. The LKIF core ontology of basic legal concepts. In Pompeu Casanovas, Maria Angela Biasiotti, Enrico Francesconi, Maria-Teresa Sagri (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Legal Ontologies and Artificial Intelligence Techniques June 4th, 2007, Stanford University. 43-64 downloadable at: www.ittig.cnr.it/loait/LOAIT07Proceedings.pdf. Hohfeld, Wesley Newcomb. 1917. Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasonin, Yale Law Journal. Masolo, Claudio, Stefano Borgo, Aldo Gangemi, Nicola Guarino, Alessandro, Oltramari and Peter Patel Schneider. 2002. WonderWeb Deliverable D17. The WonderWeb Library of Foundational Ontologies and the DOLCE Ontology. Preliminary Report Version 2.0, Laboratory for Applied Ontology – ISTC-CNR, Padova, 2002. Peters, Wim, Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri. 2007. The structuring of legal knowledge in LOIS. In Artificial Intelligence and Law 15/2. 117-135.

Daniela Tiscornia and Maria Teresa Sagri

83

Roche, Christophe. 2007. Saying is not modelling. In Bernadette Sharp and Michael Zock (eds.) Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science (NLPCS 2007); International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2007), Funchal, Portugal, June 2007. 47-56. Ross, Alf. 1957 [1951]. Tû-Tû. Harvard Law Review 70/5. 812-825. Sacco, Rodolfo. 2005. Prospettive della scienza civilistica italiana all’inizio del nuovo secolo. Rivista di Diritto Civile. LI/4. 417-440. Sartor, Giovanni. 2007. Possesso e accettazione di concetti giuridici: Un’analisi inferenziale. Analisi e Diritto 2007. Ricerche di giurisprudenza analitica. 67-89. Searle, John R. 1969. Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, Cambridge University Press. Sharp, Rhonda. 2003. Budgeting for Equity: Gender Budget Initiatives within a Framework of Performance Oriented Budgeting. New York: Unifem. Sherwin, Emily. 2009. Legal Taxonomy. Legal Theory 15. 25-54. Spinosa, Pierluigi, Lorenzo Bacci, Carlo Marchetti and Roberto Battistoni. 2009. Automatic Mark-up of Legislative Documents and its Application to Parallel Text Generation. In Casellas Nuria, Francesconi Enrico, Hoekstra Rinke, Montemagni Simonetta (eds.), Proceedings of LOAIT 2009 – 3rd Workshop on Legal Ontologies and Artificial Intelligence Techniques. Barcelona: Huygens Editorial. 4554. Tennerman, Rita. 1997. Questioning the univocity ideal. The difference between socio-cognitive terminology and traditional terminology. Hermes, Journal of linguistic 18. 51-91. Tiscornia, Daniela. 2006. The LOIS project: Lexical ontologies for legal information sharing. In Carlo Biagioli, Enrico Francesconi and Giovanni Sartor (eds.), Proceedings of the V Legislative XML Workshop. Florence: EPAP. 189-204. Visconti, Jaqueline. 2009. A modular approach to legal drafting and translation. In Grewendorf Gunter and Rathert Gladys M. (eds.), Formal Linguistics and Law. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 401-426. Vossen, Piek (ed.). 1998. EuroWordNet: A Multilingual Database with Lexical Semantic Networks. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Wyner, Adam Z., Trevos Bench Capon and Kate Atkinson. 2008. Three Senses of Argument. In Casanovas Pompeu, Sartor Giovanni, Casellas Nuria and Rossella Rubino (eds.) Computable Models of the Law. LNCS 4884. Berlin: Springer. 146-162.

84

A Computation Approach to Meaning Evolution in Law

Wyner, Adam Z., Raquel Mochales-Palau, Marie-Francine Moen and David Milward. 2010. Approaches to text mining arguments from legal cases. In Enrico Francesconi, Simonetta Montemagni, Wim Peters and Daniela Tiscornia (eds.). Semantic Processing of Legal Texts. Berlin: Springer. 60-82.

‘EUROPEANIZATION’ OF FAMILY LAW: INTERACTION/INTERSECTION OF CULTURAL AND LEXICAL DIVERSITIES PATRIZIA ARDIZZONE AND GIULIA ADRIANA PENNISI∗ (UNIVERSITY OF PALERMO)

1. Introduction The variety of national family laws constitutes a serious obstacle to the free movement of persons within the European Union (EU). The need to make Community freedom effective has become one of the main goals of the EU institutions and this has resulted in the establishment of minimum standards together with the creation of a ‘common core’ of family law rules. Since the late 1990s the discourse on the relationship between family law(s) and Community law has changed significantly (1999 Action Plan; The Amsterdam Treaty, art. 65; EU Treaty, art. 39). Yet, notwithstanding the general sociological/socio-cultural changes that have affected the legal categories of family and marriage (i.e., ‘parental responsibilities’, ‘children’s rights’, ‘matrimonial regime’, etc.) allowing the recognition of a ‘European common core’, family law still remains a culturesensitive/context-bound domain. Indeed terms and concepts created, elaborated or defined by the legislature or by jurists in a given jurisdiction do not necessarily correspond to terms and concepts produced in other legal systems. This is even more evident in the field of family law, with common and civil family law terminology offering plenty of examples of interlingual ambiguity: problems of synonymy and legal homonyms;

∗

While both authors are responsible for the design of this study and have corevised the paper, Patrizia Ardizzone is responsible for sections 1, 2 and 6, and Giulia Adriana Pennisi for sections 3, 4 and 5.

86

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

difficulties related to a partial overlap of legal meaning; inconveniences caused by ‘false friends’. This chapter explores these linguistic problems focusing on the solution prospected by the European Community in terms of the development of common family law terms and rules. The analysis of issues, such as the relativity and perspectival structure of family law knowledge, the translatability of domestic orientations and the existence/lack of a uniform terminology, will help comprehend how the linguistic and cultural constraints acting upon the latest most important EU family law documents (the so-called ‘Brussels regulations’) reflect either the success or the failure of EU institutions in the attempt to overcome legal, cultural and terminological diversities in national substantive family laws. In particular, the specialized field of family law will be presented as a viable way of accelerating the ‘Europeanization process’, that is, a feasible example of language strategies and dynamically interconnected provisions which strive to construct a lexicon reflecting the harmonious/ disharmonious co-existence of multicultural and multilingual identities.

2. General overview The last few decades, characterized by an increase in the internationalization of law, have led to the convergent mixing of civil law and common law elements at all levels: private law, public law and transnational law. Bhatia, Candlin and Engberg (2008: 5) have pointed out that the “creation of massive international free trade zones”, together with “the opening up of major political economies”, have increased “moves towards intense competition to capture international markets and the merger of corporations to form huge multinational conglomerates” (Bhatia et al. 2008: 5). In this regard, Fairclough (2006: 163) has observed that: globalization is a reality: a complex, interconnected but partly autonomous set of processes affecting many dimensions of social life (economic, political, social, cultural, environmental, military and so forth) which constitute changes in the spatial organization of social activity and interaction, social relations, and relations of power, producing ever more intensive, extensive and rapid interconnections, interdependencies, and flows on a global scale and between the global scale and other (macroregional, national, local, etc.) scales.

The integration of Europe has been combining and harmonizing the national laws of Member States (henceforth MSs) in remarkable ways and with a considerable speed for the last forty years (Pozzo and Jacometti

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

87

2006). It is, therefore, expected that MSs’ laws should reflect the mixture of the two main legal traditions, viz. common law and civil law. As Bhatia, Candlin and Engberg have argued, “the task was much more complex than simply creating a new legislative framework” (2008: 6). Indeed “this newly created instrument was meant to be interpreted within the contexts of a diversity of individual legal systems and languages of the members countries of western Europe”, particularly when “issues as those of human rights, international agreements and contracts [...] all of which have very strong socio-political and cultural constraints” have to be interpreted (Bhatia et al. 2008: 6). Since the late 1990s the discourse on the relationship between family law(s) and Community law has changed significantly. The need to create minimum standards together with the harmonization of family law are defined in the structure of Laeken European Council 2001. More specifically, art. 2.1 and art. 4.1 of this Council establish that the main goals of the European Union are: 2.1 New legislation and new legislative initiatives European standardization [...] has proven to be a successful and essential tool for the completion of the Single Market for goods. In its conclusion of 1 March 2002 on European standardization, the Council confirmed this success. It requested the Commission to examine whether the support given by European standards to European legislations could be extended to new policy areas even beyond the Single Market legislation. 4.1 To continue to make more extensive use of European standardization in European policies and legislation. The Commission is convinced that the extension of making use of standards to support European legislation and policies to areas beyond the Single Market for goods was successful [...] (our emphasis).

As clearly stated in these articles, the aim of building a European ‘common core’ for family law came as a result of both the desire to remove barriers to trade at an international level, and the need to recognize common European values and principles of social justice which increase the solidarity of MSs in family law matters. Legal scholars have highlighted the fact that special European family law for cross-border situations is today a reality. In the political rhetoric of the European Union, harmonized rules on international family law matters are claimed to be crucial for European integration. Yet, unified rules and harmonized laws should respond “to the European citizen’s justified expectations on what the Union should do for him or her. The citizen shall be able to count upon that judgments rendered in one Member State will be recognized in the other Member States” (Jänterä-Jareborg 2003: 194).

88

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

Eventually, “the vision is establishing a ‘genuine judicial area in the EU where freedom, security and justice prevail’” (Jänterä-Jareborg 2003: 194).

3. Data observed The present study is based on a corpus of legal documents for the realization of a European family law. The corpus has been divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup is composed of broadly conceived documents, and deals with the conditions that must be satisfied in order to achieve the EU’s objectives of becoming a unitary politico-economic body. The second subgroup is made up of documents related to the main stages and significant events in Europe’s institutional reform in the field of family law. Furthermore, ‘Brussels regulations’1 (Brussels I, Brussels II and Brussels II bis) represent the first and most important EU’s attempt to regulate family law matters. 1st subgroup •

•

• •

Amsterdam Treaty – Treaty of Amsterdam Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities and Related Acts, Official Journal C 340, 10 November 1997 (267,789 words). Action Plan 1999 – Action Plan of the Council and the Commission on How Best to Implement the Provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam on an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, 1999/C 19/01 (20,034 words). Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – 2000/C 364/01 (8,909 words). EC Treaty – Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, 24 December 2002 (171,046 words).

2nd subgroup •

1

COM(2004) 674 final – Presidency Conclusions. European Council Meeting in Laeken 14-15 December 2001 and Communication from

In Community law, a Regulation is an instrument of general scope that is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Regulations can be adopted under the EC Treaty by the European Parliament and the Council or by the Council or by the Commission. Regulations are often used in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters. They are directly applicable, so they require no transposal into the Member States’ domestic law and directly confer rights or impose obligations (European Commission Glossary, http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/eu_union_en.htm).

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

• •

•

89

the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. On the role of European standardization in the framework of European policies and legislation. Brussels, 18.10.2004 (22,638 words). Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters (henceforth Brussels I) (29,315 words). Council Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility for children of both spouses (henceforth Brussels II) (17,432 words). Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (henceforth Brussels II bis) (31,551words).

A cross-cultural corpus assisted approach is employed to analyze the role of family law legal categories in the construal of ‘family common core’ in EU discourse over the period 1997-2004, for a total amount of 568,714 words. From the list of terms and concepts characterizing the legal domain of family law provided in Dizionario Giuridico 1 and 2 (hereafter DG1 and DG2), Barton’s Legal Thesaurus (hereafter BLT), Black’s Law Dictionary (henceforth BLD) and A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (henceforth DMLU), and the meaning and values attached to them by the EU legislators involved in drafting the texts included in the corpus, it will be possible to shed light not only on the linguistic and discursive constraints acting upon the most important EU family law documents (Bhatia et al. 2003, 2008; Halliday 2002; Fairclough 2003, 2006), but also the success/failure of EU institutions in harmonizing substantive family law (Hyland 2009; Gotti and Bhatia 2006; Gotti and Šarþeviü 2006; Cortese 2005; Wodak and Chilton 2005).

4. Aim and scope of the study The international documents investigating this domain have been selected in order to: (i) identify the lexicon of family law; (ii) analyze and bring into focus the main linguistic and grammatical features of EU family law discourse; (iii) identify and outline EU discoursal strategies to the repositioning of the interaction between national family laws and the Community’s fields of action. The aim is to determine whether family law is still today such a culture-sensitive/context-bound domain that EU harmonization/standardization would be technically difficult or even practically unfeasible.

90

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

Within the corpus of legislative documents, six dominant words/expressions of family law domain – as family (law), child, parental responsibility, succession, marriage, matrimonial (regime) (i.e., matrimonial matters, matrimonial proceedings, matrimonial ties) – have been identified. Family law has been analyzed in the legal systems of both common law and civil law, with a particular emphasis on Italian system as an example of civil law and UK/US systems as two significant examples of common law (Pozzo and Jacometti 2006). From a methodological point of view, the first step was to identify the meaning of these items provided in the reference works and present an overview of the ways in which these items have preserved their original meaning, or have been reinterpreted over time, in order to meet new specialized or culturally-determined needs. Then, these family law legal categories were described and compared with reference to their lexicogrammatical (2nd sub-corpus) and discoursal realizations (1st sub-corpus) in the texts included in our corpus.

5. Research findings 5.1. The lexicon of family law Important trends can be identified in the recent years quest for a ‘European family law common core’. First of all, “family and succession law, traditionally considered to be marginal areas of comparative law, have come to the fore” (Pintens 2003: 4). The increasing interest of EU institutions in family and succession law as key areas of European private international law has brought them into prominence. More specifically, Nr. 45 of Laeken European Council 2001 establishes that: Nr. 45: [...] efforts to surmount the problems arising from differences between legal systems should continue, particularly by encouragement of recognition of judicial decisions, both civil and criminal. For example, the harmonization of family law took a decisive step forward with the suspension of intermediate procedures for the recognition of certain judgements and especially for cross-border rights of access to children (our emphasis).

Both primary and secondary European law have already established ‘minimum harmonization’ and ‘social dialogue’ among the main conceptual pillars of EU legislation. ‘Minimum harmonization’ refers to a soft form of harmonization, which defines a common set of principles and

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

91

rules but leaves it open to MSs to launch more far-reaching policies. ‘Social dialogue’, refers to the adoption of EU Directives, Decisions, Regulations, etc., not (or not only) by means of the standards procedures of EU policy-making2 (Falkner et al. 2005). In this regards, Pintens (2003: 6) has observed that “traditionally, comparative law have concentrated on certain areas” such as, commercial law, private international law, labour law, intellectual property rights. Indeed family law “has rarely been the object of extensive comparative legal studies” and succession law “has shown a great diversity, which can be expected from a field of law that is rather particularistic and where the mixture of Roman law, customary law, and canon law has led to diverse regulations” (Pintens 2003: 6). In light of that, family (law) is an example of culturally specific terms and concepts, “una normazione in continua evoluzione, a causa soprattutto dei numerosi interventi legislativi, al punto che il recensore di un’opera sul diritto di famiglia ha giustamente osservato che qualsiasi lavoro in materia è superato ancora prima di uscire [...]” (DG1), “a body of law in constant evolution as a consequence of the numerous legislative interventions, and a reviewer has rightly observed that any book on this topic becomes obsolete even prior to its issue [...]” (our translation). It represents “una materia che non ha mai raggiunto una effettiva unità. Essa trova la sua fonte nel diritto canonico, nell’equity, nella common law e nella legislazione scritta (statute law); quest’ultima ha raggiunto una effettiva unità. Nel diritto internazionale privato inglese e nordamericano, il concetto di domicile3 – privo di equivalenza nella tradizione di civil law – regola lo status delle persone e costituisce forse una delle notevoli differenze rispetto al sistema nostrano basato sulla nazionalità” (DG2), “a body of law that has never become unitary. It has its legal basis in canon law, equity law, common law and written legislation (statute law); this latter has reached a real unification. In English and American international private law, the term domicile – which has no equivalent concept within the civil law system – regulates the status of persons and perhaps constitutes one of the most significant differences between common law and our [civil law] system based on nationality” (our translation). 2 For instance, the adoption of a Commission proposal by the Council of Ministers in some form of co-operation with the European Parliament. 3 “Domicile means ‘the place with which a person has a settled connection for certain legal purpose, either because his home is there, or because that place is assigned to him by the law’. Restatement (First) of Conflict of Laws ... In England, domicile means ‘the country that a person treats as a permanent home and to which he or she has the closest legal attachment’” (DMLU).

92

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

Closely linked to the legal concept of family4 is the notion of child that, as Cortese (2005: 271) observes, “covers a considerable age span, since in standard English usage the plural children includes adult offspring”. Indeed “in American law a child of tender age or years has generally not reached his or her 14th birthday. In English law, child itself usually means one who is not yet 14, though some English lawyers, up to the mid-20th century, used child to refer to someone under 21. In most American states, a juvenile – a 20th statutory word – is one who has not reached the age of 18 [...] In England, juvenile denotes one who has not reached 17 – i.e., either a child (as defined above) or a young person (meaning someone who has reached 14 but is not yet 17)” (DMLU). Another example of culturally specific concepts characterizing family law domain is marriage that “has important consequences in many areas of the law, such as torts, criminal law, evidence, debtor-creditor relations, property, and contracts” (BLD). As de Franchis (1996) acknowledges, “negli S.U. la materia è regolata dal diritto dei singoli stati dell’Unione; va rilevata una tendenziale uniformità di regime. Talvolta il matrimonio viene descritto come un contract; ma è dubbio se si tratti di un rapporto contrattuale o di uno status [...]” (DG2), “in the U.S. this legal issue is regulated by the law of each individual state of the Union; however, there is a growing tendency towards uniformity. In some cases, marriage is described as a contract; yet, it is doubtful whether to consider it a contract or a status [...]” (our translation). Conversely, Garner (2001) refers to commonlaw marriage that “has one meaning in the U.S., another in Scotland, and still another in England. In the U.S., it generally denotes an agreement to marry, followed by cohabitation and a public recognition of the marriage [...] In Scotland, the phrase denotes cohabitation for a substantial period with the acquisition of the reputation of being married (an agreement to marry not being necessary). And in England, common-law marriage is now used only of a marriage celebrated according to a common-law form in a place where the local forms of marriage cannot be used (e.g. desert island), or are morally unacceptable to the parties (e.g. a Muslim country) or where no cleric is available [...] Additionally – and more commonly in BrE – the phrase refers to an illicit union of some duration [...]” (DMLU). On the other hand, succession, which is “the acquisition of rights or property by inheritance under the laws of descent and distribution [...]” (BLD), becomes an instance of what de Franchis (1996) defines ‘acoustic agreements’ “che non devono indurre a ritenere l’esistenza della successione nel senso romanistico della common law [...]” (DG2), “that can mislead one about the existence of Roman law succession within 4

See BLT.

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

93

common law system [...]” (our translation). In the light of this, de Franchis (1996) observes that “una profonda diversità di concetti e di regime giuridico sussiste tra la successione per causa di morte nella common law e nella civil law; diversità che si riflette in una terminologia ignota al civil lawyer”5 (DG2), “there is a huge difference between common law and civil law terms and concepts in the field of succession; this difference is mirrored in common law terminology that is unknown to civil lawyers” (our translation). Conversely, parental responsibility and matrimonial regime represent two instances of new legal terms/concepts within family law domain. As regards parental responsibility, BLT has the entry paternal instead of parental, whereas paternal is an adjective that has these synonyms: “ancestral, benevolent, benign, family, fatherlike, fatherly, kindly, parental, paternus, patriarchal patrimonial, patrius, protective”. There is no mention of parental responsibility among the ‘associated concepts’ to the noun responsibility. De Franchis (1984) provides the entry parental authority or right, which means: “Il potere che non coincide con la patria potestà [...] A differenza di quanto accade nella civil law, esso non comporta il potere di amministrare il patrimonio del minore, generalmente affidato a trustees (child; guardianship)” (DG1), “power that does not correspond to patria potestà (legal guardianship). Unlike civil law systems, it does not entail the power to administer a minor’s estate which is usually entrusted to a trustee (child; guardianship)” (our translation). Indeed, this expression has a specific legal meaning slightly different from the meaning given to parental responsibility within family law corpus of texts. The same occurs in BLD where we find the entry parentalresponsibility statute that has this meaning: “A law imposing criminal 5

“Il fatto che si parli di universal succession non deve indurre a ritenere l’esistenza della successione universale nel senso romanistico; tra l’altro, si parla di universal succession a favore del trustee e del personal representative nella successione mortis causa; concetti questi che non hanno equivalenza nella civil law. Succession indica più spesso, in pratica, la successione a causa di morte; talvolta, peraltro, si parla di anche di inheritance e di probate e administration. Per ragioni anche storiche, il diritto delle successioni non ha subito una elaborazione sistematica […]” (DG1), “the term universal succession can mislead us about the meaning of succession in Roman law sense; furthermore, we have universal succession for a trustee and a personal representative in the case of mortis causa succession; these concepts do not have any equivalence in civil law systems. In most cases, succession means succession at the death of a person; sometimes, we find other expressions such as, inheritance, probate and administration. For historical reasons, succession law has not undergone a coherent organisation [...]” (our translation).

94

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

sanctions (such as fines) on parents whose minor children commit crimes as a result of the parent’s failure to exercise sufficient control over the child”. DMLU does not mention parental responsibility whatsoever. As regards matrimonial regime (i.e., matrimonial matters, matrimonial proceedings, matrimonial ties), BLT has the entry conjugal and nuptial instead of marital, whereas conjugal and nuptial are two adjectives which have these synonyms in common: “betrothed, bridal, connubial, coupled, espoused, marital, married, mated, matrimonial, united, wedded”. There is no mention of matrimonial matters, matrimonial proceedings or matrimonial ties among the ‘associated concepts’ to the adjectives conjugal and nuptial. DG1 defines matrimonial as “matrimoniale in genere, detto anche marital”, “matrimoniale, usually called marital” (our translation), providing different entries such as, matrimonial causes, matrimonial domicile, matrimonial home, matrimonial maintenance, matrimonial offence, matrimonial order, matrimonial proceedings, matrimonial property law. Yet, it does not mention any matrimonial matters, matrimonial proceedings, or matrimonial ties. The same occurs in BLD where we find these entries: matrimonial action, matrimonial cohabitation, matrimonial domicile, matrimonial home, matrimonial res. DMLU provides the entry matrimonial law, which has these remarks from the author: “matrimonial is a formal word rarely used outside the law except in reference to wedding services. Yet, the law on both sides of the Atlantic has embraced this word in phrases such as matrimonial home, matrimonial offense, and matrimonial cohabitation [...]”. As in the case of parental responsibility, matrimonial (regime) acquires within family law corpus of texts a legal meaning slightly different from the meanings of the adjective matrimonial and its associated concepts, as provided in the reference works. In the cases observed, the reference works appear to be somewhat inconsistent in their definition of words/expressions of family law domain as uniform legal categories different from one place to another; noticeably, this may depend on the sources employed, or from which comments on current usage may be derived. The question thus arises whether the pursuit of harmonization and unification of law truly threatens our culture. According to legal scholars, national family laws have not proven to be resistant to the influence/pressure of foreign law (Falkner et al. 2005). In light of that, Pintens (2003: 8) has observed that: cultural embeddedment does not mean that we are embedded in a culture to such an extent that we give up our identity when cultural changes occur [...] All the reforms have certainly not unified family law in Europe, but they have brought the various legal systems a little closer together.

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

95

Even though significant socio-cultural changes affecting family law (for instance, the attention to the child as a legal subject in general) allow us to recognize EU ‘common core’ principles, important differences are still present. Eventually, “the question arises whether the family law still remains today so culturally specific that an harmonization would be problematic or even undesired” (Pintens 2003: 7).

5.2. EU textual strategies Linguistic and textual investigations of the three ‘Brussels regulations’ issued by EU legislators in the field of family law have demonstrated that EU institutions, and particularly the European Parliament, attach considerable importance to the effect that an area without physical borders and control could have on familial relationships. So far as the content is concerned, there are slight differences between Brussels I and the other two Brussels Regulations (Boele-Woelki 2003; Falkner et al. 2005; Bhatia et al. 2008). The object of Brussels I is to adopt measures relating to judicial cooperation in civil matters which are necessary for the ‘sound operation of the internal market’. Brussels II and Brussels II bis, on the other hand, emphasize somewhat different principles. More specifically, Brussels II aims at ‘improving and speeding up’ the recognition of judgements in relation to the dissolution of marriage and in matters of parental responsibility for joint children, with a view ‘to ensuring the sound operation of the internal market’, while Brussels II bis broadens the scope of Brussels II covering all decisions with regard to parental responsibility, including measures for the protection of children, independently of any link with a matrimonial proceeding. A quantitative analysis of the ‘Brussels regulations’ provided similar results at the level of concordances (Scott 2007), as Tables 1 and 2 show below. Table 1: Frequency of family law concepts. LEGAL CATEGORIES child parental responsibility marriage matrimonial family succession

Brussels I n. search word 1 1

Brussels II n. search word 17 19 18 23 12 -

Brussels II bis n. search word 110 61 61 25 18 5 1

96

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

Table 2: Frequency of family law concepts per 1000 words. LEGAL CATEGORIES child parental responsibility marriage matrimonial family succession

Brussels I per 1000 w 0,03 0,03

Brussels II per 1000 w 0,98 1,09 1,03 1,32 0,69 -

Brussels II bis per 1000 w 3,49 1,09 1,09 0,79 0,57 0,51 0,03

A closer analysis of concordances demonstrates that most of the legal words/expressions selected in the present study such as child, parental responsibility, marriage are particularly frequent in Brussels II and Brussels II bis. With the exception of matrimonial regime and succession, there is no occurrence of family law key-concepts in Brussels I. The high frequency of these terms and expressions in Brussels II bis is clearly due to the EU’s intention to play a more significant role in issues of family law. Only minor stylistic differences between the three ‘Brussels regulations’ are apparent, and these mainly relate to differences in textual structure, such as the length of some articles and the depth of coverage. For instance, Brussels II bis is much more detailed in the specification of the scope, with a single article (Chap. I - art. 1) divided into three paragraphs, each of which has subparagraphs (for a total amount of 14 subparagraphs totalling 183 words). Brussels II is less detailed in the specification of the scope. Likewise, Brussels II bis has only one article (Chap. I - art. 1) divided into three paragraphs, and only the first paragraph has two subparagraphs (for a total amount of two subparagraphs totalling 93 words). Even though not particularly detailed in the definition of the scope (a single article Chap. I - art. 1 divided into three paragraphs, with the second paragraph divided into 4 subparagraphs totalling 100 words), Brussels I defines it mostly in a negative sense. Brussels II bis, Chapter I – art.1 Scope 1. This Regulation shall apply, whatever the nature of the court or tribunal, in civil matters relating to: (a) divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment; (b) the attribution, exercise, delegation, restriction or termination of parental responsibility. 2. The matters referred to in paragraph 1(b) may, in particular, deal with: (a) rights of custody and rights of access; (b) guardianship, curatorship and similar institutions;

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi (c) the designation and functions of any person or body having charge of the child’s person or property, representing or assisting the child; (d) the placement of the child in a foster family or in institutional care; (e) measures for the protection of the child relating to the administration, conservation or disposal of the child’s property. 3. This Regulation shall not apply to: (a) the establishment or contesting of a parent-child relationship; (b) decisions on adoption, measures preparatory to adoption, or the annulment or revocation of adoption; (c) the name and forenames of the child; (d) emancipation; (e) maintenance obligations; (f) trusts or succession; (g) measures taken as a result of criminal offences committed by children. Brussels II, Chapter I – art.1 Scope 1. This Regulation shall apply to: (a) civil proceedings relating to divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment; (b) civil proceedings relating to parental responsibility for the children of both spouses on the occasion of the matrimonial proceedings referred to in (a). 2. Other proceedings officially recognized in a Member State shall be regarded as equivalent to judicial proceedings. The term ‘court’ shall cover all the authorities with jurisdiction in these matters in the Member States. 3. In this Regulation, the term ‘Member State’ shall mean all Member States with the exception of Denmark. Brussels I, Chapter I – art.1 Scope 1. This Regulation shall apply in civil and commercial matters whatever the nature of the court or tribunal. It shall not extend, in particular, to revenue, customs or administrative matters. 2. The Regulation shall not apply to: (a) the status or legal capacity of natural persons, rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship, wills and succession; (b) bankruptcy, proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons, judicial arrangements, compositions and analogous proceedings; (c) social security; (d) arbitration. 3. In this Regulation, the term ‘Member State’ shall mean Member States with the exception of Denmark (our emphasis).

97

98

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

A thorough quantitative analysis of the linguistic features in these legislative documents and syntactic structures would require a more extensive consideration than is possible in this chapter.6 Hence, only a general account of the lexico-grammar patterns of three of the most important EU legislative documents of family law corpus will be given, namely Brussels I, Brussels II, Brussels II bis. The investigation produced these results: •

•

•

•

•

few occurrences of hortatory prescriptions, with ‘a covert prescriptive intent aimed at getting EU Institutions and MSs to act in certain ways on the basis of the representations of what is’ (Fairclough 2003), such as: it is necessary and appropriate that the rules governing jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments be governed (recital 6-Brussels I) or must be governed (recital 7-Brussels I); to establish such an area, the Community is to adopt (recital 1-Brussels II). There is only one occurrence in Brussels II bis (to this end, the Community is to adopt - recital 1); many occurrences of ‘legally mandatory shall’ (Chap. I-VIII, Brussels I; Chap. I-VI, Brussels II; Chap. I-VII, Brussels II bis), which indicates lexico-grammatically and semantically the greater freedom of interpretive choice accorded to EU Institutions and MSs in the field of family law (Bhatia et al. 2008); deontic recommendations aimed at the creation of ‘EU family common core’ are mainly conveyed through the modal should which occurs with the same frequency in the ‘Preamble’ of all ‘Brussels regulations’ (recital 1-29-Brussels I; recital 1-25-Brussels II; recital 1-33-Brussels II bis); when used, the passive can refer to the commonality of MSs acting as the agent in a particular situation, as in the case of judgments given in a Member State bound by this Regulation should be recognized and enforced in another Member State bound by this Regulation (recital 10-Brussels I); can therefore be better achieved at Community level (recital 32-Brussels II bis); the distribution of modal auxiliaries is quite interesting, with only one occurrence of would in Brussels I (art. 6.2) and Brussels II (art. 18), four occurrences in Brussels II bis (recital 17, art. 2.11(b), 15.1, 25); few occurrences of can/cannot in Brussels II bis, and only three occurrences in Brussels I (recital 4, art. 15, 48) and Brussels II (recital 5, art. 22.2, 29.1). May occurs in all ‘Brussels regulations’ and it is particularly present when decision-making is left open to the family law common core participants’ discretion;

6 An exhaustive analysis of lexico-grammar patterns and the use of modals in the corpus will be published separately.

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi •

•

•

•

99

instances of ‘hybrid discourse’ (Fairclough 2006), such as the proper functioning of common market (and others that will be shown later in this article) that are particularly present in Brussels I (recital 1, 2, 6, 7), are still evident in the other two Brussels Regulations (recital 1, 2, 8Brussels II; recital 1, 2-Brussels II bis); few occurrences of adverbial forms, such as generally (recital 11Brussels I; recital 11-Brussels II bis) and widely (art. 23.1(c)-Brussels I; recital 8-Brussels II) and attitude verbs indicating the EU’s recognition of a challenge (such as will ensure and should be ensured, recital 5, 15, 19-Brussels I; recital 6, 16, 20-Brussels II; recital 1, 5, 33, art. 11.2, 42.2, 45.2-Brussels II bis); intentionally vague and broad terms such as the sound operation of internal market (recital 1-Brussels I; recital 4-Brussels II) and the best interests of the child (recital 12, 13-Brussels II bis), “which do not necessarily require precision to be adequately understood by the receiver” (Engberg and Heller, 2008: 147); qualifiers such as genuine and sufficient/sufficiently are virtually absent, with some occurrences in Brussels II (recital 8) and Brussels II bis (recital 2).

Textual analysis has revealed a macrotextual attitudinal stance which categorizes participants in family law discourse (i.e., EU institutions and MSs) according to their capacity to legitimately and successfully intervene in family law matters. The general message coming from the “pragmatics of encouragement via the mutuality of mitigation and assertiveness is ultimately couched in a dynamic modality” (Cortese 2005: 281). Instead of imposing idealistic absolutes on the family law domain, EU institutions opt for a language that seems to be deliberately construed in order to achieve wide consensus. Expressions of deliberate vagueness, unspecified local circumstances, the distribution of modal auxiliaries and formally agent-less passive are among the language patterns which aim to keep these legislative documents as context/culture-free as possible.

5.3. EU discoursal strategies Information gathered from the discoursal analysis of texts included in the 1st sub-corpus and explanations of legal terms and concepts given in reference works provided the following results. a) The European commitment to ‘a proper functioning of the internal market’ (Fairclough 2006) is particularly evident in one of the most representative texts of EU documents aimed at harmonizing national laws,

100

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

i.e. the EC Treaty. More specifically, art. 13, art. 65, art. 94, art. 95, art. 293, art. 308, art. 18 II: art. 13: 1. [...] the Council [...] may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation [...] art. 18: 1.Every citizen of the Union shall have the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States [...] art. 65: Measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications, to be taken [...] in so far as necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market, [...] art. 94: The Council shall [...] issue directives for the approximation of such laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the Member States as directly affect the establishment or functioning of the common market. art. 95: 1. [...] The Council shall [...] adopt the measures for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market [...] 6.The Commission shall, [...] approve or reject the national provisions involved after having verified whether or not they are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States and whether or not they shall constitute an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market [...] 10. The harmonization measures referred to above shall, in appropriate cases, include [...] art. 293: Member States shall, so far as is necessary, enter into negotiations with each other with a view to securing for the benefit of their nationals: [...] the simplification of formalities governing the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts or tribunals and arbitration award. art. 308: If action by the Community should prove necessary to attain, in the course of the operation of the common market, one of the objectives of the Community, and this Treaty has not provided the necessary powers, the Council shall [...] take the appropriate measures (our emphasis).

From a discoursal point of view, the Community sets targets for the European Community and the MSs such as: the establishment of a common market and an economic and monetary union, a harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of economic activities, a high degree of competitiveness and convergence of economic performance (art. 2-EC Treaty); the abolition of obstacles to the free movement of goods and persons (art. 3c-EC Treaty); consumer protection (art. 3t-EC Treaty); measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having crossborder implications necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market (art. 65-EC Treaty).

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

101

These objectives are legitimized in terms of ‘creating an area of freedom, security and justice, in which the free moment of persons is ensured’, as well as ‘the recognition of shared values and the promotion of social and territorial cohesion’. Although, as in this case (EC Treaty), the legitimatization of harmonization/standardization of MSs measures draws upon both economic discourse and a discourse of European cultural values and identity, the former has become particularly prominent (art. 136-EC Treaty) with increasing emphasis on ‘the proper functioning of the internal market’ and the ‘competitiveness of Community economy’ (Fairclough 2006). This is substantiated by a number of key words, such as: quality (art. 2, 3, 149, 152, 164, 174-EC Treaty), competitiveness (art. 149-EC Treaty), mobility (art. 146, 149, 150, 164-EC Treaty), sustainable and sustainability (art. 2, 4, 6, 121, 120, 177-EC Treaty), growth (art. 2-EC Treaty). Following Fairclough’s approach to ‘recontextualization’ and ‘rescaling’ (2006), it can be observed that the text of the EC Treaty contributes to the discursive re-positioning of the interaction between national laws (including family law) and the Community’s fields of action: in other words, it ‘textures’, that is, textually constructs family law and family members in relationship to national and international scales as institutes/agents which must operate at a global as well as a national level, and operate on both levels/scales as competitors in increasingly competitive markets (Fairclough 2006). The text of the EC Treaty sets out six ‘challenges’: 1st: ‘the Council may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’ (art. 13-EC Treaty); 2nd: ‘the Council may adopt provisions to facilitate the exercise of the rights of every citizen of the Union to move and reside freely within the territory of the MSs. Those facilities should protect the freedom of movement, e.g. through the unification of procedural law’ (art. 18-EC Treaty). However, it has to be observed that a unification of substantive family and succession law exceeds this goal; 3rd: ‘the approximation of the laws of MSs is only a task for the European Community when it is imperative for the functioning of the common market’ (artt. 94-95-EC Treaty). Yet, even using a broad interpretation of the goals of the European Community, there are few rules of family and succession law which directly affect the functioning of the common market (maybe, the succession law has some economic relevance). The text locates family and succession law within a ‘global scale’, but it represents the family and family members as a ‘product of economic market’ thus

102

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law shifting the boundary between family law and business and including the former within the latter (manifested in the ‘interdiscursive hybridity’ between family and economic discourses) (Fairclough 2006); 4th: even though art. 65-EC Treaty does not contain a comprehensive enumeration, one could deduce from the measures enumerated in this article (as well as from the heading of Title IV EC Treaty “Visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to the free movement of persons”) that its application is restricted to international family law only (Pintens 2003); 5th: art. 293-EC Treaty ‘remains restricted to reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts or tribunals and arbitration awards but only if it becomes imperative for the development of the common market’; 6th: art. 308-EC Treaty states that the ‘action by the Community should prove necessary to achieve the objects of the common market’. A European matrimonial regime or a European will are desirable and represent a significant step in the direction of a ‘Europeanization’ of family and succession law, but it is questionable whether they are really necessary for the completion of the common market (Boele-Woelki 2003).

b) Recognition of the fundamental rights related to family law and ‘the child’s best interests’ is particularly present in one of the most representative texts of EU family law documents, i.e. the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (henceforth CFREU). More specifically, art. 7, art. 21, art. 24, art. 25: Preamble: The Union [...] seeks to promote balanced and sustainable development and ensures free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and the freedom of establishment. art. 7-Respect for private and family life: Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications. art. 21-Non-discrimination: 1. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited [...] art. 24-The rights of the child: 1. Children shall have the right to such protection and care as is necessary for their well-being. They may express their views freely. Such views shall be taken into consideration on matters which concern them in accordance

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

103

with their age and maturity. 2. In all actions relating to children, whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests must be a primary consideration. 3. Every child shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both his or her parents, unless that is contrary to his or her interests. art. 25-The rights of the elderly: The Union recognizes and respects the rights of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and independence and to participate in social and cultural life (our emphasis).

The Union has acknowledged the importance of the family and its members. While at first EU actions considered family policy to be part of social policy, fundamental rights related to family law are now inserted in the Charter, such as: respect for private and family life (art. 7-CFREU); prohibition of discrimination, including discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation (art. 21-CFREU); the rights of the child (art. 24CFREU); the rights of the elderly (art. 25-CFREU). At this point it should be observed that the child’s best interests (art. 24,1-2-CFREU) is an expression (inherited from the 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child) that presents fuzzy contours. The text provides no definition for this expression and, as Cortese (2005: 270) observes, the notion of best interests is so lacking in precision that on first impression it seems an axionymic, value-oriented appeal to empathy and good intentions. Inevitably, since the language-to-world correspondence is cognitively structured and culturally shared, vagueness is all the more inherent in language that tries to be effective without imposing the specific cultural scripts invoked by a given language, e.g. English” (emphasis of the author).

European institutions and MSs have realized that the harmonization process, which is exclusively restricted to private international law, will not be sufficient to achieve its goal of establishing a uniform area of freedom, security and justice in the field of family law (Pintens 2003). However, economic views, free movement of goods and service, the realization of an internal market are perhaps not the best staring points for achieving this goal. In the end, as Pintens has observed “there is a risk that family law will be downgraded to an auxiliary science of economic law, only serving to realize the economic goals of the Community” (2003: 28).

104

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

6. Final remarks An analysis of the legislative documents included in the corpus has illustrated that the discourse on the relationship between family law and Community law has changed significantly since the late 1990s. The divergence of national family laws was perceived to be akin to the wide discrepancy in laws affecting the free movement of goods and services. As Rodriguez Pineau (2003: 490) has observed, “the drive towards harmonization has been advocated from a classical standpoint, according to which a common private law in the EC was needed in order to guarantee effective European integration”. In the light of this, the diversity in family law was considered to be a serious obstacle to the free movement of persons within the EC and, therefore, the harmonization of national laws was needed in order to render the basic principle of Community freedom effective (Boele-Woelki 2003; Boele-Woelki 2007; Boele-Woelki and Sverdrup 2008). This project, however, leaves unanswered the question of the means by which a ‘common core’ of EU family law should be established. More specifically, • •

•

•

it remains to be seen whether family matters have an immediate impact upon the internal market or upon some of the fundamental economic freedom (Boele-Woelki 2003); the achievement of certain EU aims cannot be given unconditional priority; attention should be paid to other principles such as subsidiarity and respect for member states’ cultural identity (Bhatia et. al. 2008; Hyland 2009); the substantive contents of family law provisions seem to be influenced by legitimate diversity on cultural preferences. As Wodak and Weiss (2005) have pointed out, there is “a context-dependent negotiation of identities, and these are discursively con-constructed in interactions [...] The freedom of strategic and need-oriented choice is strongly dependent on position and context [...] In this context, shifting borders new/old ideologies, languages and language conflicts, and new laws determine and restrict the possibilities of participation of citizens in the EU” (2005: 128); it has become apparent that the relationship between discourse, politics, and identity in the field of family law is characterized by new and frequently ‘hybrid forms’. Hence, “the processes of (economic) globalization on the one hand, and (social) fragmentation, on the other, are calling into question the established identities or identity construction of groups, institutions and states” (Wodak and Weiss 2005: 129). From this point of view, Fairclough (2006) has noted that

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

105

texts are increasingly becoming ‘interdiscursively hybrid’. As he (2006: 167) writes, innovative production of texts is the source of variations of discourses, genres and styles, producing new hybrid discourses, genres and styles which may [...] be selected and retained, and incorporated into orders of discourse. [...] And such changes in orders of discourse are the semiotic moment of changes in relations between social practices, social institutions and organizations, social fields and social scales. [...] The semiotic moment of the construction of a new scale is the construction of a new semiotic order which is constituted by a new articulation of orders of discourse in particular relations within a particular space (be it the globe, Europe, a nation-state, or an urban region).

The Council believes that the harmonization of family law depends on the extent to which MSs are confident about the proper functioning of institutions in other countries and that this confidence can be enhanced by a greater convergence of substantive law. However, as Bhatia, Candlin and Engberg (2008) have observed, “economic globalization exercises a significant effect on relations among institutions, organizations and actors across societies, cultures and legal systems, through both law and language”. And, predictably, such a process will “influence all forms of legal relations through the creation and recreation of new forms of expressions for the construction of professional practices and identities” (Bhatia et al. 2008: 21). Are EU institutions and MSs ready to accept and constructively participate in political and cultural convergence in the field of family law? The unification of substantive family laws still has a long way to go (Pintens 2003), and it will be the task of future researchers to understand how the issue of family law harmonization should be linguistically and culturally interpreted/construed/understood and used within the European context (Swales 1990; Bhatia et al. 2008).

References Bhatia, Vijay K., Christopher Candlin, Jan Engberg and Anna Trosborg (eds). 2003. Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts of Legislation: An International Perspective. Bern: Peter Lang. Bhatia, Vijay K., Christopher Candlin and Jan Engberg (eds.). 2008. Legal Discourse across Cultures and Systems. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Boele-Woelki, Katharina. 2003. Perspectives for the Unification and Harmonisation of Family Law in Europe. Oxford / New York: Intersentia.

106

‘Europeanization’ of Family Law

—. 2007. The working method of the commission on european family law. In Maria C. Andrini (ed.), Un Nuovo Diritto di Famiglia Europeo. Padova: CEDAM. 197-224. Boele-Woelki, Katharina and Tone Sverdrup (eds.). 2008. European Challenges in Contemporary Family Law. Oxford / New York: Intersentia. Burton, William C. 2006. Burton’s Legal Thesaurus. New York: McGraw Hill. Cortese, Giuseppina. 2005. Indeterminacy in ‘rainbow’ legislation: The convention on the rights of the child. In Vijay K. Bhatia et al. (eds.), Vagueness in Normative Texts. Bern: Peter Lang. 255-285. De Franchis, Francesco. 1984. Dizionario Giuridico 1 Inglese-Italiano. Milano: Giuffrè Editore. —. 1996. Dizionario Giuridico 2 Italiano-Inglese. Milano: Giuffrè Editore. Engberg, Jan and Dorothy Heller (eds.). 2008. Vagueness and indeterminacy in law. In Vijay K. Bhatia et al. (eds.), Legal Discourse across Cultures and Systems. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 145-168. Fairclough, Norman. 2003. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London / New York: Routledge. —. 2006. Language and Globalization. London / New York: Routledge. Fairclough, Norman, Giuseppina Cortese and Ardizzone Patrizia (eds.). 2007. Discourse and Contemporary Social Change. Bern: Peter Lang. Falkner, Gerda, Oliver Treib, Miriam Hartlapp and Simone Leiber (eds.). 2005. Complying with Europe: EU Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fiorini, Aude. 2008. The codification of private international law in Europe: Could the community learn from the experience of mixed jurisdiction? EJCL 12/1. 1-16. Garner, Bryan C. 2001. A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (ed.). 2004. Black’s Law Dictionary. USA: Thomson West. Gotti, Maurizio and Vijay K. Bhatia (eds.). 2006. Explorations in Specialized Genres. Bern: Peter Lang. Gotti, Maurizio and Susan Šarþeviü (eds.). 2006. Insights into Specialized Translation. Bern: Peter Lang. Halliday, Michael A.K. 2002. Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. London / New York: Continuum. Hyland, Ken. 2009. Academic Discourse. London: Continuum. Jänterä-Jareborg, Maarit. 2003. Unification of International Family Law in Europe. A critical perspective. In Katharina Boele-Woelki Katharina

Patrizia Ardizzone and Giulia Adriana Pennisi

107

(ed.), Perspectives for the Unification and Harmonisation of Family Law in Europe. Antwerp: Intersentia. 194-216. Mattila, Heikki E.S. 2006. Comparative Legal Linguistics. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing. Pintens, Walter. 2003. Europeanisation of family law. In Katharina BoeleWoelki (ed.), Perspectives for the Unification and Harmonisation of Family Law in Europe. Oxford / New York: Intersentia. 3-33. Pozzo, Barbara and Valentina Jacometti (eds.). 2006. Multilingualism and the Harmonisation of European Law. Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Rodríguez Pineau, Elena. 2003. Regulating parental responsibility in the European Union. In Katharina Boele-Woelki (ed.), Perspectives for the Unification and Harmonisation of Family Law in Europe. Oxford / New York: Intersentia. 489-508. Scott, Michael. 2007. WordSmith Tools 4.0. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Swales, John M. 1990. Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wodak, Ruth and Paul Chilton (eds.). 2005. A New Agenda in (Critical) Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Wodak, Ruth and Gilbert Weiss. 2005. Analyzing European Union discourse. In Ruth Wodak (ed.), A New Agenda in (Critical) Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 121-135.

REGISTER VARIATION IN TOURISM TERMINOLOGY VIRGINIA PULCINI (UNIVERSITY OF TURIN)

1. The growing research field of tourism studies The language of tourism is increasingly attracting the attention of scholars for its pervasiveness in contemporary society and cross-cultural relevance. Several scholars have explored the world of tourism from various perspectives such as its sociolinguistic and promotional dimension (Dann 1996) and its socio-psychological and anthropological foundations (Cohen 2004). In Italy the institution of university degrees in tourism has greatly boosted research in this field so that a substantial number of studies are now available, addressing cultural, intercultural, cross-cultural, linguistic and translation issues (Manca 2004a, 2004b; Palusci and Francesconi 2006; Nigro 2006; Francesconi 2007; De Stasio and Palusci 2007). A close analysis of the language of tourism as specialized discourse has been provided by Gotti (2006), while the lexical features of different textual genres in tourism – brochures, travelogues, guidebooks and package tour itineraries – have been explored by Piovaz (2009) through the creation of a corpus of English tourist texts (PTIT, Professional Tourist Information Text). This chapter aims to contribute to the exploration of Italian tourism discourse from the narrow, but culturally relevant, perspective of lexis and terms. The starting argument is that the influence of English as a lingua franca of international communication has given rise to “multiple terminology”, so that experts have at their disposal both English and Italian terms. This has happened in the field of tourism as well as in many other areas of Italian specialized discourse. Drawing on data from a corpus of specialized tourism communication, some core Anglicisms in the field of tourism, along with their Italian equivalents, will be considered, in order to assess their status as terms in tourism specialized discourse. This analysis will be preceded by a short introduction to register variation in tourism discourse and to the principles of terminology.

110

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

2. Register variation in tourism discourse The language of tourism has been described as a type of “specialized discourse”, since it “possesses all the lexical, phonetic, morphosyntactic and textual resources of general language” and “the expressive richness of the general language” (Gotti 2006: 19). As happens in the other fields of specialized discourse, the level of specialization may vary, depending on the participants to the communicative event, giving rise to register variation along the linguistic parameter of tenor, i.e. the functional relationship between the participants. Most of the tourist texts that people are familiar with, ranging from brochures, advertisements, tourist guides and newspaper articles, belong to ‘scientific journalism’, which is the ‘least’ specialized form of communication in LSP, i.e. from experts to non-experts. Using a marketing term, most tourist language available to common people is of a B2C type (business to consumer) rather than B2B (business to business). The latter type of communication is undertaken by operators and stakeholders in tourism through specialized media such as, for example, magazines like Il Giornale del Turismo, which will be illustrated below. As far as field is concerned, tourism borders on other sub-fields which are closely related to it. In his study on textual genres, Piovaz (2009) has identified a set of positive keywords in a corpus of written tourist texts, showing that words related to ‘geographical locations’, ‘buildings/ monuments’, ‘architecture’, ‘meals and food’ and ‘transport’ display keyness (i.e. higher frequency in comparison to the norm) in tourism discourse. Moreover, tourism brochures and promotional texts normally present sports activities and forms of entertainment, fitness and body care. In other words, tourism textual genres are lexically dense and loaded with references to people’s heritage, culture, habits and lifestyles. By contrast, in B2B professional communication terms of business, economics and marketing are frequently used. To sum up, like many other types of specialized discourse, the language of tourism has a multi-dimensional nature and a range of different registers.

3. The terminological principle According to terminologists, ‘terms’ identify a single concept and unambiguously serve the communicative purposes of experts in a specialized field (Cabré 1999). The difference between word and term is that a word is a unit of language referring to an element in reality, whereas a term is a word referring to an element in a specialized domain.

Virginia Pulcini

111

For example, the term hub (see 5. below) has more than one meaning associated with separate specialized fields: in aviation it refers to “an airport or city through which an airline routes most of its traffic”; in information technology it denotes “a central device that connects multiple computers on a single network”; in mechanics it means “the central part of a circular object (as a wheel or propeller)” (Merriam-Webster); the word hub may also carry a generic figurative meaning of “focus, core or central part of s.th.” (OALD). So, both lexicology and terminology deal with words, but while lexicology is word-oriented, i.e. is concerned with lexical items and concepts that are associated with them (the meaning/s of words and polysemy), terminology is concept-oriented, i.e. it deals with concepts and the lexical items that are associated with them. In terminology the univocal relationship between concept and term, within a specific conceptual system and a specific type of discourse, is very important. Standardization of terms is a central issue, to avoid/reduce/eliminate polysemy and homonymy in specialized lexicons in order to achieve clear and accurate communication among experts. Thus, terminology would deal with the three instances of hub illustrated above as three distinct homonymous terms. However, while terminology sensu stricto should be confined to communication among experts in specific subject fields, when communication occurs at other levels, i.e. expert to non-expert (“scientific instruction” Gotti 2006) or from specialists to a wider audience (when science is popularized), as in magazines and newspapers (“scientific journalism” Gotti 2006), the dividing line between the general language and specialized discourse becomes blurred. On the other hand, the subject field itself may be more or less specialized, according to the traditional distinction between “hard” and “soft” sciences; indeed, we may logically predict that a biomedical manual is likely to be less accessible than a tourist brochure. As Cabré explains: If we extend terminology to include professional or sports vocabularies, or those vocabularies related to some human activity, the number of terminology users increases and diversifies substantially and at the same time the degree of specialization of these uses decreases considerably. (Cabré 1999: 114)

As a result of the popularization of technical and scientific disciplines, the one-to-one principle of terminology is often violated by the existence of synonyms or near-synonyms. Borrowing a term from pragmatics, ‘flouting’ (i.e. ‘breaking’) the terminological principle of monorefe-

112

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

rentiality means having more than one term at one’s disposal to refer to the same concept: this happens when a specialized subject is handled by nonspecialists: for example when a popular term is introduced to replace a scientific one for communication among non-specialists (in the field of medicine H1N1 influenza, popularly known as bird flu is a good example). Although we have defined the language of tourism as specialized discourse, it can undoubtedly be placed among ‘soft-sciences’ and its vocabulary is close to or largely overlaps with the general language. To illustrate this point we can take the lexical items booking and reservation. Dictionaries describe the verbs book and reserve as near synonyms signalled by cross-reference. The difference lies in the fact that when you book something you normally “arrange to have or use sth on a particular date in the future” (OALD), whereas when you reserve something you ask for something “to be available for you or sb else at a future time” (OALD). This dictionary also explains and recommends: “in American English book is not used if you do not have to pay in advance; instead use make a reservation NAmE”. So to make a booking and to make a reservation may function as equivalent expressions in a variety of situations but not always. Booking seems to be more of a “core” term in tourism and to express a more specific meaning. Also the collocational patterning of the words booking and reservation are not totally overlapping. For example, the British National Corpus shows that both words can collocate with airline to form the NPs airline booking and airline reservation. However, the term booking can collocate with holiday to form the NP holiday booking but not with reservation (*holiday reservation). Similar comparisons can be made between the terms low season vs off-season (the latter can also be used in the field of sport), front desk vs reception, and even to different types of accommodation which may be roughly equivalent such as bed &breakfast, guesthouse, or boarding house.

4. Multiple terminology in the Italian language of tourism New terms are created through various word-formation processes. One of the simplest ways is to borrow a term from another language and subsequently adapt it and integrate it into the recipient language. However, the foreign term is often borrowed in its non-adapted form, and then finds itself in competition with a native equivalent. Since tourism has become a global industry dominated by the use of English, the lingua franca of international communication and business, many languages, including Italian, have borrowed and assimilated a large number of English words to refer to things and concepts in specialized

Virginia Pulcini

113

domains. Tourism is no exception. However, Anglicisms used in Italian in the field of tourism normally ‘cohabit’ with Italian equivalents, as in the following examples: tour operator/operatore turistico, booking/prenotazione, terminal/aerostazione. In other words, the English and the Italian terms can be used interchangeably to represent the same referent. However, as we shall see, they are not always equally economical or specific. Linguistically, the English/Italian pairs mentioned above cannot be labelled as synonyms but rather as equivalents.

5. A Corpus of B2B tourist language: Il Giornale del Turismo The data for this research have been extracted from a corpus of specialized tourist communication, which contains articles from the weekly magazine Il Giornale del Turismo (GdT). This B2B magazine, founded in 2000, whose paper version has a circulation of more than 10,000 copies, is distributed to operators of the tourism sector, namely travel agencies, tour operators, airline/ferry/cruise companies, hotel groups, national tourist boards, foreign representative organizations in Italy, tourism exhibition organizers, press offices, media centres and associations for tourism promotion.1 The GdT corpus contains articles downloaded from the online version of the GdT from mid-September to mid-December 2010 and contains 152,133 tokens and 15,165 types. When reading the articles published in this magazine, the overall impression is that the influence of English is quite strong: indeed, most of the names of airlines, hotels and holiday complexes, airports, associations and events are in English. The informative nature of such texts calls for a very simple, dynamic, business-like style, also characterized by the overuse of Anglicisms which is typical of much Italian professional and technical communication, as is shown in the following extract: SINA Fine Italian Hotels proporrà ai propri top clients gli esclusivi servizi ed opportunità del 2011: vantaggi e benefits per il business traveller che non rinuncia al comfort ed alle pause di relax; al segmento mice saranno dedicate promozioni speciali per eventi, mentre per gli agenti di viaggi del settore leisure saranno riservati pacchetti dedicati alle festività, agli appassionati d’arte, agli amanti della natura e della gastronomia. (Categoria: Alberghi, 11/11/2010)

1

Cf. http://www.ilgiornaledelturismo.com/aboutusen.php

114

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

Tourism being an international industry dominated by the use of English, Italian operators in this field tend to favour this language. English is considered more modern and dynamic, and a sign of prestige and competence, or a status symbol, by many professionals and experts. The influence of English is evident not only in the use of many non-adapted Anglicisms but also in some “jargon” expressions or English calques such as voli domestici (domestic flights, in Italian voli nazionali), voli schedulati (scheduled flights, in Italian voli programmati), budgettare i prezzi (to budget prices, in Italian fissare i prezzi). Names of jobs or professional roles, which would deserve special treatment, are often expressed in English, as for example, sales&business development manager, director of business management and chief marketing officer. However, many specific terms used by operators and professionals do not have an equivalent in Italian, and therefore should not be considered as unneeded stylistic resources but “necessary” items to express concepts which are not (yet) lexicalized in Italian. The GdT corpus is divided into 16 files of different size, each containing the articles present in the sixteen sub-sections of the magazine in the period considered, which reflect the most interesting topic areas. The categories, in decreasing order of size (the number of words in each category divided by the total number of words in the corpus), are the following: Tour operator (16.9%), Compagnie aeree (16%), Incoming (14.2%), Aeroporti (8.2%), Turismo (6.3%), Associazioni (6%), Dal mondo (5.9), Alberghi (5%), Enti (4.6%), Trasporti (4.3%), Economia (3.5%), Network (2.9%), Fiere (2.8%), Distribuzione (2.1%), Congressi (1.2%), Agenzie (0.1%). As can be noticed, three categories – Tour operator, Incoming and Network – have English headings. The size of the categories also shows that the main aim of this magazine is to spread information about transport, especially about airline companies and airports, which are essential for international travel, followed by news that interests tour operators and is relevant to the incoming flow of tourists (the number of foreign tourists coming to Italy on holiday). The most frequent Anglicisms extracted from the GdT corpus and related to tourism are the following: tour operator, resort, codeshare/codesharing, low cost, incoming, booking, charter, last minute, hub, check-in, leisure, all inclusive, business travel, voyage designer, fam trip, terminal, home port, and location. These terms are listed in Table 1 below, with their occurrences (indicated by a raw figure and a percentage per 10,000 words) and their Italian equivalent terms and respective frequencies in the GdT corpus.

Virginia Pulcini

115

Table 1: The most frequent tourism Anglicisms and Italian equivalents in the GdT corpus. Anglicism tour operator

occurrence

ϵ

Italian equivalent

occurrence

operatore turistico operatore club struttura villaggio

22 39 47 25 13

ϵ 1.40 2.50 3.00 1.60 0.80

125

8.20

resort

77

5.00

codeshare/codesharing

32

2.10

low cost

28

1.90

basso costo

6

0.30

incoming

19

1.20

in arrivo

3

0.19

booking

18

1.18

prenotazione

33

2.10

charter

18

1.18

last minute

15

0.98

ultimo minuto

1

0.06

hub

11

0.72

check-in

10

0.65

leisure

10

0.65

all inclusive

8

0.52

tutto compreso

2

0.13

business travel

8

0.52

viaggi d’affari

4

0.26

voyage designer

8

0.52

fam trip

7

0.46

terminal

7

0.46

aerostazione

2

0.13

home port

6

0.39

porto di partenza

2

0.13

location

6

0.39

As highlighted above, the sub-field of air transport features very frequently in the GdT magazine and many Anglicisms belong to this sector. The selected terms will be described below with reference, in particular, to their status as specialized tourism terms and their Italian equivalents, when these exist. Definitions are taken from Italian dictionaries (Zingarelli, Devoto-Oli), when attested, and equivalents have been checked in bilingual dictionaries (Hoepli, Oxford-Paravia) and in a bilingual dictionary of tourism (Bait-Vergallo).

116

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

5.1. Tour operator (125, 8.2%ϵ ϵ)2 – Operatore turistico (22, 1.4ϵ ϵ)

Tour operator is the most frequent tourist term in the GdT corpus, and is largely preferred to Italian operatore turistico, or simply operatore (39, 2.5ϵ). This term defines the following: Chi organizza viaggi per turisti, stabilisce itinerari, prenota alberghi e mezzi di trasporto, stipulando anche contratti con agenzie di altri Paesi per incrementare il turismo nel proprio. SIN. Operatore turistico. (Zingarelli)

According to the general rule of loanwords, tour operator takes zeroinflections also when it is used in the plural (only one case takes the -s plural inflection). In Italian it is used in the plural 20 times out of 22. As both English and Italian terms are monoreferential, they can be considered fully equivalent; the preference for English may be dictated by practical reasons related to the international nature of this job. Stylistically, the positive connotation carried by English loanwords can be extended to all Anglicisms in general. As far as agente di viaggi/viaggio (6, 0.3ϵ  and organizzatore di viaggi (not present in the corpus) are concerned, it is important to distinguish the two roles: a tour operator is a company that organizes tours (e.g. the British tour operator Thomas Cook), whereas a travel agent (agente di viaggi/viaggio) is a person who sells travel products. See, for example, the following: ‘The Other Egypt’, che punta sul turismo eco-sostenibile, sarà riproposto anche quest’anno a tour operator ed agenti di viaggi siciliani, nell’ambito della terza edizione del roadshow che si terrà lunedì a Catania. (Categoria: Enti, 26/11/2010)

5.2. Resort (77, 5ϵ ϵ) The term resort in Italian has undergone a semantic process of narrowing and metonymic extension. Whereas the word resort is polysemic in 2

This figure partially confirms previous findings on a corpus of sports articles about the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics, in which the two most frequent terms, “sport” and “hockey”, had a frequency score of 1.1 ‰ and 0.6 ‰ (11ϵ and 6ϵ respectively) (Pulcini 2008). On the basis of these data, we may claim that the most frequent Anglicism in a corpus of Italian specialized discourse (be it of sport or tourism) is between 6 and 11 every 10,000 words.

Virginia Pulcini

117

English, denoting in tourism “a place where a lot of people go on holiday/vacation”, in Italian it refers to one and the same referent, not to a holiday place, but to a hotel or holiday complex: Struttura alberghiera situata in località turistiche (Zingarelli)

Thus, the Italian equivalent località di soggiorno, given by BaitVergallo does not match the meaning of resort in Italian, since, according to the data from the GdT corpus, località is normally used to refer to the “geographical location”, as in the following example: Capri si riconferma la località turistica italiana più cercata sul portale di informazioni turistiche hotels.com (Categoria: Incoming, 12/10/2010)

Devoto-Oli highlights the semantic change of resort in Italian with respect to the geographical reference in the following definition: Albergo situato in spazi aperti, al di fuori di un centro urbano: un r. nel deserto ™ Propr. “luogo di vacanza, luogo di soggiorno”Œ 1989.

A possible Italian equivalent of resort is villaggio (13, 0.8ϵ), which describes a holiday complex offering accommodation in bungalows and a range of sport and leisure facilities, as described in the following definition: Villaggio turistico, villaggio vacanze, complesso di villette, bungalow e sim. fornito di attrezzature sportive e per il tempo libero situato in località di interesse turistico. (Zingarelli)

It should be noted that, while villaggio turistico occurs three times in our corpus, villaggio vacanze is not found in the corpus. Other terms are complesso turistico (4, 0.26ϵ), struttura and club. While struttura is often used generically, several occurrences in the corpus (25, 1.6ϵ)have the meaning of hotel or holiday complex, some collocates being alberghiera, ricettiva, as illustrated in the following example: L’acquisizione di Palazzo Montemartini – sottolinea Gianluca Giglio, Direttore generale della Ragosta Hotels Collection – è un chiaro segno della nostra crescita e della nostra intenzione di essere presenti al top del segmento alberghiero italiano, offrendo ai viaggiatori sia leisure sia business strutture moderne e raffinate in aree tra le più belle e suggestive del Paese, proprio come nel caso di Palazzo Montemartini, struttura alberghiera extralusso che si prepara a diventare il nostro fiore all’occhiello. (Categoria: Alberghi, 26/10/2010)

118

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

The term club (47, 3ϵ), which in Italian is also a well-integrated Anglicism used in contexts other than tourism, is commonly found in names of tourist boards (Touring Club), tour operators (Club Med) and holiday complexes (Club Reef); it is also used to refer to a facility especially designed to entertain guests, especially young ones, as in mini club, petit club, Teens Club: Ambiente perfetto anche per una vacanza in famiglia, il resort offre ai suoi piccoli ospiti un attrezzato spazio giochi: il Bob Marlin Club per bambini dai 3 ai 12 anni, con un ristorante loro dedicato, ed il Teens Club, con attività riservate ai ragazzi dai 12 ai 17 anni. (Categoria: Tour operator, 19/10/2010)

A beach club is a coffee bar or a restaurant situated on the beach and formula club refers to the possibility for customers to access sports and leisure facilities offered by a hotel or holiday complex. In Italian tourism discourse the word club has a flavour of exclusiveness and luxury, but is rarely used in a generic sense, as in the following example: Un catalogo di Sweet Emotion dedicato ai Club in esclusiva per il mercato italiano è la novità dell’operatore per la stagione autunno-inverno. Il tour operator propone un Club in una destinazione programmata da tempo come il Brasile e due new entry come il Messico ed il Madagascar. (Categoria: Tour operator, 12/10/2010)

In conclusion, in modern mass tourism the term resort, with its monosemic semantic status, hyperonymic value, and specificity, is considered to be better suited semantically as a term to refer to holiday accommodation complexes, rather than villaggio turistico, struttura or club. In the examples below, we may notice that villaggio, hotel and resort are presented as different types of holiday complexes, which proves that the terms are not interchangeable: L’offerta riguarda tutte le tipologie di vacanza quali week end nelle capitali europee, villaggi, soggiorni presso hotel e resort, settimane bianche, crociere, gift e tour di medio e lungo raggio. (Categoria: Network, 18/10/2010) Le prime pagine del catalogo sono dedicate a vacanze mare in destinazioni decisamente adatte alle esigenze dei turisti italiani, con 26 soluzioni di soggiorno in resort e villaggi in formula all inclusive [...] (Categoria: Network, 2/12/2010)

Virginia Pulcini

119

5.3. Codeshare / Codesharing (32, 2.1ϵ ϵ) This is a technical term of aviation, with no equivalent in Italian, frequently used in the GdT corpus and defined by Devoto-Oli as follows: Accordo commerciale tra due compagnie aeree che operano sulla stessa tratta ognuna con il proprio aereo e decidono di mantenere uno solo dei due voli vendendo ciascuna anche per conto dell’altro i posti disponibili a bordo: accordo commerciale di c.s. ™ Comp. di code ‘codice’ e sharing ‘compartecipazione’ Œ 2000.

According to the data, the terms codeshare – which occurs also as a hyphenated compound and as two separate words – and codesharing – which occurs both as a solid compound and as two separate words – can be used as masculine noun (il codeshare), as modifier (accordo codeshare) or in the phrase in codeshare, in codesharing, and their most frequent collocational pattern, recorded by Devoto-Oli, is accordo di; these uses are respectively shown in the following examples from the corpus: Il codeshare rafforzerà la presenza di entrambe le aziende nei rispettivi mercati e faciliterà il collegamento per i passeggeri in volo verso altre città in Asia o Sud America. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree 28/9/2010) E per l’Italia, dallo scorso settembre, Swiss ha ampliato l’offerta grazie al nuovo volo in codeshare operato dalla nuova compagnia elvetica Helvetic Airways che collega quotidianamente Bari con Zurigo. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree, 15/12/2010) Oltre agli accordi di codeshare, la collaborazione tra Alitalia e Jet Airways prevede partnership su programmi frequent flyer, su attività di scalo e su servizi cargo. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree 18/10/2010)

Since compartecipazione is never found in the corpus, codeshare can be considered a technical term of aviation with no translation equivalent in Italian.

5.4. Low cost (29, 1.9ϵ ϵ) – Basso costo (6, 0.3ϵ ϵ) Although this term has become quite current in modern tourism, low cost is not recorded as a separate entry by Zingarelli (it is only embedded in the entry for the adjective low), whereas Devoto-Oli includes it as headword and defines it as follows:

120

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology Di compagnia aerea che, grazie ai bassi costi di gestione, può fare offerte molto vantaggiose.

Considering its collocates in the GdT corpus, low cost has several grammatical functions, i.e. adjective (compagnia aerea low cost, voli low cost), noun (le low cost) and adverb (vola low cost). Nella suddivisione per tipologia di vettore, i passeggeri su voli di linea tradizionali sono al primo posto (265.427), seguiti da quelli su voli low cost (188.459) e da quelli su voli charter (39.064). (Categoria: Aeroporti, 9/11/2010)

Bait-Vergallo provides the Italian equivalent basso costo which is far less frequent than low cost (turismo a basso costo, voli a basso costo). In conclusion, low cost is preferred to basso costo, although the two terms are both acceptable in Italian tourism discourse.

5.5. Incoming (19, 1.2ϵ ϵ) – in arrivo (3, 0.19ϵ ϵ) The importance of the incoming flow of tourists in terms of economic revenue for a country explains why incoming is the heading of one of the categories of the GdT magazine. This term is far more frequent than outgoing, which occurs only once in the corpus. Incoming is not recorded in Italian dictionaries, with the exception of Bait-Vergallo, which provides the following equivalent and explanation: in arrivo, flussi turistici in entrata. While in arrivo appears only three times with this specific reference and other times in different, generic senses, in entrata is not found in the corpus. According to the data, incoming can be used as noun (l’incoming), as modifier (responsabile incoming) and as a synonym of ingresso (traffico in incoming turistico), as shown in the following examples from the corpus: Auratours consolida l’incoming e lancia un nuovo catalogo. (Categoria: Tour operator, 8/11/2010) Il nuovo catalogo di 56 pagine - spiega Rocco Moscariello, responsabile incoming – ripropone i classici excorted tours dal Lago Maggiore alla Sicilia (Categoria: Tour operator, 8/11/2010) Noi lavoriamo per chiudere un accordo economicamente vantaggioso sia per Aeradria che per il territorio sotto il profilo dei passeggeri in incoming turistico. (Categoria: Aeroporti, 22/11/2010)

Virginia Pulcini

121

The last example shows that the morphological formation of this loanword (preposition+verb compound) is not recognized by the recipient users so that the term becomes free to develop according to the phraseological rules of the borrowing language. In conclusion, incoming appears to be the preferred term in specialized tourism discourse, and in arrivo is the equivalent, though less frequent, term in Italian.

5.6. Booking (18, 1.18ϵ ϵ) – Prenotazione (33, 2.1ϵ ϵ) This is the only case in which the Italian term occurs more frequently than the English one. Italian dictionaries define booking by means of its translation equivalent prenotazione. Zingarelli also records the compound advanced booking and defines it as follows: Prenotazione fatta con notevole anticipo, spec. per l’acquisto a prezzo scontato di biglietti o viaggi. CFR. First minute, last minute.

The currency of this compound is confirmed by the GdT data, according to which, apart from 7 cases where booking appears alone and 1 case as web booking, advance booking (6, 0.39ϵ) and advanced booking (3, 0.19ϵ) – both acceptable in English – are the most frequent expressions present in the GdT corpus. The most typical collocates of prenotazione are online (5 occurrences) and anticipate (3 occurrences). To sum up, prenotazione is preferred to booking, but advance booking (see example below) is preferred to prenotazione anticipata. Blu Fly propone offerte e pacchetti con forti promozioni tariffarie per chi decide di affidarsi all’advance booking, fino al 25% di riduzione per chi prenota fino a 60 giorni dalla partenza e fino al 10% per chi prenota invece con 30 giorni di anticipo la propria vacanza. (Categoria: Tour operator, 1/10/2010)

5.7. Charter (18, 1.18ϵ ϵ) This is a well-known term in Italian. Its Italian translation equivalent, a noleggio, is used in the GdT corpus only with reference to cars or yachts but not to airplanes. Its definition, in aviation, is the following: In aeronautica, aereo speciale noleggiato a basso costo per gruppi numerosi di viaggiatori; anche come agg. (Devoto-Oli)

122

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

This is confirmed by the data from the GdT corpus, where charter is used in most cases as an adjective and in few cases as a noun (always uninflected), the former collocating with voli and volo (flights and flight), as in the following example: Sono almeno 100 i voli charter da e per Pescara che consentiranno il flusso costante dei turisti tra il 2011 e il 2012. (Categoria: Incoming, 1/12/2010)

Thus, charter appears to be the only term expressing a specific meaning in aviation.

5.8. Last minute (15, 0.98ϵ ϵ) – Ultimo minuto (1, 0.06ϵ ϵ) Recently the compound adjective last minute (in Italian spelt as two words or a solid compound, as opposed to English, where it is usually hyphenated) has become quite current and popular to denote the purchasing of a ticket or holiday deal with a good discount price. In Italian last minute is used as adjective (vacanza last minute, domanda last minute) and noun (il last minute) with the following meaning given by Zingarelli: Detto di biglietto o viaggio acquistato con forte sconto poco prima della partenza: offerta last minute. B anche loc. sost. m. inv.: le occasioni del last minute. CFR. First minute, advanced booking.

The lexical environment of last minute in Italian, which includes, for example, words such as offerte, occasioni, shows that the term carries positive semantic prosody, as shown in the following example: Nuovo tool per le agenzie affiliate a SeaNet Travel Network, grazie al quale l’intermediazione potrà avere una gestione totale del last minute con offerte mirate da proporre ai propri clienti. (Categoria: Network, 3/11/2010)

The negative connotation of last minute as something done “before it is too late”, which the word can have in English, is not found in Italian tourism discourse. Last minute is far more frequently used than ultimo minuto, which occurs only once in the GdT corpus (offerte ultimo minuto).

Virginia Pulcini

123

5.9. Hub (11, 0.72ϵ ϵ) The term hub has two different meanings in Italian, one in information technology (see 3. above) and the other in aviation, as defined by DevotoOli: Aeroporto internazionale di transito, cui fanno capo numerose rotte aeree e che raccoglie la maggior parte del traffico di un dato paese. ™ Propr. “snodo” Œ1997.

The GdT corpus also contains an instance of hub in connection with cruising (hub da crociera). Hub has the linguistic advantage of conciseness with respect to the Italian equivalent nodo aeroportuale, proposed by Bait-Vergallo, which is never used in the GdT corpus. Hub is attributed masculine gender in Italian and does not have any preferred collocates. An example of hub is the following: Con Buenos Aires che serve da hub in America Latina per i voli da e per importanti destinazioni nella regione, i clienti SkyTeam potranno raggiungere più facilmente la parte meridionale del Sud America e in particolare la Patagonia, mete molto popolari tra i viaggiatori di tutto il mondo. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree, 1/12/2010)

Because of these characteristics, the term hub has been successfully integrated into Italian.

5.10. Check-in (10, 0.65ϵ ϵ) Check-in is a well-known and fully integrated term in Italian; according to Devoto-Oli, its definition is: L’accettazione dei passeggeri di un volo aereo effettuata nei locali di un aeroporto, e consistente nel controllo del biglietto e nel ritiro dei bagagli. ™ Der. di (to) check in ‘registrare, farsi registrare’Œ prima del 1974.

The Italian equivalent of check-in, i.e. accettazione, is never used in the GdT corpus. The noun check-in is attributed masculine gender in Italian and it usually enters into the phraseological pattern fare il check-in. Its most frequent collocate in the corpus is online, as in the following example: Con un intervento di aggiornamento e restyling è stato reso più veloce e funzionale il servizio di check-in online della Qatar Airways che permette di stampare direttamente a casa o in ufficio la propria carta d’imbarco o di

124

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology ricevere le indicazioni della carta d’imbarco sul telefono cellulare. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree, 16/11/2010)

Check-in can also be modifier (zona check-in). The term has also undergone a process of metonymic extension as check-in desk, one occurrence of which has been found in the corpus: Evitare file ai check-in, controlli e scanner oltre a lunghe attese nelle sale di imbarco e viaggiare come degli executive manager di grandi multinazionali è il sogno di molte persone. (Categoria: Tour operator, 29/10/2010)

In conclusion, check-in is a current, highly successful term of Italian tourism discourse, especially in the field of air-travel.

5.11. Leisure (10, 0.65ϵ ϵ) The term leisure is only recorded by Bait-Vergallo with the meaning of tempo libero, tempo a disposizione. In tourism specialized discourse leisure possesses quite a strong semantic value, as it denotes an important sub-sector, namely leisure tourism, which involves travelling for enjoyment, as opposed to business tourism, which involves travelling for work. While leisure is a noun and a modifier in English, in Italian it is normally used as an adjective/modifier (settore leisure, turismo leisure), as shown in the following example from the GdT corpus: Italian Hotels proporrà ai propri top clients gli esclusivi servizi ed opportunità del 2011: vantaggi e benefits per il business traveller che non rinuncia al comfort ed alle pause di relax; al segmento mice saranno dedicate promozioni speciali per eventi, mentre per gli agenti di viaggi del settore leisure saranno riservati pacchetti dedicati alle festività, agli appassionati d’arte, agli amanti della natura e della gastronomia. (Categoria: Alberghi, 11/11/2010)

Leisure appears to be a specialized term which is not used in Italian general language, since common people normally take it for granted that tourism is a leisure activity and are not aware of such distinctions in the tourism industry. The Italian expression tempo libero represents a possible equivalent which, because of its length and generic reference, does not possess the same specific semantic value of the English term.

Virginia Pulcini

125

5.12. All inclusive (8, 0.52ϵ ϵ) – Tutto compreso (2, 0.13ϵ ϵ) The term all inclusive is quite common in Italian, coexisting with the expression tutto compreso. Zingarelli defines it as follows: Che include nel prezzo tutti i servizi e le attività elencati in un programma, un contratto e sim.: viaggio all inclusive.

All inclusive is normally spelt as two separate words in Italian, whereas in English it is usually hyphenated (all-inclusive). Its grammatical function is that of an adjective (formula all inclusive) but it can also be used as a noun in both languages; it also occurs in the pattern in all inclusive, as shown in the following examples: Le prime pagine del catalogo sono dedicate a vacanze mare in destinazioni decisamente adatte alle esigenze dei turisti italiani, con 26 soluzioni di soggiorno in resort e villaggi in formula all inclusive o in pensione completa in località di lungo raggio come Maldive, Cuba, Mauritius, Kenya, Zanzibar [...] (Categoria: Network, 2/12/2010) Ampia l’offerta di resort, con trattamenti che spaziano dal B&B all’all inclusive. (Categoria: Tour operator, 2/12/2010) Zanzibar – Jambiani, Villa de Coco 3 stelle in Pensione Completa più bevanda; Messico – Riviera Maya, Barcelò Maya Caribe 5 stelle in All Inclusive; Santo Domingo – Punta Cana, Barcelò Dominican Beach in All Inclusive. (Categoria: Tour operator, 28/10/2010)

The Italian equivalent of all inclusive is tutto compreso (formula tutto compreso, viaggi tutto compreso), whereas tutto incluso is preferably found in connection with prices (tariffa di lancio a partire da 736 euro tutto incluso a/r).

5.13. Business travel (8, 0.52ϵ ϵ) – Viaggi d’affari (4, 0.26ϵ ϵ) The term business travel features with a certain frequency in the specialized register of Italian tourism discourse because of its importance in this kind of industry, as was explained above in relation to the term leisure. The Italian equivalent viaggi d’affari also occurs but less frequently. As a noun, business travel can occur on its own as a masculine noun; just as for leisure, it collocates with settore, as shown in the following examples:

126

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology La domanda per il business travel a livello internazionale è la base della ripresa dell’economia globale. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree, 17/11/2010) I nostri plus sono ideali sia per le incentive house che per il settore business travel, nonché adatti agli appassionati di attività outdoor in moto che possono scegliere il Québec come meta perfetta per il turismo on the road. (Categoria: Compagnie aeree, 10/11/2010)

5.14. Voyage designer (8, 0.52ϵ) Voyage designer is a neologism, not yet attested in dictionaries. This term is full of expressivity and conveys a flavour of sophistication and exclusiveness which is meant to surround the sector of tourism addressed to affluent customers. Although it is a new term, a Google search of the term voyage designer has yielded 2.910 hits. The following examples explain what a voyage designer is and also offers the possible Italian translation equivalent stilista dei viaggi. Il ‘Voyage Designer’, lo stilista dei viaggi (una figura professionale sviluppatasi negli Stati Uniti), ha nel nome la propria missione: la soddisfazione del cliente attraverso la ricerca dello stile in una vacanza tailor made. Il Voyage Designer è, quindi, un professionista che, adattandosi alle esigenze del cliente, si reca nei luoghi e nelle ore desiderate, alla stregua di un ‘personal shopper’, in grado di proporre e organizzare itinerari su misura per ogni singolo cliente. (Categoria: Network, 28/9/2010)

Bait-Vergallo records the term trip planner (in Italian programmatore di viaggi) which is similar to, but not as expressive as, voyage designer. Other possible equivalent expressions are consulente turistico, consulente di viaggio, which, however, are not equally evocative. The term voyage designer is perhaps likely to have success in Italian, although it is not yet integrated nor lexicalized in Italian.

5.15. Fam trip (7, 0.46ϵ ϵ) This is another neologism which is attested in Bait-Vergallo as familiarization trip (in Italian viaggio di familiarizzazione), of which fam trip represents a clipped form. The term fam trip is used without any explanation in the GdT corpus, which means that it is well-known to experts in this field; e.g.:

Virginia Pulcini

127

La Repubblica Dominicana, impegnata nel mantenere vivo e consolidare il rapporto con i maggiori tour operator che operano sulla destinazione con costanza e serietà, tra le svariate attività di promozione ha organizzato due fam trip destinati agli agenti di viaggi, entrambi realizzati in questo mese. (Categoria: Enti, 28/9/2010)

Being a specialized term used by operators in the tourism field, fam trip is not current in general Italian nor is it attested in general dictionaries. Therefore, it was necessary to search for a definition using online resources; as a result it has been found that a fam trip is a promotional activity addressed to travel agents, i.e., familiarization trip. A low-cost trip or tour offered to travel agents by a supplier or group of suppliers to familiarize the agents with their destination and services. Example, a resort property or group of hotels and restaurants in Aruba might team up with an airline or tour operator to offer a discount fam trip to the resort or to Aruba. Generally referred to as a “fam trip.” (www.travel-industry-dictionary.com)

5.16. Terminal (7, 0.46ϵ ϵ) – Aerostazione (2, 0.13ϵ ϵ) The term terminal is an abbreviation of the English air terminal, defined by Devoto-Oli as follows: Stazione terminale urbana di line aeree, per il servizio di merci e passeggeri in partenza per l’aeroporto o in arrivo da questo. ™ Propr. “capolinea aereo” Œ 1963.

Terminal has two meanings in Italian: the first corresponds to the English air-terminal/terminal (“a building at an airport that provides services for passengers travelling by plane”, OALD); the second meaning (“capolinea per trasporti terrestri, marittimi o fluviali”, Devoto-Oli), which is the same in English, is only referred to road/river/sea transport. The first meaning is illustrated in the following example: Presso l’aeroporto di Roma Fiumicino, Alitalia predisporrà un desk dedicato, nell’area Arrivi del Terminal 1, dove i pellegrini potranno ritirare i voucher di Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi. (Categoria; Incoming, 30/11/2010)

The meaning of terminal in air-transport coexists with the Italian term aerostazione, which is, however, far less frequent, at least in B2B communication.

128

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

5.17. Home port (6, 0.39ϵ ϵ) – Porto di partenza (2, 0.13ϵ ϵ) The term home port is a specialized term of cruising, not found in Italian general or specialized dictionaries. Its Italian equivalent, given by the bilingual dictionary Oxford-Paravia is porto d’immatricolazione. The specialized meaning of home port is illustrated in the definitions below, the first from the Merriam-Webster dictionary and the second from an online glossary of tourism terms: The port from which a ship hails or from which it is documented (Merriam-Webster) home port. 1. n. The port at which a cruise ship is based and from which it sails most frequently. 2. v. To base a cruise ship at a particular port. (www.travel-industry-dictionary.com)

Home port appears to be quite current in specialized tourism discourse; the Italian equivalent given by Oxford-Paravia, porto d’immatricolazione, is never used in the corpus, but the expression porto di partenza is contained in the following example: Secondo Pierfrancesco Vago, amministratore delegato di MSC crociere, “Abu Dhabi avrà grandi vantaggi economici con il nuovo status di home port. Siamo fieri di diventare la prima compagnia da crociera a scegliere Abu Dhabi come porto di partenza”. (Categoria: Tour operator, 27/10/2010)

The integration of home port as a technical Anglicism in Italian is difficult to foresee, as porto di partenza seems to be equally eligible.

5.18. Location (6, 0.39ϵ ϵ) In the general language, the term location in Italian is normally associated with film-making, as explained in the following definition: Ambiente esterno nel quale si gira un film (o uno spot pubblicitario) o si realizza un servizio fotografico. ™ Propr. “posizione” Œ1993 (Devoto-Oli)

The Italian equivalents of location are ubicazione, posizione (BaitVergallo) which sound quite generic. The use of location as a specialized term in tourism seems to be dictated by stylistic reasons; the particular characteristics of a location chosen for shooting a film is extended to the location especially selected for a tourist event, as illustrated in the following example from the GdT corpus:

Virginia Pulcini

129

Si è svolta sabato scorso la festa che ha celebrato i primi 40 anni di Cisalpina Tours, la cui nascita risale al 20 ottobre 1970. Location scelta è stata Venaria Reale, uno dei luoghi simbolo della ‘piemontesità’ che caratterizza le origini di Cisalpina Tours. (Categoria: Network, 20/10/2010)

Thus, the term location is loaded with semantic expressivity which is not conveyed by the general Italian equivalents ubicazione, posizione or simply luogo.

6. Conclusion The illustration of some of the most frequent terms used by operators in the field of tourism in B2B communication leads to two main conclusions. Firstly, several English terms coexist with Italian equivalent terms (tour operator/operatore turistico, low cost/basso costo, incoming/in arrivo, last minute/ultimo minuto, all inclusive/tutto compreso, business travel/viaggi d’affari, terminal/aerostazione, home port/porto di partenza) and English terms are normally preferred, with the only exception of Italian prenotazione which is more frequently used than English booking. We may argue, then, that the ‘cohabitation’ of a foreign term along with a native equivalent can be regarded as a special case of ‘multiple’ specialized terminology. Secondly, quite a few terms do not have an Italian equivalent (resort, codeshare/codesharing, charter, hub, check-in, leisure, voyage designer, fam trip and location) or that the possible equivalent terms and expressions (villaggio turistico, struttura for resort; tempo libero for leisure, posizione/ubicazione for location) are not as specific, economical and expressive as their English counterparts. The preference for English terms on the part of professionals in the field of tourism is dictated by stylistic, pragmatic, cultural and semantic reasons. Since English is the lingua franca of international tourism and many new concepts are lexicalized in this language for the first time, new English terms easily filter into Italian, which is a language open to borrowing, and are successfully integrated. The borrowing process is facilitated by stylistic motivations: Anglicisms sound modern, dynamic, fashionable and are thought to convey a higher level of competence and professionalism. Moreover, for pragmatic reasons, the brevity and compactness of English words makes them easy to use and remember, and, for cultural reasons, they add international flavour to professional communication. With reference to terminology, we also argue that English terms are

130

Register Variation in Tourism Terminology

often preferred because they are semantically more specific than their Italian equivalents. In the process of word formation in specialized terminology, the concept-term association which triggers and motivates the coinage of a term in English (e.g. leisure tourism), often results in a lexical gap (or failure, e.g. turismo del tempo libero) in Italian, so that direct borrowing takes place (e.g. turismo leisure). If Italian has no readymade equivalent or calque easily available for a certain term, then the English term is borrowed wholesale (e.g. codeshare). When an equivalent term is introduced, this is an already existing word or phrase taken from the general language, often carrying a non-technical meaning (ultimo minuto for last minute). Since the meaning of Anglicisms normally undergoes a process of semantic narrowing, as a consequence the English term is more likely to be monosemic with respect to its Italian equivalent. For these reasons, we may conclude that English terms are better suited to answer the terminological principle of monoreferentiality than Italian ones. This is a crucial dimension of word formation and should be seriously considered in future terminological studies.

References [Bait-Vergallo] Bait, Miriam and Laura Vergallo. 2003. Dictionary of Tourism and Catering Inglese/Italiano, Italiano/Inglese. Milano: Modern Languages. British National Corpus. www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk Cabré, Maria Teresa. 1999. Terminology: Theory, Methods and Applications. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Cohen, Erik. 2004. Contemporary Tourism. Diversity and change. Oxford: Elsevier. Dann, Graham. 1996. The Language of Tourism. A sociolinguistic perspective. Wallingford: CAB International. [Devoto-Oli] Devoto, Giacomo and Gian Carlo Oli. 2010. Il Devoto-Oli. Vocabolario della lingua Italiana 2011. Milano: Le Monnier. De Stasio, Clotilde and Oriana Palusci (eds.). 2007. The Languages of Tourism. Turismo e Mediazione. Milano: Unicopli. Francesconi, Sabrina. 2007. English for Tourist Promotion: Italy in British Tourism Texts. Milano: Hoepli. Gotti, Maurizio. 2006. The language of tourism as specialized discourse. In Oriana Palusci and Sabrina Francesconi (eds.), Translating Tourism. Linguistic/Cultural Representations. Trento: Editrice Università degli Studi di Trento. 15-34. [GdT] Il Giornale del Turismo. www.ilgiornaledelturismo.com

Virginia Pulcini

131

[Hoepli] Picchi, Fernando. 1999. Grande dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese. Hoepli: Milano. Manca, Elena. 2004a. Translation by Collocation: The Language of Tourism in English and Italian. TWC: Birmingham. —. 2004b. The language of tourism in english and italian: investigating the concept of nature between culture and usage. ESP Across Culture 1. 53-65. [Merriam-Webster] Gove, Philip B. (ed.). 2000. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged. Merriam-Webster: Springfield (MA). (http://www.merriam-webster.com) Nigro, Maria Giovanna. 2006. Il linguaggio specialistico del turismo. Aspetti storici, teorici e traduttivi. Roma: Aracne. [OALD] Hornby, Albert S. and Joanna Turnbull. 2010 (8th). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Oxford-Paravia] Oxford-Paravia. Il dizionario Inglese-Italiano, ItalianoInglese. 2006. Torino: Paravia Bruno Mondadori Editori, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Palusci, Oriana and Sabrina Francesconi (eds.). 2006. Translating Tourism. Linguistic/Cultural Representations. Trento: Editrice Università degli Studi di Trento. Piovaz, Marco. 2009. Tourism as specialised discourse. In Ruth Anne Henderson (ed.), Perspectives on English Studies. Torino: Trauben. 123-139. Pulcini, Virginia. 2008. Anglicisms in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. In Roswitha Fischer and Hanna Pulaczewska (eds.), Anglicisms in Europe. Linguistic Diversity in a Global Context. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 140-158. [Zingarelli] Zingarelli, Nicola. 2010. Lo Zingarelli 2011. Vocabolario della lingua italiana. Bologna: Zanichelli. www.travel-industry-dictionary.com

NEW SPORT MEDIA LANGUAGE: LEXICON AND CULTURE IN NEW MEDIA RICHARD CHAPMAN (UNIVERSITY OF FERRARA)

1. Introduction For the layman, there seems to be a general consensus that rapid developments in technology and global communications have resulted in an inevitable ‘great leap forward’ in the use and uses of English, and other languages as well. Phrases such as “Computer slang is developing pretty fast” (Svitlana Pyrkalo)1 or “There is no doubt that technology has had a ‘significant impact’ on language in the last ten years” (Fiona McPherson, editor, OED),2 are commonplace, and are most often accompanied by examples of ‘new language’ which are invariably a list of unfamiliar nouns and verbs that express some newish idea pithily and with a vague techno-savvy aura about them. However, there is already incipient awareness that this impression risks simply being a rather superficial view of language in the global and virtual societies we live in. David Crystal (2009: 9/10) has convincingly argued that the famed ‘textspeak’ is in truth an overhyped phenomenon: his research suggests that as little as ten per cent of text messages are abbreviated or spelled creatively. We might even pause to reflect on how such a constricting medium as the short text message has altered the language so little if we consider the enormous number of sms texts written and received each day (see also Brown, 2010). So we are faced with the challenge of attempting to read and interpret a potentially deceptive period of change and development in language, and to do this with various problems associated with data: there is generally 1

Svitlana Pyrkalo, quoted in ‘How the Internet is Changing Language’, Zoe Kleinman, BBC News, 16 August 2010. 2 Fiona McPherson, quoted in ‘How the Internet is Changing Language’, Zoe Kleinman, BBC News, 16 August 2010.

134

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

assumed to be too much on hand to understand properly, it is difficult to obtain effectively and ethically (c.f. Crystal 2006, 2009: 103), or it is the product of very precise localities and not easily transferable to generalized contexts (Pennycook 2010: 4 and passim). Perhaps more significantly, the classical linguistics of Saussure and Chomsky are beginning to come under attack for their lack of direct engagement with culture and social space (Blommaert 2005: 11, 17; 2010: 4), in a way that is theoretically more fundamental than the corrective contribution offered by sociolinguistics. Halliday presents the solution: “The corpus is fundamental to the enterprise of theorizing language” (Halliday 2004: 34). We suggest that small-scale corpora offer the opportunity for detailed close-up analysis of language to raise issues for further investigation. This chapter presents examination of a limited corpus of English used in new media to describe and comment on three discrete sports events. The aim is to present data which will help us to observe current English lexis and structures in a new media setting, allowing analysis that goes beyond the pitfalls of wide-ranging declarations about global developments in language and that at the same time may identify linguistic behaviour which deserves greater and more systematic research through much larger corpora.

2. Materials and methodology: The corpus 2.1. The live event page corpus It was decided to attempt to observe current linguistic behaviour in the clearly-defined and limited field of the ‘live event pages’ on the BBC website. This was intended to provide specimens of English in a technologically up-to-date form: the live event pages also have the advantage of collecting contributions from sms text messages, twitter, spoken commentary and mini-blogs in addition to the written input from the individual journalist running the page. In other words, in a manageable quantity of text, the researcher could observe language produced in five or more technological versions of the written mode. The ‘fit’ between this new internet-based form of linguistic communication and the new examples of language we are looking for is emphasized by the up-to-theminute nature of the content: the BBC describes these live event pages as ideal for ‘rolling events’ such as news stories or sport. Three days were taken as samples, all from sport live event pages. This decision was based on the attempt to limit the field yet further: news pages risked having so little in common with each other in content terms that

Richard Chapman

135

linguistic comparison might also have been difficult. As an initial sample, the three pages had much in common: they were descriptions of three sporting events in Great Britain, the three sports themselves being what we might describe as ‘typical’ British sports: football, rugby and cricket. Two were international fixtures (rugby and cricket) while the football event page described a ‘typical’ day of Premier League matches. Another potentially unifying link between the pages was the semiofficial policy of the BBC in running these pages. For all sports there is a common, explicitly stated aim of giving key information quickly, but also of being humorous and making the site enjoyable.3 There is additionally a policy of trying to include contributions from as many readers as possible. Naturally, the layout of the pages is virtually identical and so issues of space restrictions apply in a very similar way to all three samples. Naturally this corpus is intentionally limited in size in order to enable detailed examination of tokens, and it samples language according to external criteria that are quite narrow. The aim was to produce a manageable body of data which would provide both quantitative and qualitative information. Another consideration is of methodological significance: the corpus is made up of three substantial samples of text, each from a different sport and collected on a different occasion but retaining many similar characteristics. Thus the observer has a corpus of ‘new media language’ which is made up of three sub-corpora. It might be objected that the actual sample size is small, but following Sinclair (Sinclair 2005: 9) we feel that so long as our methods of interrogation and analysis are suitable, the sheer dimension of the corpus need not be a major problem. As the sub-corpora are separated by external criteria, it was felt that useful comparisons could be made between them, even if the issue of ‘topic’ might be considered debatable.

3

‘BBC experts on writing live event pages’, BBC website, last access 23/10/2010.

136

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

Table 1: Overview of sub-corpora. sport

date of event

word count

number of lines

words per line

number of paragraphs

duration of event

cricket

Jul.2009

3,685

263

14.00

77

3 hrs

rugby

Feb.2010

2,953

223

13.24

58

2’55min

football

Oct.2010

7,248

637

11.40

189

4’35min

As can be seen from the simple descriptive table, the corpus is the product of language use on particular dates and over limited stretches of time. The word ‘paragraphs’ risks being a little misleading here: I have referred to each discrete intervention (or occasionally pairs of comments) as a paragraph, following exactly the appearance of the text on the live event pages. The text is divided into lines on the screen, but these are grouped together either under a time check, or by topic by the journalist in charge. Naturally this bears little relation to a paragraph in a literary or scientific text. After a brief description of salient observations from each of the three live-event pages, we shall go on to propose analysis of the data collected and suggest some tentative conclusions as to the current English we have seen and any implications this may have for our appreciation of postmodern global English.

2.2. Analytical description of the data Our first page is the live event page for the ‘Ashes Test’ at Lords (an international cricket ground in London, the match being between England and Australia) in July 2009. This is the final day of the Test Match, which lasted only just over two hours (due to an early end to the game), giving us the possibility of analyzing a manageable amount of text. We have 3,685 words in our extract, presented in just over 250 lines, made up of 77 contributions. The majority of these come from the ‘host’ journalist of the page who is responsible for keeping information about the match up to date and for running the page as a whole, which involves adding the chat from the public received as e-mails, text messages and tweets. We may immediately sound a note of caution here: the advantage of this live event page is that it gives us language of various new media provenance, but this

Richard Chapman

137

also entails a risk, as the sources are certainly not the same and may induce different linguistic choices on the part of the contributor. This will be of significance in our analysis below; for the present it is worth noting that whatever the original source of these contributions, they become intrinsically part of this unique discourse once they are included by the journalist and read by the ‘audience’. The first and most noticeable aspect of the complete “conversation” (see below for a discussion of the relevance of this term for our study) is the absence of neologisms: although the web-page has the intention of being ‘fresh and lively’4 and is utilizing most of the newest means of linguistic interaction available, the language produced seems at first glance oblivious to this and to our expectations. While the language might certainly be judged ‘lively’ or ‘creative’ (examples to follow) it doesn’t seem to fit with the idea of the emergence of some new virtual version of English. The only new word collected is ‘a Segway’ (a brand name for a two-wheeled electric personal vehicle), used ironically in reference to the fitness problems of an English player. This is in no way to suggest that the language found is somewhat flat or dull. On the contrary, we can say that the live-event page has lived up to is billing, when we consider the vast range of metaphorical, aphoristic and ironic usages that are present. A few examples will probably be sufficient to give the verbal flavour of the interactions: (1) The buzz-cut Pup angles one to leg to get off the strike - cheers, says Johnson, as a seam-up lifter fizzes past his snout. (2) Climatological chat: sunny at Lord’s, with just a few wispy ones up above. Only a 20% chance of precipitation, I’m told. (3) Splendid Test match, thrilling morning, and we go to Edgbaston in 10 days time with the series in the rudest of blooming health. Hats off for the thousands of texts and emails - super effort, and I only wish I could lob them all in. See you on Thursday week [...]

Naturally the extracts will be difficult for any non-native speaker to fully comprehend, all three containing highly specific references to cricket, which is inevitably a strong register feature of the whole specimen (although not, by any means, the exclusive register element), and other culturally specific elements. But it will hopefully be immediately clear just what kind of language we are dealing with: highly metaphorical and very syncopated with a distinctly colloquial turn. Colloquialisms such as, 4

As stated in ‘BBC experts on writing live event pages’, BBC website, last access 23/10/2010.

138

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

‘cheers’, ‘I’m told’, ‘hats off’ and ‘lob them all in’ give a strong sense of immediacy and complicity to the page and this is repeatedly (though not exclusively) present throughout. The only other neologism we identified was ‘nervefest’ to refer to the tension of this final day that the English hoped intensely to win but feared they might lose at the last. An impressionistic analysis, supported by anecdotal evidence, suggests that the page offers significant challenges for a non-native speaker, but these are clearly to be put down to the culturally specific references rather than any newness of language. ‘Lumbers in like a runaway Eddie Stobart’, for example, can only be interpreted by someone having knowledge of the familiar British road haulage firm, and ‘led by a stump-waving Flintoff’ requires enough knowledge of cricket to be aware, not only of the wooden stumps used in the game that may be taken as a memento by players performing particularly well in a match they win, but also that Flintoff was a leading player in the England team that day. The page also includes direct quotations from players interviewed on radio just after the end of the game, and it is interesting to note just how different these contributions are, linguistically. One example will be indicative of a plainly contrasting style: (4) “The first couple of days were where this game was decided. We started the game poorly with the ball and that gave England the momentum. There was no hangover from Cardiff – how could there be when we played so well? We have to look at some of the positives that came out of this game.”

It is immediately clear how much less dense and challenging this piece of text is: the one potentially confusing cultural reference is that to Cardiff (where the first test match was played in 2009, and where Australia did all but win only to be disappointed in the final hour of the game), but even without this detailed information the extract is relatively easy to understand. This leads to an interesting potential conclusion: the written language we see on the screen is highly colloquial in many of its elements, but is not exactly a mirror of colloquial interaction. We must be cautious in this analysis because the quotation we have is mediated: it is the typed version of what the Australian captain said at the end of the game, and so is probably a cleaned-up copy of words spoken, not in conversation, but in an interview which would be broadcast live. The clarity of his speech now becomes simple to explain: he has a mixed audience to address (both those physically present and listeners in Great Britain and, presumably, Australia) and he is speaking in public rather than chatting to intimate friends.

Richard Chapman

139

The contrast with the tone of our webpage is very marked, however, and this is of particular interest when we consider that the potential audience is not so very different: they will probably be cricket fans who have followed the development of the match over five days. But the ‘feel’ is significantly different. There is a concentration of semi-technical terms, such as “angles one to leg to get off the strike” and “a seam-up lifter” in our first example, and the reference to “Edgbaston” in the last. Although we are reading a written text, the feel is also much more colloquial and even ‘slangy’ than the direct quotation. Our examples provide us with phrases such as: “the buzz-cut Pup”, “just a few wispy ones” and “in the rudest of blooming health”. Before we look at our other specimens it is rather premature to make judgements, but the suspicion is that the very special mode of language we find being employed has a significant effect on the language itself. The metaphorical richness of the language is worth noting: “The Test Match Special inbox is in danger of melting”, “You’d have more joy trying to catch bullets in your teeth”, “Pup got monkeyed in the flight” and “Stick that in a frame and pop it over the mantelpiece”. From the analytical point of view, the degree of metaphorical language use is in itself revealing (of the display of language we can observe, underlining the social function of the texts we are reading), and may prove highly significant if found to reoccur in our other pages. At this point the last salient feature worthy of mention is perhaps the mixed nature of the discourse: at once highly colloquial and replete with what are generally considered ‘slang’ expressions, there is, at the same time, an unmistakable presence of high-register elements. One of our brief examples bears this out: “Climatological” and “precipitation” being lexis with a clearly ‘high-brow’ connotation. One final observation before we briefly describe the other two extracts concerns the threads of discourse that can be found in the cricket webpage: one referring to the nervous anticipation of the ‘audience’, a second stemming from embarrassment about following the match while ostensibly at work, and another based on the coincidence of the day being the fortieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s moon landing. Repeated recourse to these is made throughout the extract, creating a strong cohesive element and offering what we might recognize as a kind of social cohering force that we shall come back to later. Our second live event page is from 13th February 2010 when Wales played Scotland in a Six-Nations rugby international. Including the buildup and a final few minutes of reactions, the time taken up by whole extract is again over two hours. We have a total of 2,953 words presented in 223

140

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

lines and made up of 58 contributions. The total length of the extract is significantly shorter than the cricket webpage, but this can perhaps be put down to the nature of the two sports: rugby is now a very fast-moving game that gives less opportunity for on-the-spot reflection and comment. The ‘host’ journalist is even more important in this extract as the contributions from other sources are a little less frequent, although they still include quotations from commentators on TV/radio and text messages from the public. We may have expected a slightly less inventive use of language in a live-event page that was following such a fast game as rugby, but many of the salient linguistic features observed were comparable to the cricket webpage. Again neologisms of the sort we might have originally expected to find are conspicuous only by their absence, ‘grudgefest’ being the single item in this category and, perhaps significantly, this is used in a slightly different sense from that usually given in dictionaries. This is not to say that the language is unadventurous, just as we discovered in our first extract. Again three brief quotations will suffice to suggest the nature of the language used: (5) Right, think that’s all sorted, here come the Welsh, the Scots already out on the pitch. Crash, bang, wallop, what a noise [...] (6) Things getting scrappy as half-time approaches, although Lee Byrne almost dynamites a hole in the Scotland defence, but the defence is granite. (7) Shane Williams jinks and slinks but can’t find a way through, before replacement hooker Scott Lawson is binned for going through the ruck and pulling in scrum-half Richie Rees. Phenomenally silly, he was already on a warning.

In these three extracts it is only the third which poses real problems for the non-initiated. The others don’t have a density of technical vocabulary that creates exclusion. Our last is full of these terms, such as ‘replacement hooker’, ‘binned’, ‘going through the ruck’ and ‘scrum-half’. Again these terms are specific to the sport and serve as quick and clear lexis for followers of the game but can present challenges to lexicographers. It is worth noting the interjections in our first example: ‘right’ and ‘what a noise’ that give a sense of immediacy to the webpage and were present in the cricket version also. Just under ten interjections were used in this webpage, while fifteen were observed in the cricket and a similar number in our football extract. Our second quotation furnishes an example of ellipsis of the main verb in “Things [are] getting scrappy [...],” which is seen to be common in all

Richard Chapman

141

three of our pages. Considerations of space and time might be a reasonable explanation for the presence of this linguistic phenomenon, but we might also speculate as to whether there are deeper sociolinguistic factors encouraging this. Our third quotation also includes a similar ellipsis in the last sentence: “Phenomenally silly, he was [...]” where the introductory subject and verb [That was] are omitted. Later we shall return to the possible significance of this. Terms generally considered colloquial are again clearly in evidence in this webpage. Some noticeable examples will give an instant impression of the kind of lexis and phraseology in use: “Cardiff looks like it’s gone ruddy berserk”, “Flower of Scotland is getting a right old throttling”, “Max Evans is on to it like a rat up a drainpipe” and, “Parks is playing a blinder, and that’s an absolute mule of a kick [...]”. As earlier, we can see here how the highly colloquial ‘feel’ of the language in no way inhibits the metaphorical richness of expression. All of the examples just quoted use language in a non-literal way, with a combination of surprising and familiar figurative expression. The clichéd ‘rat up a drainpipe’ is familiar in conversational settings in current British English and ‘getting a right old’ plus gerund is again common in everyday speech. Some of the metaphors are more creative, however: “heads off to dip his steaming fingertips into a bucket of ice-cold water following that [...] monstrosity of a match in Cardiff” or “all my text appears to be merging into one incomprehensible blob of nonsense” and “the defence is granite” from our second example above. Exaggeration for effect is often considered indicative of a colloquial register (Cook 1989: 31), and this idea is reinforced when we notice the humorous similes and comparisons that are present in this extract, again using exaggeration as the rhetorical means to entertain: “a match with more bite and bark than an angry pitbull convention in Paris”, “Williams, leaping like a salmon and nicking the ball from two Scottish attackers” or “like a mini rhino” and “cudgel-like”. Again the language is clearly designed to be enjoyable and to add to the excitement of the match in progress. And again we might perceive a certain complexity to the register: there is the expected presence of game-specific vocabulary, but the slang expressions and exaggerated metaphors are combined with occasional, more elegant phraseology, although the overall sensation is much more direct and conversational than our cricket webpage. There are almost no short forms used in the live-events page, even if space and time could safely be considered to be at a premium. One of the very few examples to be found from a twitter contribution is as follows:

142

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media (8) Snow in the air at Stade de France. Only slightly icier than the atmos between two teams. Ou est ma echarpe?

The mixing of registers here is more than complex. After the telegraphic ellipse to begin the contribution, “[There is] snow in the air [...]” which is repeated in the second sentence, we have an abbreviation, ‘atmos’. This may well be to save time and space, but as it is the only example we find in the whole live event page, we might doubt this obvious conclusion. Indeed, ‘atmos’ is a well-attested short form of the usual lexical item (‘atmosphere’), which is colloquially used especially in the figurative sense of the word, as it is in this case. We are, perhaps, justified in proposing the hypothesis that the technological media in use are not having an inordinate effect on language use. It is worth observing the French tag thrown in at the end, adding a further layer of complexity to the register analysis, French being traditionally the language of image and elegant effect in English-speaking cultures, and yet at the same time something familiar to most British adults after some French schooling (French is usually the first foreign language encountered by British school pupils). The choice is at once redolent of high register, a reminder that the twitter comes from Paris, and suggestive of complicity with most British English speakers who are capable of creating or understanding a simple four-word phrase of familiar French. As we come to the third live event page, we can see some analytical points emerging. There is a significant mix of registers in evidence and a lack of the kind of new lexis we might have expected from chat in a medium such as a webpage. Short forms are not greatly in evidence and there is certainly no great need to be tech-savvy or up-to-date in our vocabulary knowledge to interpret these pages successfully. Instead, cultural awareness of Great Britain is necessary, as is a good basic knowledge of the sport in question, this knowledge consisting of awareness of the rules and tactics of the game as well as of its current personalities and history. Our football webpage is the live event page for 16th October 2010, when various Premier League games were being played. This again covers the space of more than two hours, although there is a greater quantity of text as there were more games in progress and so more information to be given. Here we have a specimen of 7,250 words in over 600 lines, made up of around 190 contributions. The total of contributions is a little misleading, however, as each ‘goalflash’ that interrupts the flow of the rolling event page counts as an intervention, even if it is of little value to us linguistically (consisting merely of the new score in one game).

Richard Chapman

143

A few short examples will give a very brief flavour of the character of the language used in the live event page: (9) Are we not reading a little too much into this Rooney thing? He’s out of touch and on the bench [...] we move on! (10) Some cracking looking ties in the Champo today. As well as top-ofthe-shop QPR v third-place Norwich, we have high-flying Watford at Pompey, [...] (11) Spurs bench looking very strong – and that’s not a woodwork reference. Lennon, Keane, Crouch, Kranjcar all ready to come on. Still gonna be a draw, surely? Fulham innit?

These three quotations give us a similar impression to those from the other webpages, even if the specific, sports-related lexis is different. Our first quotation includes an arch rhetorical question with a potentially falsesounding elegant turn of phrase (‘a little too much’) and then follows this with an elliptical construction consisting of one main verb with two prepositional phrases. Another ellipse, this time presumably for rhythmic effect, is followed by an exclamation of energetic decisiveness which is at once ironic (the decision to continue is trivial and inevitable) and, in a literal sense, effective as its illocutionary force pushes the reader to the next moment of news. The football webpage is the only one in our group of extracts to display numerous short forms. However, as we can see from the second quotation above, the short form saves little space and is in no way attributable to developments in virtual, global English. ‘Champo’ is an ironic shortening, reminiscent of ‘footy’ which also appears on the webpage. These are shortenings already familiar in current English. Our second quotation also exhibits an array of complex noun phrases that are suggestive of the mixed register of newspapers: ‘cracking looking ties’, ‘top-of-the-shop QPR’ and ‘high-flying Watford. Each team name is prefaced by a characterizing adjectival expression giving rhythmic balance and imparting some information as to the status of the teams, and perhaps more importantly, emphasizing the significance and attractiveness of the ties. The final quotation again starts with an ellipse, along with a witticism based on a literal interpretation of a fossilized metonymy in ‘football English’ (the bench meaning the selection of possible substitutes, who traditionally sat on a bench watching the game and ready to come on to the pitch if required). Perhaps more significantly for our purposes, the quotation then offers a highly slang-like suggestion of the general opinion

144

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

about the game: ellipse accompanied with ‘gonna’ which is then followed up with ‘innit?’ a now almost classical false imitation of a low register South London variety of English, often used by comedians in the United Kingdom (e.g. Harry Enfield 1980s; 1990s). There are again many metaphorical uses of language that sit quite comfortably with the lively, mixed register style that we have seen: “the Championship got out of bed early and we already have a couple of results in”, “within whiffing distance of the play-offs”, “it was a dolly mixture of a free kick” and “let’s get cooking”. As before, we are reminded of the highly colloquial nature metaphor often has and the rhetorical effect might not only be to emphasize or colour a statement, but may even work to bond listener/reader and writer/speaker in a shared intimacy of common understanding. This shared intimacy is all the more explicit in the threads which run through this webpage. Wayne Rooney’s non-selection for Manchester United was hot news during the week and so provided a repeated subject for comments and joking remarks (see the quotation above). Liverpool FC was in the process of being sold and the former owners had been granted a ‘Temporary Restraining Order’ in the USA to hold up the purchase, this again proving the source of regular contributions and references. Lastly, the unsatisfactory result obtained by the England team in their midweek international match gave rise to a series of witty references and comparisons with the football of the day. It also spawned the neologism ‘snoozefest’ that was the single entry in the whole seven thousand words of contributions that could in any way be seen as new language. ‘Hoddleesque’ also appeared but the –esque ending is familiar in British English, and has long since migrated from exclusively artistic aesthetic circles to sporting applications. The football live event page also has substantial paragraphs of ‘lightly culture-specific’ language where a basic knowledge of football and of the British version of the game would be necessary for complete comprehension. However, we again find that the language in this medium is not impenetrably filled with neologisms and presents few major difficulties from the lexical perspective.

3. Discussion Now we can offer some more general analysis based on the three live event pages we have looked at briefly. Although text messages were one of the contributing media to the webpages we have looked at, we found few examples of ‘new language’ among them. This may support Crystal’s

Richard Chapman

145

analysis mentioned earlier, although we must be cautious as the evidence we have been analyzing is mediated significantly: the explicit advice of the BBC is to be sure to avoid “too much deciphering of text-speak”,5 and this may mean that the host journalist feels obliged either to sift out contributions, avoiding the most linguistically ‘advanced’ or marked messages, or that s/he is responsible for ‘cleaning up’ a message before putting it onto the page. The BBC’s advice contains something else of significance for our analysis: the stated aim is to ‘get people involved’ as ‘some of the best live texts are where lots of people are feeding in’6. There is a clear attempt to render the page open to as many as possible and this perhaps works against the most rarefied of new language. However, there are factors working in the other direction: the page is generated in real-time and so our host journalist can presumably not be entirely responsible for the language produced, and the repeated intention to be fresh and ‘fun’ also encourages some linguistic invention. From the very brief discussion of the three extracts we have analyzed, the mixed registers and rich language we have encountered display a certain consistency. All three sports naturally have their own specific register,7 but besides this significant difference, the pages all reveal a complex mix of levels of formality, and a combination of high-brow and colloquial rhetorical devices. This is all the more interesting when we remember that the ‘authors’ of the three pages are different journalists with presumably contrasting speaking and writing styles and differing views on inclusion of items. What can be at work to produce the mixed and yet fairly consistent form of English we can see in operation? As Halliday (2004: 29) recommends, the skill of the grammarian in language is an ability to switch from a textual perspective to a system perspective and vice versa, to focus attention simultaneously on the actual and the potential In our case, we need to be aware of the functions the language on these pages is 5

‘BBC experts on writing live event pages’, BBC website, last access 23/10/2010. Ibid. 7 Crystal (1991: 393) gives a simple definition of register: “a variety of language defined according to its use in social situations”. Each sport has its own quite specific language. For Cricket see, for example, abcofcricket.com and ‘Two short legs and a silly point: learn (about) English through cricket, macmillan-dictionaryblog.com/two-short-legs. For rugby, see chambersdictionary.blogspot. com/2009/03/tackling-linguistics-of-rugby.html, for a simple introduction. Football has numerous glossaries, one of the most interesting being: languagecaster.com/football-language-resources/ 6

146

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

fulfilling: here the obvious need to communicate information (‘the score’) is by no means the only function. There is another obvious function in the need to entertain, and this interpersonal function is clearly significant in language choices we have seen. The interpersonal function goes further, however, in the element of bonding language that is repeatedly present: slang or semi-slang expressions, nicknames for certain players, in-jokes that we may predict any interested member of the ‘audience’ should be able to interpret quite easily. There is a dual role that language has in this kind of linguistic performance. On the one hand, it carries out the functions that we have just enumerated, on the other, it creates, or recreates its own means of making meaning: by simply being used to construct referential meaning and social identity and relations, language becomes slightly different and in a simple way a new ‘register’ is formed. With the live event pages we are privileged to have a textual trace on our screens of this development of language in language. The complexity of context is of course the explanation for the mix of registers and even dialects we have observed. The field in each live event page is not even the sport itself, but instead it is people talking about the sport while it is being played, and in a particular moment (on a particular date) with all the potential topical elements this might involve. The tenor is also more complex than we might first assume: the implicit claims of inclusivity and non-hierarchical intentions contrast with the very strong hierarchy present in sports (great players, captains and young hopefuls, commentators and referees et cetera), and more importantly with the invisible hierarchy of the wittiest contributor. As Crystal mentions (Crystal 1998; 2009: 73), wordplay can be a ‘badge of ability’. But it is perhaps the mode which is most of interest for our analysis. The live event pages are one of a plethora of new modes of communication which the internet and technology have given us. They are designed to appear on screen, but to be read almost as if someone were speaking to us. In other words, it is inaccurate to call them written or spoken English. We suggest the name ‘written-to-be-read-as-spoken’ so as to underline the complexity of the context. Even this ungainly nominalization is inadequate because, as we have seen, some of the contributions were originally spoken. The important element seems to be the requirement to imitate spoken English in some way in the receiver’s mind as s/he reads the screen. This emphasis on context, even the ‘context of situation’ offers explanation for the presence of the imitations of ‘real’ speech (e.g. Oh, Huh, and numerous other interjections), the use of nicknames, the short forms that do little to really shorten the text, the highly colloquial nature of

Richard Chapman

147

many of the contributions, and, at the same time, the probably intentional imitation of high-brow language and even imitations of slang and nonstandard English forms that are generally recognizable to British English speakers. The swift changes of subject and lack of cohesive markers might also fit with this emphasis on context in its fullest form. We can describe the context as being a joint ‘on-the-spot’ narration of an important sporting event, the commentary taking place on the internet and utilizing various new media, with a highly complex tenor: the social relations being friendly and ostensibly equal, but with an implicit pecking order and a significant element of display in contributions (witness the joke’ “I bet you won’t publish this” as an ‘encouragement’ for the inclusion of a potential contribution). This aspect of display can perhaps be better understood if we move a little beyond Halliday’s ideas and consider the orientation of the contributors. Usually in conversation this will be towards the immediate result of their contribution (the “immediate responsive understanding”, Bakhtin, quoted in Blommaert 2005: 44), with a secondary, more subtle interest in higher-level complexes of meaning (the ‘superaddressee’). In our examples it is clear that the two are inevitably moulded into one, as the superaddressee (in this case the imagined audience of like-minded sports fans) is the only interlocutor as no face-to-face interaction is occurring and the function of the contributions is largely to entertain, to display linguistic skill and sports knowledge and to enjoy the strong social bond an important fixture can generate. In other words, we have a complex field (not merely sport but the social experience of it), a new mode and a highly specialized tenor creating a unique context to our realizations of language. As Blommaert insists (2005: 37 and 2010: 180), we will need a wide range of skills to interpret this language accurately, including ethnographic and historical awareness. If we are to assess the implications for language of this new mode and new form of interaction, we can see that the innovations are not generally lexical, but rather it is the grammar of making meaning in social contexts that has been modified by technology. The new forum has its own interpersonal means of interaction, opening possibilities and imposing obligations on the use of language which require an ethnographic as well as a linguistic approach. Lexicologists, like students of linguistics, are having to come out of the detached world of language and into the real world of culture if they are to understand and describe items of language persuasively. Indeed, we can see this in other aspects of ‘new’ English usage: facebook-stalk, de-friend and sketchmaster being neologisms recently

148

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

presented as new language (Zimmer 2010), but not only are they merely re-combinations of existing lexical items, they are also nominalizations of new social processes. Again, ‘context is all’: the new social reality creates the need for adjustments to lexis, rather than simply a technical development, and these changes in context, social interaction and language require highly complex and multi-faceted understanding. It is not enough to count or list a few new terms, or propose the favouring of one structure over another. Halliday’s five-strata approach offers an admittedly difficult way into this process of understanding: recognizing the textual, ideational and interpersonal elements in instances of language in relation to their potential, seeing these in relation to the strata of lexico-grammar, phonetics and semantics and marking out the choices paradigmatically and syntagmatically that they represent. In other words, it is a big task to identify developments in language. We need to recognize if the needs and potential are social or merely technological, and to contextualize every change we observe or posit as likely. This may enable us to recognize the development of new dialects (e.g. ‘Geekspeak’ or ‘Leetspeak’8) rather than generalize about the state of English as a whole. Our brief study here casts significant doubt on the assumption that English is changing so quickly: perhaps instead it is adding highly specific dialects and registers which seem to throw many new terms into the language but have less effect than we might suppose. The dictionaries and glossaries produced in the 1990s created an illusion of a lexical revolution that has never actually occurred (c.f. Crystal 2009: 23). Instead changes in language are perhaps as much about the contexts of language use and the resources and repertoires that need to be exploited by speakers and writers. If technology has transformed language, it has done so by contributing to the change in the kinds of locus for communication that we find ourselves having to work in (Pennycook 2010: 12-15).

8

Geekspeak is jargon or specific language used by those emersed in computer technology. It has a pejorative sense, like its progenitor, ‘geek’. Leetspeak, or Leet, is a simple substation code based on ascii numerals, the name stemming from the idea of elite, presumably because only the ‘special few’ could understand it. Here we cannot fail to notice the almost classical sociolinguistic elements of the development of a slang.

Richard Chapman

149

4. Conclusions As a conclusion, we might make some tentative comments as to the relevance of this initial study for dictionaries and for language teaching. We are all aware of the paradox of slang dictionaries: once they are printed they are out of date, not merely because slang by definition changes fast, but precisely because a term which is referenced in a dictionary cannot fully function as slang any longer (Spolsky 1998: 35/6). Something similar goes for the lexical implications here: we risk chasing shadows if we feel the obligation to record and define every new-sounding term: perhaps Google is nearer to being the right tool for this instant reference requirement. Instead, we should be aware of our responsibility to understand the whole functional significance and potential functionalities of a new term or structure, and to look beyond the noun, noun-phrase or chunk, to interpret what is happening at clause level, and what the lexicogrammatical norms are for this behaviour. I would suggest that the onus is on lexicographers and linguists to undertake a fuller, more thorough examination of language change in order to avoid the often naïve misrepresentations to be found in the popular press and elsewhere. This requires a much more complex appreciation of context, perhaps emulating Geertz’s idea of ‘thick description’ (Geertz 1973, chapter 1, especially 6/7). We have seen how ‘colloquial’ the language in our corpus is, and yet how different it is from what we might call conversation. Conversation analysis (Schegloff, effectively outlined in Blommaert 2005: 53/4) traditionally tried to limit context in its approach but we have to expand the concept again if we are to interpret the forms and functions we observe. Our corpus is limited in size, giving a greater opportunity for close reading, but making any conclusions inevitably tentative and in need of verification from other research. Data concerning lexical density, clause length and type-token ratios were very much in line with expectations but are not presented here because the sample is too small to justify claims of reliability. A substantially larger corpus is planned which will allow a more quantitative element into the enquiry. The problem of the mediated nature of all contributions also requires greater thought: the study we have examined presents only the live event page: the language realizations are perhaps only shadows of the original linguistic forms used in the text messages and tweets sent to the site. As an English language teacher I am more than aware of the ‘messiness’ of these extracts from a pedagogical perspective: there seems little sense in confronting students with a mass of highly specific code

150

New Sport Media Language: Lexicon and Culture in New Media

presented in barely cohesive pieces. However, no one would deny the authentic ‘feel’ of the texts. The fact that they represent a new linguistic mode is also to be recognized. As always, it will be our task as language teachers to mediate the almost daunting complexity of the language in an extract, but with attention to the subject matter concerned (i.e. a football live event page for an England-Italy or Internazionale-Tottenham match for Italian learners) and pre-teaching of relevant vocabulary, it is by no means certain that students will be befuddled and intimidated. On the contrary, there is much stimulation in using new media and bringing the ‘virtually authentic’ a little nearer.

References BBC website: ‘BBC experts on writing live event pages’, bbc.co.ok, last access 23/10/2010. Blommaert, Jan. 2005. Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. 2010. The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brown, Mark. 2010. ‘I wrote 2U B4’ British Library shows up textspeak as soooo 19th Century. The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, 18th August, 2010. Cook, Guy. 1989. Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crystal, David. 1991. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Third Edition. London: Oxford University Press. —. 1998. Language Play. London: Penguin Books Limited. —. 2006. Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. 2009. Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books. Halliday, M.A.K. 1978 Language as Social Semiotic. London: Edward Arnold. —. 2004. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Hodder Education. Kleinman, Zoe. 2010. How the Internet is changing language, BBC News, 16 August. Pennycook, Alastair. 2010. Language as a Local Practice. Oxford: Routledge.

Richard Chapman

151

Sinclair, John. 2005. “Corpus and text – basic principles” in Developing Linguistic Corpora: a Guide to Good Practice, ed. M. Wynne. Oxford: Oxbow Books. 1-16. Spolsky, Bernard. 1998. Sociolinguistics. London: Oxford University Press. Zimmer, Ben. 2010. “Creeper! Sketchball!”. International Herald Tribune, 1st November, 2010.

HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ELF COMPANY WEBSITES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: LEXICAL CHOICES IN SWEDEN AND GREECE COSTANZA CUCCHI (CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, MILAN)

1. Introduction Despite the globalization of commerce and the growing importance of the Internet to support such international expansion, “very few studies have explored the importance of culture in web communications [sic]” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 131). Singh, in collaboration with other scholars, analyzed the presence of cultural values on the web in order to create a framework with which they could be systematically investigated (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 64). Such framework is based on Hofstede’s (2001; 2003) model, “one of the most widely used culture-level type classification” in advertizing and marketing (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 132). The model enables cross-cultural comparison on the basis of four dimensions representing how people in various countries deal with the problems which are common to all mankind: Individualism/Collectivism (how individuals relate to groups), Power Distance (the attitude towards inequality), Uncertainty Avoidance (the tolerance of ambiguity), Masculinity/Femininity (the desirability of assertive behaviour).1 The application of the model is very convenient, since the scores attributed to the countries enable comparison on the basis of national identity.2 To date, 1

As reported by Hofstede (2003: 14-15), a fifth dimension, long-term/short-term orientation, was added later to the model. This dimension, which does not feature in Singh’s framework, is not considered in the present study since it has not as yet been investigated in relation to language to my knowledge. 2 Scores for each country along the dimensions are available at http://wwwgeerthofstede.com/, a website developed by Itim International.

154

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

Singh’s framework is, in the author’s words, the “only [one] [which] has operationalized Hofstede’s dimensions to study cultural values on the web” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 132). The framework devised by Singh consists of “web-related cultural traits” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 66), encompassing “website design” features (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 64) and “web marketing elements” (Baack and Singh 2007: 183), such as the presence of FAQs and of discussion groups, navigation guided through site maps and well-displayed links (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 145). However, although Singh states that the framework is concerned with “interactive or multimedia features” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 66), various features refer to what is being said, for example “emphasis on history and the ties of a particular company with a nation, emphasis on respect, veneration of elderly” and “durability information, quality information, product attribute information, product robustness information” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 145-146; Baack and Singh 2007: 184). In a few cases, sample phrases are given such as ‘most respected company’, ‘keeping the tradition alive’, ‘for generations’, ‘company legacy’ (ibidem). In order to devise their framework, the authors evaluated, on the basis of previous findings, “which feature would be preferred in which culture” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 66). The resulting cultural categories were then tested by “four doctoral students in a U.S. business school”, who “were asked to assign a random list of category items under the cultural dimension they best represent” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 67). A list of features associated to single dimensions was thus obtained. The framework was subsequently applied to a large number of websites from culturally very different countries. For example, 50 U.S. company websites and their corresponding version in Chinese were studied in Singh, Zhao and Hu (2003), 93 local websites from China, India, Japan and the U.S. were investigated in Singh, Zhao and Hu (2005), local websites from 15 countries – Arab, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S. – were the object of Baack and Singh (2007). The purpose of such studies was to verify whether the websites under consideration exhibited design features which were associated in the framework with specific dimensions. While Singh’s studies (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003, 2005; Baack and Singh 2007) utilized Hofstede’s model (2001; 2003) to investigate the design features of the websites in native languages of local companies of culturally very distant countries, the present study is concerned with the lexical features of the websites in lingua franca English of two European

Costanza Cucchi

155

countries and aims to verify whether lexical features possibly related to the cultural dimensions are found in such websites. To do so, the study draws on recent research conducted in various genres, which showed that Hofstede’s dimensions affect lexical choices (Bjørge 2007; Clyne 1994; Cucchi 2010a, 2010b; Hatipo÷lu 2006; Katan 2006; Koeman 2007; Loukianenko Wolfe 2008).

2. Study design Since in a previous study (Cucchi 2010b) I showed that the lexical choices in two comparable websites of English and Italian local companies written in English may be explained with reference to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the present research is intended as an exploratory study meant to verify the explanatory potential of Hofstede’s model as applied to the websites in lingua franca English of other European local companies. Sweden and Greece were chosen since their scores along the dimensions differ considerably. Greece’s Power Distance (henceforth PD), 60, is roughly double compared to Sweden’s (31), while its Individualism (henceforth IDV), 35, is roughly a half compared to Sweden’s (71). In addition, Sweden’s Masculinity (henceforth MAS) is the lowest in Hofstede’s research, 5 versus Greece’s 57, while Greece has the highest Uncertainty Avoidance (henceforth UA) in Hofstede’s research, 112 versus Sweden’s 29, the lowest score among the European countries after Denmark (23). Greece’s UA even exceeds 100, originally the highest score in Hofstede’s research, since this country was added later to the study and its score was higher than the ones of the countries previously considered (Hofstede 2003: 114). Figure 1 compares Greece’s and Sweden’s scores. It is important to stress that some correlations exist among the dimensions. Across the wealthier countries “UA is significantly correlated with IDV, PD and MAS despite the lack of correlation among the last three dimensions” (Hofstede 2001: 60). In addition, in many EU countries higher PD “‘goes hand in hand’ with higher UA and lower IDV” (Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede 2009: 59). Sweden and Greece are therefore representative of European countries in this respect. The study focuses on local companies, preferably family owned, in that it is hypothesized that they retain more of the discursive style typical of the nation. In order to investigate lexical choices related to nationality in their ‘purest’ form, it was decided to select companies founded by natives. Following Turnbull (2008), who investigated websites of British and Italian companies written in English in the food and drink sector assuming

156

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

that national identity is particularly manifest in food and drink, the food sector was chosen. In addition, the choice of a specific sector seemed essential “to control for industry-specific effects” (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2003: 71). To control for product-specific effects, two products were chosen, cheese and chocolate. This ensured that results would not be dependent on the specific product sold.

Figure 1: Greece’s and Sweden’s scores along Hofstede’s dimensions.

Following Toury’s (1995) descriptivist approach to translation also adopted in Garzone’s (2009) study of the English websites of the Italian and the Spanish tourism board, the English versions were considered as autonomous texts, independently of their originals. In the same study the English website texts were considered as being written in English as a lingua franca in that English is used “not only to address native speakers e.g. Britons or Americans, but principally to communicate with an international audience” (Garzone 2009: 34).

3. Hypotheses In previous studies, greater personalization was shown to characterize the communication of higher IDV countries, where more emphasis is put on single individuals compared to groups. In fact, Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede (2009) found that, in those countries, doctorpatient communication was characterized by more exchange of psychosocial, namely more personal, information, as opposed to biomedical information – more impersonal. In the same study, it was also shown that doctors gave more backchannelling (e.g. hm) and more information in

Costanza Cucchi

157

IDV countries: the degree of interaction between doctors and patients, therefore, was higher compared to collectivist countries. Zhao, Massey, Murphy and Fang (2003: 78) reported that the presence of “such personalizing words as I, my, you and your” was much more frequent on homepages of American websites than on Chinese ones, in line with U.S.’s higher IDV (91) compared to China (20). The above communicative features would be expected also in lower UA countries, where people feel less “threatened by uncertain or unknown situations” (Hofstede 2003: 116) and are therefore likely to interact more freely, also in the case of status asymmetries (e.g. doctors and patients or company owners and customers). More symmetrical, and therefore more personalized, relationships were also shown to characterize communication in lower PD countries, where people expect more that power is equally distributed. For example, Dekker, Rutte and Van den Berg (2008) found that members of teams working via chat, e-mail, audio and video conference from these countries considered it important to include and invite team members to give their personal contribution, while Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede (2009) observed more fixed roles in doctor-patient interaction in high PD countries. Loukianenko Wolfe (2008) found more attempts to “continue the conversation” by means of expressions such as ‘I enjoyed our visit’, ‘from our conversation’, ‘as promised’ in sales/product promotion letters written in American English (U.S.’s PD = 40) compared to letters written in Russian (Russia’s PD = 93). The following hypothesis was therefore formulated: H1: On the basis of Sweden’s higher IDV, lower UA and lower PD compared to Greece, more personalization is expected in Swedish websites.

First and second person plural pronouns and adjectives and occurrences of welcome, contact and call addressed to customers were therefore sought in the corpus in that they are possible linguistic markers of personalization in websites. In his framework, Singh (Singh, Zhao and Hu 2005: 145) related the “tradition theme”, reflected in “emphasis on respect, veneration of elderly and the culture, phrases like ‘most respected company’, ‘keeping the tradition alive’, ‘for generations’, ‘company legacy’” to high UA. However, emphasis on tradition is expected also as a result of low IDV, since people will tend to stress more what they have in common with the other members of the in-group. The following hypothesis was therefore formulated:

158

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites H2: On the basis of Greece’s higher UA and lower IDV, more emphasis on tradition is expected in Greek websites.

Occurrences of words related to tradition were therefore sought in the corpus. A tendency to rely more on the expertise of specialized personnel observed in Italian brochures for private pensions as compared to English ones was attributed by Katan (2006: 71) to Italy’s higher UA (75) compared to Britain’s (35). Such a tendency, however, seems also to reflect Italy’s higher PD (50), compared to Great Britain’s (35) in that asymmetrical role relationships are emphasized. The following was therefore formulated: H3: On the basis of Greece’s higher UA and PD, more emphasis on the specialists’ expertise is expected in Greek websites.

Since customers generally expect specialized personnel to guarantee the quality of the products, occurrences of quality were examined to verify this hypothesis. Attention was also paid to the mention of prizes. It is worth noting that Singh, Zhao and Hu (2005: 146) related the “mention of awards won” and of “quality assurance information and quality certification by international and local agency” to low IDV. While the mention of prizes may reflect acceptance of the products by the group, its association with higher UA and PD seems more straightforward. In any case, in European countries higher UA and PD generally correlate with lower IDV, as mentioned in section 2. Katan (2004: 242, 274) hypothesized that Britain’s lower PD (35) compared to Italy’s (50) may be linked with reduced formality. In his study of pension funds he showed that this was the case: Italian brochures contained more detailed information, more technical language, more passives and nominalizations, thus creating “a distance and hence increased formality” (Katan 2006: 76). Cucchi (2010a) found more occurrences of the English informal words etcetera and and so on compared to their Italian equivalents in a corpus of EU parliamentary speeches held in 2006. Bjørge (2007) observed that, in the e-mails to their professors written in English as a lingua franca, students from low PD countries were more likely to use informal greetings and closings. With specific regard to websites, Kang and Mastin (2008), although concerned mainly with aspects of web design, found that in the tourism public relations websites of higher PD countries “more authoritative narratives” were preferred, while in lower PD countries “casual narratives, which appeared to have the purpose of developing the feel of a more personal relationship with

Costanza Cucchi

159

website visitors” were favoured (Kang and Mastin 2008: 55). This led to the formulation of the following: H4: On the basis of Sweden’s lower PD, more informal language is expected in Swedish websites.

As a linguistic indicator of informality thing was chosen for search in the corpus in that this word is “among the most frequent […] [ones] in spoken English” (Carter and McCarthy 1997: 16) and may be “conducive to maintaining the informal atmosphere of the situation” (Crystal and Davy 1975: 112). Given Sweden’s lower UA, leading to greater willingness to accept uncertain situations, the following was formulated: H5: On the basis of Sweden’s lower UA, more emphasis on experimentation is expected in Swedish websites.

To verify this hypothesis, the verbs experiment, invent and try were chosen as linguistic markers and sought in the corpus. Few studies have successfully applied MAS to explain language choices. Clyne (1994: 186) observed that this dimension “was not very useful” for the interpretation of his data. Similarly, Kang and Mastin (2008: 55) maintained that the dimension “demonstrated comparatively lower power in explaining difference in website items”. When predictions or explanations about linguistic choices on the basis of MAS were formulated, the findings seemed contradictory, as shown in Cucchi (2010b). However, Hofstede stated that high MAS values emerge in American CVs “which are written in superlatives, mentioning every degree, grade, award, and membership to demonstrate […] outstanding qualities”. On the contrary, in the Netherlands, the most feminine country with Sweden, Norway and Denmark, applicants “write modest and usually short CVs, counting on the interviewer to find out by asking how good they really are” (Hofstede 2003: 79; 2001: 315). In addition, Hofstede (2001: 298-299) listed modesty, tenderness and empathy as feminine values. The following was therefore formulated: H6: On the basis of Greek’s higher MAS, emphasis on achievement is expected in Greek websites.

The tendency to stress achievement was verified checking the occurrences of superlatives. The mention of prizes, expected on the basis of Greece’s higher UA and PD, may also be related to this country’s higher MAS.

160

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

4. Corpus For reasons of cost-effectiveness both the corpus and general information about cheese and chocolate were drawn from the Internet. Information on cheeses was found in various websites. Lists of the world’s cheeses by country are provided at www.cheesewiki.com, which states that it “aims to be world’s [sic] best cheese resource”, at www.cheese.com, which claims to be “the number one resource for cheese”, and at www.igourmet.com, where one can buy, as maintained in the website, “specialty cheeses” and which provides an Encyclopedia of Cheese. The websites www.formaggio.it and www.ilovecheese.co.uk, instead, have sections dedicated to European cheeses, accessible from their homepages. From these online resources it is clear that traditional cheeses exist both in Greece and in Sweden. The importance of cheese for the Greeks is mentioned in various websites. The online Ultimate Guide to Greek Food, for example, which offers “a culinary journey to Greece”, has a section dedicated to cheese in which it is stated that “[a]ll Greeks adore Greek cheese”. GreekRecipe.com and Greekproducts.com also contain sections dedicated to Greek cheeses. Spreading knowledge about Greek Protected Designation of Origin cheeses is the objective of CheeseNet, an interprofessional nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Within the campaign financed with aid from the European Union and Greece, CheeseNet has a website, www.cheesenet.gr, with versions in English and other languages, with a section dedicated to feta. Regarding Swedish cheese, in the article “Say, Cheese!”, published in the online magazine Swedish Bulletin, which claims that it explains “Swedish culture and customs”, the general lack of knowledge about Swedish cheeses is highlighted: Sweden does in fact produce a wide variety of excellent cheeses, which people in France, Britain, the USA or other distant lands would appreciate if only they knew about them (Bartal 2006).

The importance of Swedish cheese is also stressed in “Cheese and cheesemaking with a special emphasis on Swedish cheeses”: [m]any Swedish hard cheeses are part of the country’s culture and the name of origins of these traditional cheeses are often protected by trademarks. […]. Trademarks are registered by the Swedish Patent and Trademark Registry and by the European Union trademark authority in Alicante, Spain (Nilsson Blom and Weréen 2002: 2).

Costanza Cucchi

161

Information on Swedish cheeses is also available at www.scandiafood.com, where it is possible to buy online. Despite the variety and importance of Greek and Swedish cheeses, none of the above websites gave information about producers. The search for websites of Swedish cheese companies was particularly difficult. An examination of the company websites accessible through the website of the Swedish Dairy Association revealed that most Swedish companies do not have an English version.3 An examination of the websites of the Swedish dairy companies found at www.list-ofcompanies.org and www.dairyproducts1.com confirmed the tendency of Swedish companies to have websites only in their native language4 but enabled me to find a few companies which could be included in the corpus: Wernersson, Skånemejerier and Milko. Wernersson, as specified in the dedicated website, specializes “in maturing and adding flavour to […] cheese”. The company, founded in 1930, “started as a small grocery shop in the village of Marbäck near Ulricehamn in Sweden”. Although now a member of the Tine Group based in Norway, it remained a family company till the mid 2000s. Skånemejerier, defined in its website as “the local food company that develops, produces and markets healthy and tasty foods”, produces cheeses which are “famous all over Scandinavia”. Milko describes itself in its website as marketing “natural and interesting dairy products that satisfy the needs of Swedish consumers for gastronomic experiences and a good life” and as being “owned by farmers from various provinces”. Despite defining itself as “one of Sweden’s largest dairy companies”, Milko’s website has a single page in English. The search for Greek companies was easier since more websites in English were available. From the list of Greek dairy companies provided at List of Companies, the following were selected in that they are local family companies: Arvaniti, Balantinos, Biopgal Co, Patsikas. Arvaniti introduces itself in its website as “one of the biggest Greek cheese production companies, with traditional background” and as “a personal company of cheese products”. The company, founded in 1980 in Thessaloniki, is “committed to revive the authentic Greek taste with the production of excellent cheeses”. Balantinos, a family company established 3

This was the case of Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeriförening, Freja Husdjur, Norrmejerier, Rådgivarna, Svenska Husdjur, Skånesemin. Although Gasenemejeri’s website had an English version, the website was protected and could not be copied for analysis with Wordsmith Tools. 4 Companies which did not have a website with a version in English were Bel Nordic, Boxholm Ost, Falbygdens Ost, Fjallbrynt, Jårna Mejeri, Ost Specialisten, Sunco Food, Wapnö. Engelhardt’s website was under construction.

162

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

in 1930 in Chania, maintains that it sells “traditional dairy products”. Biopgal Co., founded by the Pigas brothers, started as cattle raising in 1948 “in the community of Diavata-Thessaloniki”, as stated in its website. Patsikas, set in Klisoura, Macedonia, produces Feta Klisoura, described in the company’s website as “a traditional Greek white cheese that was created by people […] determined to continue their family tradition”. The importance of chocolate in European countries is outlined in the article “EU’s chocolate dispute” (Kouame 1999), published in the online journal The TED Case Studies, whose purpose is to deal with “critical issues of the time”, as the journal puts it. In Kouame’s words: [a] passionate debate over the meaning of chocolate has emerged ever since the creation of the European Market and the free movement of goods among EU nations in 1992.

Some EU countries, in fact, like Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, Finland and Sweden, allowed vegetable substitutes in chocolate production. On the other hand, ‘chocolate purists’, like Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece and Italy, “argue[d] that chocolate containing vegetable fat should not be called chocolate” in that “[s]uch product is different in taste and nutrition components, which can mislead consumers if the product is called chocolate” (Kouame 1999). A Directive finally established that vegetable fat may be used but it should not exceed 5% of the weight of the product, besides being indicated on the package. In order to build up the corpus of chocolate companies, Greek and Swedish companies were sought in the lists provided at List of Companies and Thefoodworld.com. Many Swedish companies selling chocolate were found, but most did not have an English version.5 The Swedish websites in English which were included in the corpus are Chokladfabriken and Lödahus Chokladkultur. The local origin of the companies is stressed in both the company websites. Chockladfabriken was founded by a Swedish couple in 1997 and “started in a cubbyhole Hammarbyhamnen port” in Stockholm, as stated in its website. Lödahus Chokladkultur highlights its local origin maintaining that the company website is about “a chocolate manufacturer located in Österlen in the south eastern region of Sweden, Skåne”. As with cheese, it was easier to find 5

This was the case of Cocandy, Berzelii Chocklad, Handgjort Stockholm Chockladbutiken, Marabou, Venus Chocklad. Cloetta, described in the company website as “the Nordic region’s oldest chocolate manufacturer”, was discarded in that the three Cloetta brothers, founders of the company, were from Switzerland, and thus foreigners.

Costanza Cucchi

163

Greek companies with websites in English, but various companies listed at www.thefoodworld.com under the categories “Chocolate products” or “Chocolate confectionery” were discarded in that they deal primarily with other products.6 The Greek companies included in the corpus were Astir and Chocotime. The former, based in Athens and, as written in its website, “established as a small handicraft facility in 1933”, is “still family owned”. Chocotime, described in its website as “a greek [sic] chocolate factory”, is also family-led and based in Athens. The final composition of the corpus is illustrated in Table 1. Table 1: Composition of the corpus. Greece

Sweden

Cheese subcorpus 7.589 tokens

Cheese subcorpus 4.116 tokens

www.arvanitis.gr www.balantinos.gr/en www.biopgal.gr/en www.patsikas.gr

www.wernerssonost.se www.skanemejerier.se/en www.milko.se

Chocolate subcorpus 3.569 tokens

Chocolate subcorpus 16.468 tokens

www.astir.com.gr www.chocotime.gr

www.chokladfabriken.com www.chockladkultur.se

11.158 tokens

20.584 tokens

Since websites are subject to changes, they were saved with httrack3.43-7.exe, a freeware offline browser utility which downloads websites from the Internet to a local directory. The single webpages were then saved in txt. form to be examined with Wordsmith Tools. An analysis of the subcorpora, assisted by Wordsmith Tools 4.0 (Scott 2004), was then carried out. Unfortunately, due to the strict requirements illustrated in the 6

Discarded companies were Bingo and Bolero. Ion Amigdalou was also discarded for two reasons. First, its website could not be copied. Secondly, the company was not considered comparable to the Swedish companies included in the corpus, since Ion Amigdalou, although defining itself in its website as “the leading chocolate company in Greece since 1930”, expanded into chewing gum, chocolate and hazelnut spreads and wafers.

164

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

present section, the subcorpora are different in size. To enable comparison, the data, illustrated in section 5, were normalized. When looking at raw occurrences, illustrated in brackets in the tables presented in section 5, it is helpful to bear in mind that the Greek cheese subcorpus is about double the size of the Swedish one, while the sum of the Swedish subcorpora (cheese and chocolate) is about double the size of the Greek ones.

5. Analysis and discussion 5.1. Personalization To verify H1, occurrences of we, us, our, you and your were examined. As expected, they are more frequent in the Swedish cheese and chocolate subcorpora compared to the Greek ones (table 2). Table 2: Occurrences of 1st and 2nd person plural personal pronouns and adjectives. Product

we

us

our

you

your

Total

Greek cheese

(29) 0.38

(8) 0.11

(79) 1.04

(20) 0.26

(8) 0.11

(144) 1.9

Greek chocolate

(8) 22

(2) 0.06

(12) 0.34

(2) 0.06

(2) 0.06

(26) 0.68

Swedish cheese

(25) 0.61

(8) 0.19

(58) 1.41

(20) 0.49

(8) 0.19

(119) 2.89

Swedish chocolate

(82) 0.50

(28) 0.17

(74) 0.45

(141) 0.86

(49) 0.30

(374) 2.27

These differences indicate that the Swedish companies refer to themselves with the exclusive personal pronoun we more frequently than the Greek companies do and customers are more often addressed personally with the second person pronoun (example 1). (1) Our cheeses On these pages, you can find out how to get the most out of our cheeses. You’ll find tips for tempting cheese platters, exciting recipes, the best accompaniments for our cheeses and hints on how to really appreciate a good cheese. You’ll also find product information on

Costanza Cucchi

165

specific cheeses and the characteristics of hard cheeses with different 7 levels of maturity (Wernersson). It doesn’t matter how many French toffees we make, they always run out. We’re starting to have the same problem with the liquorice toffee, the one with a little bit of salt on it. Have you tried it? (Chokladfabriken).

The setting up of a more direct rapport with the customers in the Swedish websites is confirmed by the higher frequency of welcome,8 contact9 and call addressed to customers in the Swedish subcorpora compared to the Greek ones, as illustrated in Table 3: Table 3: Occurrences of welcome, contact and call. Product

welcome

contact

call

Total

(1) 0.01

(3) 0.04

/

(5) 0.05

Greek chocolate

/

(1) 0.03

/

(1) 0.03

Swedish cheese

(5) 0.12

(5) 0.12

/

(10) 0.24

Swedish chocolate

(13) 0.08

(9) 0.04

(5) 0.03

(27) 0.15

Greek cheese

In the Swedish subcorpora contact and call often collocate with welcome, but this is not always the case, as illustrated in example 2: (2) If you want more information about any of our products you are welcome to contact us (Skånemejerier). You are more than welcome to e-mail or call us for further information! (Lödahus Chokladkultur). 7

When not mentioned in the excerpts, the company’s name is indicated in brackets. 8 Since Chocoladfabriken and Lödahus Chokladkultur, unlike the Greek chocolate companies, own shops, occurrences where welcome referred to shop customers were discarded. 9 Occurrence of contact in expressions like contact form were discarded.

166

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites If you have a question, do contact us by phone, snail mail or email (Chokladfabriken).

However, customers are also welcomed to the webpages or to exchange opinions (example 3): (3) Welcome to a world of taste and pleasure. Welcome to Wernersson Ost. Welcome to Lödahus Chokladkultur’s guestbook! The function of this Webpage is not solely as a guestbook, but also as a forum where people can exchange tips, experiences, knowledge, advices and recipes. You are free to carry your own discussions or to simply just sign the guestbook. Irrelevant contributions will be erased. Welcome!

5.2. Tradition In order to verify H2, wordlists were checked. It was noted that two words related to tradition, traditional and classic, ranked 29th in both the Greek cheese and the Greek chocolate subcorpora, while in the Swedish subcorpora no words related to tradition appeared among the 100 most frequent words. All the subcorpora were then searched for occurrences of tradition* and classic* and only the occurrences referring to the products were retained. The results are illustrated in Table 4. Table 4: Occurrences of tradition* and classic*. Product

tradition*

classic*

Greek cheese

(38) 0.5

/

Greek chocolate

(1) 0.03

(26) 0.73

Swedish cheese

(4) 0.1

/

/

/

Swedish chocolate

Costanza Cucchi

167

The most frequent collocates of tradition* in the Greek cheese subcorpus are cheese, Greek and feta and the companies stress the importance of conforming to traditional production processes, as shown in (4). (4) The maintaining of the quality and the tradition is a promise for BIOPGAL Co. The Smoked Cheese of Thessaloniki is an exceptional semi hard cheese that is produced and smoked with the traditional way. For the production of that cheese we use exclusively fresh local cow’s and goat’s milk arvanitis [sic].

In many cases, the emphasis on tradition and continuity combines with the mention of the family and of the historical past (example 5), important values in low IDV countries. (5) Balantinos family traditional recipe, which has been kept unchanged for four generations now, continues to place our Gruyere on top of your preferences and has recently brought in the golden prize of taste all over Greece. Among the products of each region, there are some that [...] make history! Feta Klisouras is a traditional Greek white cheese that was created by people with great love and pride about their products in the historic town of Klisoura in Macedonia, Greece. Till now, these people are determined to continue their family tradition and offer to the public an excellent feta with great quality (Patsikas).

However, three companies out of four repeatedly stress that respect for tradition does not imply lack of modernity, as shown in example 6, thus reassuring clients about the quality of their products. (6) In the modern and certified facilities of Arvaniti S.A. in Neochorouda, the cheese tradition is fresh and alive. Knowledge and tradition goes hand in hand with the most advanced quality systems, modern business philosophy and innovative ideas in order to serve our passion for Quality. An up-to-date factory in Varypetro of Nea Kydonia, respect for tradition, continuous investments on modern cheese-making technology as well as a complete, first-rate network from the dairyfarmer to the distribution of its end products have led the company to its fair conquest of the local market, still expanding (Balantinos).

168

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites The production of our goods is based on the excellent combination of the traditional recipe we inherited by our ancestors with the modern technology required by the contemporary developments (Balantinos). Traditional Feta Klisouras is made of sheep and goat cheese. […]. Through constant development and wide use of modern techniques, but preserving our domestic values that make our feta well famous, we proceed to the next level (Patsikas).

Regarding the Greek chocolate corpus, 24 of the 26 occurrences of classic* belong to Chocotime and are part of the names or descriptions of its products, which feature “Disney classic heroes”. The remaining two occurrences, instead, are found in the website of the other Greek chocolate company in the corpus, Astir. As the Greek cheese companies do, Astir also stresses the coexistence of traditional values and modern technology (example 7): (7) ASTIR chocolate manufacturing plant is a modern unit that combines technologically advanced machinery with traditional recipes and classic production procedures. Classic products are being produced with the same method they were produced when they were first introduced in the Greek market some decades ago. But on the same plant new modern and original products and production procedures are being developed.

Interestingly, tradition* always has positive connotations in the Greek websites. The only case of negative connotation is found in a Swedish website, Skånemejerier (example 8): (8) As a small player from an international market view Skånemejerier has to be quicker, more knowledgeable and more highly creative than our competitors. We must think differently and not be hypnotised by the traditional dairy market to the exclusion of all else, but find unconventional solutions - ideally together with other players on the market. If you are such a player you are welcome to contact us.

On the contrary, however, despite the low frequency of the word, tradition is highly valued at Wernersson (example 9): (9) We’ve placed strong emphasis on ensuring that our core values Tradition, Selected, [sic] Flavour and Efficiency are clearly instilled in the organizations of our new collaborative partners.

Costanza Cucchi

169

5.3. Quality Occurrences of quality referring to the products are more frequent in the Greek subcorpora compared to the Swedish ones, as shown in Table 5, thus confirming H3. Table 5: Occurrences of quality. Product

Quality

Greek cheese

(38) 0.5

Greek chocolate

(10) 0.28

Swedish cheese

(13) 0.32

Swedish chocolate

(2) 0.01

Similarly to what happens with tradition, quality is more emphasized in cheese than it is in chocolate websites and is particularly frequent in the Greek cheese subcorpus, where quality ranks 25th in the wordlist, after the full words cheese, milk, feta, production, products and taste, and always refers to the products. An examination of the occurrences reveals that quality is frequent in the websites of all the four companies, in statements like those in example 10: (10) We export “quality” around the world (Arvaniti). […] the business has won one of the top places in consumer preference not only around the entire Crete, but also in the great urban centers (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras and other) offering all products of traditional Cretan cheese-making, incomparable in terms of both taste and quality (Balantinos). The maintaining of the quality and the tradition is a promise for BIOPGAL Co. For us here in Klisoura, quality is the logo of our feta (Patsikas).

170

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

In two websites in the Greek cheese subcorpus there is even a section dedicated to quality accessible from their homepage, as shown in figures 1 and 2, which is never the case in the Swedish websites.

Figure 1: Balantino’s quality.

Figure 2: Biopgal’s quality.

Costanza Cucchi

171

The mention of quality in the Swedish cheese companies is uneven: most occurrences – 11 out of 13 – are in Skånemejerier’s website – which places high emphasis on quality, as shown in example 11. (11) Skånemejerier is synonymous with quality and freshness and is a well established name for our customers and consumers.

A low frequency, however, does not necessarily imply that quality is considered unimportant, as illustrated in example 12 from the Swedish chocolate subcorpus, where quality is particularly underrepresented: (12) The three commandments The Chocolate Factory has always followed three fundamental rules: • Everything in the shop (even mother-in-law Siv’s orange marmalade) must contain chocolate of the highest quality. • Everything must be made by hand. • Everyone is welcome in our shops.

An examination of the right collocates of quality in the Greek and the Swedish subcorpora revealed that there is an emphasis on quality control and quality certificates in both the Greek cheese and the Greek chocolate subcorpus, which is lacking in the Swedish one. Prizes, medals and certificates are mentioned in all the subcorpora. Since the number of awards and prizes is limited and companies mention them once, just raw data are illustrated in Table 6. Table 6: Occurrences of award*, certificate*, medal* and prize*. Product

award*

certificate*

medal*

prize*

Total

Greek cheese

4

1

/

1

6

Greek chocolate

/

1

/

/

1

Swedish cheese

1

2

1

Swedish chocolate

2

/

1

4 /

3

It is also to be noted that two Greek websites show awards and certificates on their homepages, as shown in figures 3 and 4, which is never the case in the Swedish websites.

172

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

Figure 3: Arvaniti’s awards.

Figure 4: Chocotime’s certificates.

Costanza Cucchi

173

5.4. Informality Regarding H4, thing*, which was selected as a marker of informality, is present, albeit not frequently, only in the Swedish subcorpora (table 7), where it features in the websites of all the companies, except on Milko’s single webpage in English. Table 7: Occurrences of thing*. Product

thing*

Greek cheese

/

Greek chocolate

/

Swedish cheese

(4) 0.1

Swedish chocolate

(6) 0.04

Unsurprisingly, thing* occurs in particularly informal contexts where customers are addressed in a very friendly tone (example 13): (13) Of course, you can just indiscriminately put a piece of cheese in your mouth and savour it as it slowly melts. But you cheese lovers out there will find plenty of information to help you really enjoy our cheeses. Like with all the good things in life, it takes knowledge to really appreciate a good cheese (Wernersson). On a normal day, there are plenty of cakes here waiting for yoy [sic]. But if you`re planning a big party, or if everything hangs on getting the perfect cake, then you should order in advance. First thing [sic] first, isn`t that what they say (Chokladfabriken).

5.5. Experimentation H5 is confirmed since the only occurrences of experiment, invent and try are found in the Swedish subcorpora (table 8).

174

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

Table 8: Occurrences of experiment, invent and try. Product

experiment

invent

try

Total

Greek cheese

/

/

/

/

Greek chocolate

/

/

/

/

Swedish cheese

/

(1) 0.02

(3) 0.07

(4) 0.09

(5) 0.03

/

(7) 0.04

(12) 0.07

Swedish chocolate

As shown in example 14, experimentation is valued both in the company and in the customers: (14) Below are some tasty tips for cheese platters. Don’t forget that you can also invent your own dishes. Let your imagination run free! (Wernersson). Our motto has always been to dare to try things out, but to do it on a small scale and to make any possible mistakes as cheaply as possible (Skånemejerier). Cinnamon, vanilla and nuts are of course very common seasoning in traditional Mexican hot chocolate. Try for yourself! Experiment with different kinds of herbs, spices, petals or orange peel. Or why not try out different types of sugar to taste the various effects! Raw, brown, cane, Muscovado, Demerara [...] (Lödahus Chokladkultur). In our “chocolate factory” there is an ongoing developing process and we constantly experiment with new flavors and ingredients (Lödahus Chokladkultur).

A different attitude to experimentation in the Greek and Swedish websites is confirmed by the findings about the occurrences of art and science referring to company products, of which there are six occurrences in total. Interestingly, the only occurrences of art, implying more inventiveness and flexibility, are in the Swedish websites (example 15): (15) Every cheese has its own unique requirements, and maturing times vary from a couple of months to a year or more. The actual maturing process is an art that requires great care and precision (Wernersson).

Costanza Cucchi

175

A high fat content produces a soft, smooth cheese. A lower fat content makes the cheese more brittle. This means that it’s an art to mature cheese with a low fat content while maintaining its consistency so that it doesn’t break or crumble when sliced (Wernersson). Besides our manufacturing we give lectures, chocolate tastings and workshops in the fine art of making chocolate (Lödahus Chokladkultur).

On the contrary, the only occurrences of science are found in a Greek website, Chocotime (example 16): (16) Never should we forget that chocolate is a science. Each exhibitor is that science’s defender and champion, and the purpose of his/her presence in the exhibition is to extend his/her clientele and his/her exports around the globe, depending on the company’s dynamics and mechanical potentiality. CHOCOTIME couldn’t afford to abstain from this science!

5.6. Achievement In order to verify H6, concordances of *est were checked and only superlative forms were retained. Of the superlatives in *est and those with most, only the ones referring to the companies’ products were considered. Results are illustrated in Table 9. Table 9: Occurrences of superlative forms. Product

-est

the most

Total

Greek cheese

(11) 0.14

(4) 0.05

(15) 0.2

Greek chocolate

(6) 0.17

/

(6) 0.17

Swedish cheese

(4) 0.1

(1) 0.02

(5) 0.12

Swedish chocolate

(3) 0.02

/

(3) 0.02

As expected, superlative forms are more frequent in the Greek subcorpora compared to the Swedish ones. The Greek companies,

176

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

therefore, tend to stress their achievements more than the Swedish ones (example 17 and figure 5), thus confirming H6: (17) With much experience in the production of chocolates and sweets, it is one of the fastest grown up companies in the development of chocolates and candies in Greece (Chocotime).

Figure 5: Superlatives in Arvaniti’s website.

Superlatives forms, however, are not evenly distributed in the subcorpora: in the Greek cheese subcorpus most occurrences10 are in Arvaniti’s website, while Balantinos and Biopgal never use superlatives. An emphasis on achievement is also reflected in the higher prominence given to the mention of awards in the Greek websites, possibly linked to Greece’ higher UA and PD as shown above, but which may also be related to Greece’s higher MAS. Swedish lower MAS, on the other hand, may be the reason why achievements are mentioned with a certain restraint in the Swedish website Chockladfabriken (example 18):

10

8 of the 11 superlative forms in *est and all of those with most.

Costanza Cucchi

177

(18) A bit of boasting We are by nature modest and unassuming, but there are just a few things we have to mention. Between 2001 and 2005, Martin was a member of the Swedish national team of chefs. First, the team won the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg. Two years later, they took the big Olympic medal (and a few small ones) in Erfurt, Germany (Chokladfabriken).

In the same website, an emphasis on feelings and empathy can be seen in the description of the owners’ love-story, possibly associated with feminine values (example 19), in which low UA is also evident. (19) Love in a pâtisserie Martin and Ellinor met at the pâtisserie in the NK department store. Martin worked wonders with chocolate, and Ellinor was nice to the customers. Then all of a sudden, they had quit their jobs, started a factory and had two children (Chokladfabriken).

6. Conclusion The present study has indicated that the lexical choices in selected websites in lingua franca English of local companies in Greece and Sweden have a ‘national flavour’ which may be explained on the basis of cultural differences with reference to Hofstede’s (2001, 2003) dimensions. In particular, in the Swedish websites more occurrences of personal pronouns, referring both to the company and the customers, are observed, a more direct rapport with customers is established, more emphasis is placed on the need to experiment and the language is generally more informal. These features are in keeping with Sweden’s higher IDV, lower UA and lower PD compared to Greece. In the Greek websites, instead, more emphasis is put on tradition, quality and achievement, which reflects Greece’s lower IDV and its higher UA, PD and MAS. The findings are relevant for various reasons. First, they show that, in an age of globalization, cultural differences are still visible. Second, they confirm that Hofstede’s model is a valid approach despite the critiques, reported for example in Baack and Singh (2007: 182), that the data on which it is based is aging. Third, the findings confirm that the model may be utilized in linguistic research, in an area as yet unexplored through the model, except in Cucchi (2010b), namely websites of European countries written in English as a lingua franca. Regarding the formulation of hypotheses on the basis of the dimensions, the present study has highlighted that the same lexical features are expected on the basis of different dimensions. In fact, more

178

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

personalization is expected on the basis of higher IDV, lower UA and lower PD, more emphasis on tradition may be related to higher UA and lower IDV, while more emphasis on the specialists’ expertise may be predicted on the basis of higher UA and higher PD. This, besides indicating a strong interrelatedness of language and culture, confirms at a linguistic level the existence of a correlation, in many EU countries, between higher IDV, lower UA and lower PD, noted by Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede (2009: 59). Regarding the relation about the cultural dimensions and lexical choices, the present study has identified a number of linguistic markers possibly associated to the dimensions. Further research is needed on larger corpora and on other European countries in order to extend and verify the findings.

Corpus Arvaniti, www.arvanitis.gr. Astir, www.astir.com.gr. Balantinos, www.balantinos.gr/en. Biopgal, www.biopgal.gr/en. Chokladfabriken, www.chokladfabriken.com. Chocotime, www.chocotime.gr. Lödahus Chockladkultur, www.chockladkultur.se. Milko, www.milko.se. Patsikas, www.patsikas.gr. Skånemejerier, www.skanemejerier.se/en. Wernersson, www.wernerssonost.se.

References Baack, Daniel W. and Nitish Singh. 2007. Culture and web communications [sic]. Journal of Business Research 60. 181-188. Bartal, David. 2006. Say, Cheese! Swedish Bulletin. Your insider’s guide to Stockholm and Sweden. http://www.swedishbulletin.se/sb/articles/ 0612gourmet.shtml. Bjørge, Anne K. 2007. Power distance in English lingua franca email communication. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 17/1. 60-80. Carter, Ronald and Michael McCarthy. 1997. Exploring Spoken English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Clyne, Michael. 1994. Intercultural Communication at Work: Cultural Values in Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cheese. http://www.cheesewiki.com/.

Costanza Cucchi

179

Cheese. http://www.cheese.com/. CheeseNet. http://www.cheesenet.gr/english/index.htm. Crystal, David and Derek Davy. 1975. Advanced Conversational English. London: Longman. Cucchi, Costanza. 2010a. Vague Expressions in the European Parliament: A Marker of Cultural Identity?”. In Giuliana Garzone and James Archibald (eds.), Discourse, Identity and Roles in Specialized Communication. Bern: Peter Lang. 85-107. —. 2010b. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: Italian national identity in ELF usage. Cultus, The Journal of Intercultural Mediation and Communication 3. 137-158. Dairy Products 1.com. The number 1 Business to Business website for the International dairy product industry. http://www.dairyproducts1.com. Dekker, Daphne M., Christel G. Rutte and Peter T. Van den Berg. 2008. Cultural differences in the perception of critical interaction behaviors in global virtual teams. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 32. 441-452. Formaggio.it. Il portale del formaggio. http://www.formaggio.it/home.htm. Garzone, Giuliana. 2009. Identity in Tourist Communication on the Internet, Italy’s and Spain’s Web Sites Contrasted. In Giuliana Garzone and Paola Catenaccio (eds.). Identities across Media and Modes Discursive Perspectives. Bern: Peter Lang. 29-58. Greekproducts.com. The source for Greek products. http://www.greekproducts.com. Greek-Recipe.com. http://www.gefsi.gr/index.php. Hatipo÷lu, Çiler. 2006. Computer mediated Language and Culture: salutations and Closings in British and Turkish ‘Call for papers’ Written in English. Studies About Languages (Kalbǐ Studijos) 8. 31-38. http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/ SearchArticles.aspx. igourmet.com. http://www.igourmet.com/. Hofstede, Geert. 2001. Culture’s Consequences. Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. —. 2003 [1991]. Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind, Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival. London: Profile Books. I love cheese. http://www.ilovecheese.co.uk/. Itim International. http://www.geert-hofstede.com/. Kang, Doo Syen and Teresa Mastin. 2008. How cultural difference affects international tourism public relations websites: A comparative analysis

180

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in ELF Company Websites

using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Short communication. Public Relations Review 34. 54-56. Katan, David. 2004. Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St. Jerome. —. 2006. It’s a Question of Life or Death: Cultural Differences in Advertising Private Pensions. In Nicoletta Vasta (ed.), Forms of Promotion Texts, Contexts and Cultures. Bologna: Pàtron Editore. 5580. Koeman, Joyce. 2007. “Cultural values in commercials: Reaching and representing the multicultural market?”. Communications 32. 223-253. Kouame, Veronique. 1999. EU’s chocolate dispute. TED Case Studies. 9.2. http://www1.american.edu/TED/chocolat.htm. List-of-Companies.org. http://www.list-of-companies.org. Loukianenko Wolfe, Maria. 2008. Different cultures – Different discourses? Rhetorical patterns of business letters by English and Russian speakers. In Ulla Connor, Ed Nagelhout and William Rozycki (eds.). Contrastive Rhetoric. Reaching to intercultural rhetoric. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 87120. Meeuwesen, Ludwien, Atie van den Brink-Muinen and Geert Hofstede. 2009. Can dimensions of national culture predict cross-national differences in medical communication? Patient Education and Counseling 75. 58-66. Nilsson Blom, Ulla-Kerstin and Per-Olof Weréen. 2002. Cheese and cheese-making with a special emphasis on Swedish cheeses. Bioscience explained 1/2. 1-8. http://www.bioscience-explained.org/ ENvol1_2/pdf/cheeseEN.pdf. Singh, Nitish, Honghxin Zhao and Xiaouroui Hu. 2003. Cultural adaptation on the web: A study of American companies’ domestic and Chinese websites. International Journal of Global Information Management 11/3. 63-80. Singh, Nitish, Honghxin Zhao and Xiaouroui Hu. 2005. Analyzing the cultural content of web sites, A cross-national comparison of China, India, Japan, and US. International Marketing Review 22/2. 129-146. Scandia Food & Gifts. http://www.scandiafood.com. Scott, Mike. 2004. Wordsmith Tools 4.0. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Svenskmjolk. Swedish Dairy Association. www.svenskmjolk.se. Thefoodworld.com. http://www.thefoodworld.com/. Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamin.

Costanza Cucchi

181

Turnbull, Judith. 2008. Language and Culture in Corporate Websites. In Julia Bamford and Rita Salvi (eds.), Business Discourse: Language at Work. Roma: Aracne. 17-34. Ultimate Guide to Greek Food. www.ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com. Vishwanath, Arun. 2003. Comparing Online Information Effects: A CrossCultural Comparison of Online Information and Uncertainty Avoidance. Communication Research 30/6. 579-598. Zhao, Wenyong, Brian L. Massey, Jamie Murphy and Liu Fang. 2003. Cultural Dimensions of Website Design and Content. Prometheus 21/1. 75-84. http://web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/Cultural_Dimen-sions.pdf.

UNEXPECTED LEXICAL CREATIVITY: THE RISE OF CONTEXT-DEPENDENT CULTURES? FRANCESCA VIGO (UNIVERSITY OF CATANIA)

1. Introduction and theoretical background Currently, one of the most debated issues in sociolinguistics is that of English as a Lingua-Franca1 (ELF). The term ‘lingua-franca’ is used with reference to a particular function of language only, and it is commonly held that lingua-francas are L2 for their speakers (Samarin 1987: 371). However, as Kachru suggested (1996: 906-907), existing conceptualizations of ‘lingua-franca’ seem to require revisions especially in the light of copious recent empirical studies (Knapp and Meierkord 2002: 10). The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the English language to which Crystal referred in 2004 is no longer a hypothesis but a reality of which ELF is one aspect, The situation is unprecedented, with more people using English in more places than at any time in the language’s history, and unpredictable, with 1

Following Nicholas Ostler (2010: 7), from now onwards I will use the hyphenated version of the term. Indeed, according to him it is “time to set some ground for our use of this key word (Lingua-franca [author’s note]) or at least its spelling”. He considers the word’s etymology confused, a sort of retranslation into either Italian or Latin of some eastern-Mediterranean term for ‘Language of the Franks’. Apparently, however, this makes no difference unless a plural form is needed, lingue franche or linguae francae? He tries to retrace the birth and development of the term. Taking the English language into consideration the standard plural form +s proves incorrect when the morpheme -s- is attached to the second element of the term only, lingua francas. The result is a very ‘un-Englishlooking phrase’ with the adjective in second position, and in the plural form. For these reasons, Ostler proposes writing the word with a hyphen when it is used as a linguistic technical term and not as a proper noun.

184

Unexpected Lexical Creativity the forces promoting linguistic identity and intelligibility competing with each other in unexpected ways. For those who have to work professionally with English, accordingly, it is a very difficult time. After all, there has never been such a period of rapid and fundamental change since the explosions of development that hit the language in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. (Crystal 2004: 40).

Up to now, most of the research on ELF has focused on its form(s), and to a lesser degree on its birth and/or function. However, ELF studies should also be concerned with how this language is used functionally as a means of communication, how it is used to bridge the language gap between communities and/or cultures, and such studies should cover huge lingua-cultural distances. It is important to disclose what linguistic strategies are at work. It is shared knowledge that a linguistic system does not appear in a vacuum and is motivated in some way or another; and as Halliday maintains, forms are triggered by social functions and there is always a “systematic relationship between the social environment on the one hand and the functional organization of language on the other” (1985: 11). So, the encoded systems of a language are a reflection of the way a language has developed in response to social requirements; surface forms are symptomatic. Following this, Seidlhofer (2009: 49) asserts that it is precisely the functional significance of forms that is of primary interest in ELF studies and it should be central to our enquiry. According to her, it is now time to shift from the categorization of surface forms to an attempt to understand what motivated their occurrences. However, until very recently, ELF has only been described with reference to the British English Standard model and has thus been assessed solely in terms of divergence from a shared standard norm and not in terms of functional linguistic creativity. Furthermore, the choice of this language system as the object of analysis implies the prejudicial assumption that there is, in fact, one single object of analysis; we are all well aware that this is not the case, since ELF, as a language, is generated every single time it is used (Baker 2009: 571). For this reason, it is an atypical linguistic system since: 1. it is a fluid system (Seidlhofer 2009); 2. it does not have stable and identified speech communities to refer to (Pitzl 2009); 3. it cannot be geographically located (Seidlhofer 2009); 4. its aim is mostly communicative (Dewey 2009); 5. its speakers always belong to different lingua-cultural backgrounds;

Francesca Vigo

185

6. it is L2 for all its speakers, who are not bilingual, i.e. their competence in English is not native-like; 7. intelligibility is related to effective communication and not to language accuracy (Dewey 2009); 8. it exploits conversational and interaction strategies as preventive procedures (Kaur 2009); 9. it is characterized by the presence of idiomatic language, which consists of expressions that stem from an English idiom but are rephrased according to cognitive processes that might or might not be easily retraceable (Pitzl 2009).

In addition to this, and unlike what happened before, it is a natural language which becomes a lingua-franca and not a brand new language that stems from the situation that generates it and is no one’s native language.

2. ELF, features and key concepts The role of English as a language of communication between speakers for whom it is not L1 is acquiring more and more importance. Nevertheless, as said before, ELF is an atypical linguistic system, for which specifically and purposefully revised analytical frameworks or systems should be devised (Seidlhofer 2009, and Sinclair 1985 quoted in Seidlhofer 2009). In ELF contexts, for example, intelligibility does not lie in the language itself but in the way language is used in interactions, and must be achieved through accommodative use of resources (Dewey 2009) and lexical resources are among the most widely necessary ones. ELF is “on the move”, it is fluid. In this context, on the one hand English is the most widely-learnt foreign language and is analyzed along a right/wrong continuum; on the other, it is used mainly as a means to communicate and is to be analyzed along an effective/non-effective continuum. By the same token, the language is perceived differently by its users, even though one context affects the other. ELF speakers may, indeed, be either language-focused speakers (especially within the ELT domain) or content-focused speakers (mainly within the ELF domain) (Ehrenreich 2009). The discrepancy in the perception of English leads its users to concentrate on different issues: some are more interested in accuracy and evaluate ELF accordingly, while others use it as an instrument and evaluate it accordingly. The former allow less lexical creation since one of the criteria they use to evaluate language performance or value is the distance from a shared standard (the greater the distance the less the

186

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

value); the latter may pursue lexical creativity to better achieve their communicative aims. This second group might prove interesting as far as lexical and cultural studies are concerned.

3. ELF and culture A language is normally related to a culture. We usually speak of linguacultural backgrounds and we need to refer back to culture to explain and understand many linguistic phenomena. All the same, this is not entirely true in ELF contexts, since there is neither one single culture nor one single speech community to refer to; there are no well defined and identifiable cultural identities (Baker 2009: 571-588). For this reason, the use of the sociological concept of “subjective relevance” (Hitzler and Eberle 2004) and a reflection on the suitability of the concept of speech community2 have been suggested to explain what lies behind the discrepancy in the perception of English and how different linguistic behaviours can be understood (Ehrenreich 2009; Seidlhofer 2009). Subjective relevances share the perception of the life-world of members of different “small social life-worlds” (Luckmann 1970) and provide a possible framework to observe differences in language attitude. ELF speakers approach language matters differently in so far as they pay less attention to accuracy and linguistic matters in general than ‘normal’ speakers, and this can be explained sociologically; what needs to be investigated is how the different attitudes translate into different ways of

2 According to Seidlhofer in ELF scope there is the need for “clearly situated qualitative studies with a strong ethnographic element” (Seidlhofer et al. 2006: 21). She maintains that the established notions may no longer be able to grasp the new (socio) linguistic realities of ELF, therefore new concepts need to be found (2006: 310). One possible option might be using ‘Community of Practice’ instead of ‘Speech Community’ as House suggested in 2003 drawing from Wenger (1998) and Lave and Wenger (1991). Meyerhoff, however, does not agree. She considers the Community of Practice too narrow a concept, unsuitable for ELF. For the sake of accuracy it is worth recalling that in sociolinguistics and language studies the concept of ‘Community of Practice’ was introduced by Eckert and McConnellGinet (1992: 464), “A Community of Practice is an aggregate of people who come together around mutual engagement in an endeavour. Ways of doing things, ways of talking, beliefs, values, power relations – in short, practice – emerge in the course of this mutual endeavour. As a social construct, a Community of Practice is different from the traditional community, primarily because it is defined simultaneously by its membership and by the practice in which that membership engages”.

Francesca Vigo

187

dealing with the language and what linguistic strategies are enacted. A new culture is generated every single time ELF is used (Baker 2009: 571). In 1997, Deignan et al., stated that “[...] a speaker is, to a certain extent, bound by the lexis of his/her language in the range of meanings he/she can express [...] especially when there does not seem to be a neutral term available” (1997: 37). Since language and culture are strongly related, the influence that words exert on the society/culture supposedly makes the society/culture distinct from any other culture or language group. As a consequence, words are key elements to disclose the existence of a new-born social group or of a blooming new culture. Some linguistic situations may recur, and might be deeply characterized by the use of creative linguistic examples. As a number of studies have highlighted,3 ELF speakers (in other “older” terms, NNSs – Non-Native Speakers) have the skills to communicate effectively with one another. This might imply that the individual lingua-francas, which are individually generated by ELF speakers and are negotiated every time an ELF exchange takes place, differ so much from the mother tongue varieties (in other “older” terms, ENL variety) that NSs – Native Speakers will no longer be able to use their language in lingua-franca situations in the same way they use it in the communication with other NSs (Smith 1983: 9). This varied linguistic situation might prove linguistically interesting from a creative point of view, in so far as it might generate linguistic behaviours that might go back to the British or American English Standard varieties, thus modifying them. Up to now, NSs of English have been using their native language to interact with NNSs because their language was the “requested standard”; however, if ELF proves an efficient means of communication, and if Standard English turns to be no longer communicatively effective in ELF contexts, then it is crucial to understand and describe what kind of language is used and what cultures generate it, and I believe that describing what lexicon is used is part of this task.

4. The research Within this broader theoretical background, this chapter aims at showing how content-focused ELF speakers, i.e. speakers interested in communicative effectiveness rather than accuracy, may turn into lexical 3 A wide and growing literature is available on this topic. To quote some among the many, Mauranen 2005, 2006, 2007; Mauranen and Ranta 2009; Seidlhofer 2001, 2006, 2009; Cogo and Dewey 2006, 2010; Dewey 2007; Dewey and Jenkins 2009; Cogo and Dewey 2006, 2010; Pitzl 2009; Breiteneder 2009; Seidlhhofer et al. 2006.

188

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

creative agents. What is here presented is part of a wider research and will focus on job interviews as creative lexical events and on companies as speech communities/communities of practice/cultures. My claim is that in job interviews conducted in English by Italians or NNSs of English, appropriateness is assessed against company/culture needs and not against accuracy or linguistic correctness. Following a psycholinguistic hypothesis of lexical creation that states that cultural prototypes, rather than lexis, shape a society’s world view,4 in those contexts, managers can be considered creative lexical agents since they coin new words purposefully for their specific corporate/cultural aims. I assume that “company”, in this specific context, can be likened to a culture. In this case-study, indeed, new words are ad hoc meaning-making and culturally enrich the language through spontaneous translations of mothertongue metaphors and idioms, as examples of “pragmatic resourcefulness” (Wenger 1998: 80). Job interviews can thus be considered an intriguing example of ELF speakers’ essentially pragmatic attitude towards language/lexical innovation and variation (Meyerhoff 2002) and an example of how creative lexical behaviours emerge when un-codified and fluid contexts/cultures are involved. The analysis has been conducted following an ethnographic approach with a silent observer as well as through questionnaires. The data and tentative results that will be presented are, in point of fact, part of a wider research project for which I am currently collecting data from various sources, namely, a. international companies based in Catania, Italy, which define English as their working language. An analysis of job interviews, meetings, casual conversations and advertisement creation; b. international meetings (academic and corporate) in which the participants’ L1s are different. A contrastive analysis of institutional communicative exchanges and casual conversations; 4

In his article, Hadley (1997: 484) questions the Whorfian hypothesis that states that it is lexis that somehow limits the cognition and the expression of a particular society. Specifically, following Scovel (1991), he points out that not only is it necessary to validate the hypothesis by means of qualitative and quantitative research, but that it is time also to move a step further and “be open to other ways of describing psycholinguistic processes in lexical fields” (p. 484). In his article he paves the way to demonstrating that cultural prototypes rather than lexis shape a society’s world view. He follows Aitchison’s claims that lexical meaning is to be found in prototypes. According to her, prototypes are “…mental models of the world which we live in, models which are private and cultural architectures, and only partially in touch with ‘reality’” (Aitchison 1995: 70).

Francesca Vigo

189

c. mixed-language groups of students sharing flats; d. people’s points of view, questionnaires and interviews administered at the airport, in travel agencies and tourist offices, along the streets and to English teachers and learners; e. analysis of newspapers and advertisements to check whether and how ELF linguistic creativity affects Italian texts.

The ELF research scope, here displayed by means of a diagram, is a wide one and within this wider scope my research (Ellipses N. 1, 4, 5 and 8) focuses mainly on: speech community versus community of practice (1), linguistic creativity (4), conversation and spoken discourse (5) and description (8).

Figure 1: ELF research scope.

Within the wider ELF scope represented in Fig. 1, the section of my research I am going to present refers to ELT, lexical creativity, culture creation and the debate on speech community vs. culture/community of practice. The related research areas of reference are conversational analysis, linguistic/lexical creativity, English Language Learning,

190

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

psycholinguistics and cultural studies. The places where my data were gathered are six international companies based in Catania, Italy, which define English as their working language; the data consist of job interviews and casual conversations and questionnaires. The latter intend to investigate the perception and awareness of employers’ competence and use of English as well as the role English plays/has played in their professional settings and language learning planning. My corpus is made up of reports of the silent participant’s observation of 20 job interviews, recordings of interviews and coffee breaks for a total of about 25 hours, and 35 questionnaires (administered to both applicants and managers/employers). As far as the methodology is concerned, recordings were made in accordance with privacy protection procedures and the transcriptions were carried out according to the conventions proposed by Ian Hutchby and Robin Wooffitt (1998; 2008). On the silent observation schedule I agreed with managers and company directors. Interviews were chosen randomly to avoid any possible bias or prejudice. The questionnaires comprised 10 questions of which only two required an open answer. The final sample included 20 applicants aged 25-28 (A1-A20); 4 managers (M1-M4) and 9 employers (E1-E9). The analysis is not gendersensitive. In job interviews non-standard English is extensively used by both interviewers and interviewees. Interviews are also characterized by numerous creative lexical behaviours not only during incipit and/or codas but also during the interview, at key moments. Two large sets of creative lexical behaviours can be highlighted: coinages following English wordformation rules; coinages stemming from Italian–English semantic and idiomatic transfers. As far as the questionnaires are concerned, people seem to be more content-and-event-focused than language-focused.

5. Analysis of findings The following are examples taken from the interviews. Since no conversation analysis is to be carried out on the interviews here, transcription conventions are not detailed for easier reading. The examples are grouped according to the ‘range of creativity’ they disclose. As previously mentioned, the wide sets of creative behaviours can be highlighted with reference to the extent and type of their lexical creativity. For the purpose of this research only lexical creative phenomena have been underscored; however, they are not the only existing ones. All the same, lexical items are, as stated beforehand, particularly meaningful as far as culture/community construction is concerned.

Francesca Vigo

191

5.1. Coinages following English word-formation rules The first group of examples comprises coinages following English wordformation rules, in order to create: 1) adverbs; 2) nouns; 3) verbs; and 4) adjectives. 5.1.1. Creation of adverbs: ‘modernly’, ‘fastly’ (1) I am sure you will fastly learn how it works […] (2) our company modernly aims at fulfilling customers fastly and at dealing with problems quickly […]

Both adverbs (in 1 and 2) are created according to English word formation rules, with the addition of the derivative bound morpheme -ly to the adjective root. With reference to (1) the word ‘fast’ is both an adjective and an adverb in British Standard English, and the use of an extra mark to indicate the adverb is perhaps due to the fact that ELF speakers tend to be redundant5 (Dewey 2007). 5.1.2. Creation of nouns: ‘appointment’ as ‘disappointment’; ‘misfunction’, ‘misbehaviours’

an

antonym

of

(3) from our and my personal previous experience, I can assure you about your future here, in this company. There will be moments of disappointment but also of appointment […]. (4) there will be occasions in which you will be asked to decide and mistakes are easy to occur, we expect you to do your best and we will not bear misbehaviours or misfunctions.

In (3) the substantive ‘appointment’ is correctly “back-constructed” as the base noun form of the possible negative derivative ‘disappointment’.6 However, it is a mis-construction because the existing word in British Standard English has a different meaning, unrelated to that of ‘disappointment’. Etymologically, the modern sense of “frustration” (late 5

According to Dewey (2007) ELF lexico-grammar seems to be innovative as far as some features are concerned. The emergence of these features is motivated by processes among which redundancy is one of the most extensively exploited. Adding an item when unnecessary, as in (1), discloses a desire to add emphasis or strength. 6 The OED gives no meaning of ‘appointment’ as an antonym of ‘disappointment’; indeed, it lists ten meanings under this entry but none has the meaning of ‘satisfaction’ as opposed to ‘frustration’.

192

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

17th c.)7 comes from a secondary meaning of “fail to keep an appointment”. As for the meaning of the noun ‘disappointment’, it comes from the sense “state or feeling of being disappointed” (1756) and later meaning “a thing that disappoints”. All the same, the coinage proves efficient since the comment to the manager’s statement is consistent and direct. The applicant, in fact, says, “I am sure I am ready to face both”. In (4) ‘misfunctions’ is a correctly constructed coinage, with prefix mis-, which is “normally added to the beginning of a verb or word formed from a verb, to show that the action referred to by the verb has been done wrongly or badly” (Cambridge Dictionary Online). 5.1.3. Creation of verbs: ‘Abled’ as an antonym of ‘disabled’ (5) There are monthly qualitative evaluations and your access to these sections will be disabled or abled accordingly.

Again, the past participle -abled is “back-shaped” on its possible antonym ‘disabled’, which acts as a derivative of the non-existing base form ‘abled*’. Despite the coinage, the interview proceeded smoothly, disclosing a highly collaborative attitude on the part of EFL speakers, which managed to tie members of the new community/culture up. 5.1.4. Creation of adjectives: ‘Disable’ modelled on ‘able’, ‘inable’ (6) Let’s imagine a possible situation you may have to deal with once employed. You have to show me whether you are able or disable to sort it out. The person we are looking for must be able to deal with unexpected and surprising problems.

Once again, the coinage stems from a correct word formation process which constructs an antonym by means of the prefix dis- like other more familiar renowned pairs such as honest–dishonest.

5.2. Coinages stemming from Italian The second group of examples gathers coinages stemming from Italian– English semantic and idiomatic transfer: (7) M2: now, some more personal questions. If you agree.

7 The OED lists, 1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. iv. v. §11. 274 “Such disappointment of expectation, doth much abate the courage of men in fight”.

Francesca Vigo

193

A6: yes, of course. You can ask me what you like, ehm need [...] to know. M2: starting from University. Did you study alone? Where did you live? A6: we were three boys, I studied with two colleagues I met at University.

Extract (7) is taken from the initial part of one of the interviews. The manager (M2) talks to the applicant (A6) and tries to establish contact and to make the applicant feel at ease before truly starting the interview. The phrase is a virtual translation from Italian “Eravamo tre ragazzi” and it is perhaps only comprehensible to those who speak Italian. It is quite a frequent construction, mostly used in informal language. (8) M6: Where do you want to be in 2/5/10 years time? A1: I don’t know, true. M6: Respectfully talking. I think it is very necessary to have a goal, in time I mean A1: yeah, you are right.

In extract (8), taken from the central part of an interview, both the applicant and the manager use calques. The applicant chooses ‘true’ to reinforce his/her answer in the Italian fashion. At the same time, instead of the more frequent English forms “with due respect” or “with all respect”, the Italian manager ventures to translate an Italian phrase. The applicant replies with no hesitation and with reference to the second part of the manager’s utterance. There is neither sign of uncertainty nor pause with reference to the incipit of the utterance, which appears fully understood as a discourse marker. (9) M1: What kind of career advancement do you expect? What will you bring to the job or company if we employ you? A3: I think, I can exploit my knowledge M1: yes, but there is way and way to do it A3: First of all, I think, I will try to create a group M1: […] and then? Perhaps, a group is not enough. You need to have an ace hidden [...]a hidden ace.

In extract (9), in his/her second utterance the manager adapts the English phrase “ways and means” to Italian, choosing the singular form. The utterance is a comment and does not imply an answer: it stimulates the other participant, the applicant, to go on talking. The applicant continues to talk choosing the less frequent construction “to create a group” instead of the more frequent one “to team up with”. The conversation goes on to disclose the participants’ highly collaborative

194

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

attitude. In the last sentence of this extract, the manager tries to use an idiomatic phrase. Apparently s/he is not able to quote it entirely, but is sure of some items of it, namely ‘ace’. What s/he tries to do is partially to disambiguate the idiomatic phrase,8 adding what is normally concealed in the original phrase (both in Italian and English), thus positioning the idiom itself a step backwards, before the metaphor that constitutes it became an idiom. Following Pitzl, I would say that since the original American idiom is “an ace in the hole”, and the corresponding Italian one is (in translation) “an ace in the sleeve”, the metaphorical meaning is clear in both phrases and the concept that both the English ‘hole’ and the Italian ‘sleeve’ express is patent, i.e. the ace is not visible, it is hidden. Hence, the manager keeps the metaphorical use of ‘ace’ and retrieves the original meaning using ‘hidden’ disambiguating the English ‘hole’, which s/he does not remember, and the Italian ‘sleeve’, which s/he surely knows. (10) M4: Why do you want this job? A6: Because I need to work and I think this is a good one, a good opportunity M4: In the application form, you agreed to let us check the references. We did. And, your last job, apparently, if I am not wrong, finished for a misbehaviour A6: I can explain. It was [...] for a problematic customer, it was a difficult situation, I was there, I was left alone to deal with it [...] him and I had some problems, communication problems M4: I read that there was a problem with an insured A6: Yes, no, the problem was not the insured, the insured letter, the problem was [...] it was early, it was sent too early, I sent it too early M4: and then? A6: and then I found a solution.

The linguistic behaviour the participants disclose here is somewhat different. The extract is taken from the central part of the interview and the participants have already established a relationship, their collaborative stance is set. ELF is mainly of an interactive nature, the English language is only a resource and is modified according to the cultural context. In this extract the manager refers to something that happened to the applicant some time earlier and tries to summarize the event for the purpose of the interview. He overtly refers to something as an ‘insured’ using an adjective as a noun. It is a translation from Italian, a calque which 8

According to Pitzl (2009) idioms are part of ELF but they do not seem to comply with native speakers’ norms. She shows how metaphorical and idiomatic values are differently positioned in the idiom of ELF and Standard English variety.

Francesca Vigo

195

unfortunately proves incorrect and not effective: it is, indeed, incomprehensible. The applicant understands it but cannot duplicate it; however, given his/her collaborative attitude and to follow Grice’s conversational maxims, s/he decides to use repair strategies to maintain the empathetic relationship with the speaker. S/he repeats the word proposed by the manager in the first place, as a pre-empting strategy and then uses the correct linguistic item to repair. Both the manager’s and the applicant’s behaviour are a typical ELF phenomena. The former employs a transfer to create an improbable English word, since the ellipsis affects the second part of the compound that in English, but not in Italian, is the meaningful one.9 The term ‘insured’ was used at length during other interviews by other managers and in the end even those who were unwilling to use it and tried to repair every possible time started using it within the company, since it was an item shared by that community and using it meant belonging to that community. The extracts and examples I have chosen to list and explain are only some of those available. However, for the purpose of my research they prove useful for what I would like to highlight and demonstrate. The analysis of the interviews brings to light a solid collaborative attitude on the part of the participants who really struggle to accomplish their aims, which are not only communicative but also, and above all, culturebuilding. As I stated earlier, I assume that companies which define English as their working language are to be considered ELF contexts. Like every ELF context, they can be compared to a community/culture to which the participants want to belong and for this purpose the participants exploit linguistic strategies and resources. Among others, such as pragmatic ones, lexical resources seem the most frequently and efficiently used. In these specific examples managers turn into creative lexical agents who follow the rules of the new linguistic culture and expect new members to act likewise. Naturally, as Chambers states, Before a change takes hold, there is a gradual, almost imperceptible, rise in frequency until the new form attains some kind of critical mass. At the earliest stage, the change apparently affects too small a population to serve as a model, but at some point it becomes perceptible, though usually beneath consciousness, and spreads through the community. (Chambers 2002: 361).

9

English is a pre-modifying language and would hardly delete the second element of a compound. Unlike Italian, in English compound ellipses it is the first element to be deleted. Therefore, ‘insured letter’ would be cut into ‘letter’ (Furiassi and Hofland 2007).

196

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

5.3. The questionnaire As for the results of the questionnaire, the common assumption seems to be that since English is mostly used to communicate with NNSs, people should be trained accordingly. 100% of the respondents declared (a) they were fully able to speak English in international contexts, (b) they did not have problems of any kind with their international peers and (c) they were able to use the language outside their professional contexts in situations such as booking a room or a flight, or ordering a meal. They also admitted having problems when NSs outnumber NNSs in conversational settings. Regarding ELT and EL learning, respondents stated that since they normally use English in international settings to talk to NNSs, what is normally taught in schools is not enough. They would rather spend more time dealing with various types of English, the kind of English “you actually meet in your life when you work”, as one of them said. All the respondents stated that they would rather be part of the wider ELF culture and speak English accordingly than speaking English following Standard English norms.

6. Conclusions ELF is a widespread phenomenon and a key function of the English language. Its use is so widespread that it is perhaps no longer possible to analyze the English language without paying attention to ELF as well. Naturally, further research is needed since new frameworks of analysis need to be devised and lexical phenomena need to be described and analyzed in greater depth. Possible links with ELT also need to be taken into consideration. With reference to the link between language and culture, ELF provides insights, since in ELF, unlike other language contexts, rules are not previously fixed but construed or co-construed by those involved. ELF speakers express their “web of cultures” (Ehrenreich 2009: 141) and participants/members prefer their mix of cultures to giving up their own culture. However, this does not mean that ELF contexts are culture-free environments; indeed, contrary to common belief, ELF speakers strive to construe new cultures and are committed to performing actions, including linguistic actions, that confirm they belong to that culture/community. As a part of culture, lexis is modified and enriched accordingly by ELF speakers. Focusing on lexis across cultural identities and taking job interviews as an example, I can conclude that ELF cultures/contexts can be considered lexically creative environments and that this feature may prove

Francesca Vigo

197

fundamental to building a necessary bridge across the various cultures an English speaker finds himself/herself in. I find no better words than Labov’s to conclude, […] it is difficult to avoid the common-sense conclusion that the object of linguistics must ultimately be the instrument of communication used by the speech community; and if we are not talking about that language, there is something trivial in our proceeding. (1972: 187)

References Aitchison, Jean. 1995. Words in the Mind, An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Baker, Will. 2009. The Cultures of English as a Lingua Franca. TESOL Quarterly 43/4. 567-592. Breiteneder, Angelika. 2009. English as a Lingua Franca in Europe. A Natural Development. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Müller. Chambers, Jack. 2002. Patterns of Variation including Change. In Jack Chambers, Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling-Estes (eds.). The Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Oxford: Blackwell. 349-372. Cogo, Alessia and Martin Dewey. 2006. Efficiency in ELF communication. From pragmatic motives to lexico-grammatical innovation. Nordic Journal of English Studies 5/2. 59-94. http://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/3148. Cogo, Alessia and Martin Dewey. 2010. Analyzing English as a Lingua Franca, A corpus Driven Investigation. London: Continuum. Crystal, David. 2004. The Language Revolution. Cambridge: Polity Press. Deignan, Alice, et al. 1997. Lexis. Centre for English Language Studies – Birmingham: The University of Birmingham. Dewey, Martin and Alessia Cogo. 2007. Adopting an English as a lingua franca perspective in ELT. IATEFL Voices 199. 11. Dewey, Martin and Jennifer Jenkins. 2009. English as a Lingua Franca in the global context, interconnectedness, variation, and change. In Mukul Saxena and Tope Omoniyi (eds.). Contending with Globalization in World Englishes. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 72-92. Dewey, Martin. 2007. English as a lingua franca and globalization, An interconnected perspective. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 17/3. 332-354.

198

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

—. 2009. English as a Lingua Franca, heightened variability and theoretical implications. In Anna Mauranen and Elina Ranta (eds.). English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-uponTyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 60-83. Eckert, Penelope and Sally McConnell-Ginet. 1992. Think practically and look locally, language and gender as community-based practice. Annual Review of Anthropology 21. 461-490. Ehrenreich, Susanne. 2009. English as Lingua Franca in Multinational Corporations-Exploring Business Communities of Practice. In Anna Mauranen and Elina Ranta (eds.). English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 126-151. Furiassi, Cristiano and Knut Hofland. 2007. The retrieval of false Anglicism in newspaper texts. In Roberta Facchinetti (ed.). Corpus Linguistics 25 years on. Amsterdam – New York: Rodopi. 347-363. Hadley, Gregory. 1997. Lexis and Culture, Bound and Determined? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 26/4. 483-496. Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. Spoken and Written Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hitzler, Ronald and Thomas S. Eberle. 2004. Phenomenological LifeWorld Analysis. In Ulwe Flick, Ernst von Kardorff and Ines Steinke. A Companion to Qualitative Research. London: Sage. 66-71. House, Julian. 2003. English as a Lingua Franca, a threat to multilingualism? Journal of Sociolinguistics 7/4. 556-578. Hutchby, Ian and Robin Wooffitt. 2008 [1998]. Conversation Analysis, Principles, Practices, and Applications. Cambridge: Polity Press. Kachru, Braj. 1996. ELF. In Hans Goebl et al (eds.). Kontaktlinguistik. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 906-913. Kaur, Jagdish. 2009. Pre-empting problems of understanding in ELF. In Anna Mauranen and Elina Ranta (eds.). English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Knapp, Kalfried and Christiane Meierkord (eds.). 2002. Lingua Franca Communication. Frankfurt am Mein: Peter Lang. Labov, William. 1972. Sociolinguistics Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Lave, Jane and Etienne Wenger. 1991. Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Luckmann, Benita. 1970. The small Life-worlds of modern man. Social Research 4. 580-596.

Francesca Vigo

199

Mauranen, Anna and Elina Ranta (eds.). 2009. English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Mauranen, Anna. 2005. English as a Lingua Franca – an Unknown Language? In Giuseppina Cortese and Anna Duszak (eds.). Identity, Community, Discourse, English in Intercultural Settings. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. 269-293. —. 2006. Signalling and preventing misunderstanding in English as lingua franca communication. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 177. 123-150. —. 2007. Hybrid Voices, English as the Lingua Franca of Academics. In Kjersti Fløttum, Trine Dahl and Torodd Kinn. Language and Discipline Perspectives on Academic Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press. 244-259. Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2002. Communities of practice. In Jack Chambers, Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling-Estes, Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 526-548. Ostler, Nicholas. 2010. The Last Lingua Franca. English until the Return of Babel. New York: Walker & Company. Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2009. ‘We should wake up any dogs’, Idiom and Metaphors in English as a Lingua Franca. In Anna Mauranen and Elina Ranta (eds.). English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 298-320. —. 2010. English as a Lingua Franca in International Business. Resolving Miscommunication and Reaching shared Understanding. Saarbrücken: VDM-Verlag Müller. Samarin, William J. 1987. Lingua Franca. In Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar and Klaus J. Matthier (eds.). Sociolinguistics. An International Handbook of the Science of Languages and Society. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 371-374. Scovel, Thomas. 1991. Why languages do not shape cognition, Psychoand neurolinguistic evidence. Jalt Journal 13. 43-56. Seidlhofer, Barbara, Angelika Breiteneder and Marie-Luise Pitzl. 2006. English as a lingua franca in Europe. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 26. 1-34. Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2001. Closing a conceptual gap, the case for a description of ELF. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11/2. 133-158.

200

Unexpected Lexical Creativity

—. 2006. English as a Lingua Franca and communities of practice. In Sabine Volk-Birke and Jiulia Lippert (eds.). Anglistentag 2006 Halle Proceedings. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. 307-318. —. 2009. Orientations in English as a Lingua Franca research, form and function. In Anna Mauranen and Elina Ranta (eds.). English as a Lingua Franca, Studies and Findings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 37-59. Sinclair, John. 1985. Selected issues. In Randolph Quirk and Henry G. Widdowson (eds.). English in the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 248-254. Smith, Larry E. 1983. English as an International auxiliary language. In Larry E. Smith (ed.). Readings in English as an International Language. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 1-20. The Cambridge Dictionary – http://dictionary.cambridge.org. The Oxford English Dictionary – http://www.oed.com. Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice; Learning, Meaning and Identity. (Learning in Doing, Social, Cognitive & Computational Perspectives). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

WORLD ENGLISHES AND ELF IN ELT TEXTBOOKS: HOW IS PLURALITY REPRESENTED? PAOLA VETTOREL AND SARA CORRIZZATO (UNIVERSITY OF VERONA)

In a sense, incorporating World Englishes is like putting on a new pair of glasses – the detail and complexity of the world we suddenly see may initially be overwhelming, but in the long run, we would have a better view and understand of EIL (Matsuda 2003: 727). No latitude is given to learners to be themselves with their own identity or to strive for intelligibility rather than the perfect English accent (Berns 2005: 86).

1. Introduction This chapter1 aims to investigate the presence of representations of World Englishes (WEs), English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in a corpus of upper secondary school EFL civilization textbooks in the Italian educational context. After an introductory section related to research in the field of WEs and ELF illustrating how the plurality of Englishes is beginning to be acknowledged also in ELT materials, we will illustrate how it is represented in our data. Despite the prominence which is still given to the Inner Circle, our study testifies that plurality in the development of Englishes is increasingly being included, as well as recognition given to the role of English as an international language and lingua franca of communication, though often with reference to its global spread rather than in connection to research in ELF. 1 The chapter has been jointly planned by the two authors; P. Vettorel has dealt with sections 1-4, 6.2 and 9, while S. Corrizzato with sections 5-8.

202

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

2. World Englishes, ELF and variety in the ELT classroom The fields of research in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WEs) present a number of similarities and overlapping points as “both are engaged in the same shared endeavour to understand and confront the sociolinguistic challenges of a rapidly changing world” (Seidlhofer 2009: 243; cf. also Jenkins 2006: 159). Despite the sociohistorical developments of ELF and WEs being diverse, the latter field of investigation has been a leading source of inspiration for ELF, particularly on issues such as ownership, norm-development, acceptance and identity (Seidlhofer 2009). Besides, the division of the two fields “relates more to the geographic orientation of the researchers than the object of the research itself because the two areas overlap considerably and are mutually relevant” (Jenkins 2006: 166). As Seidlhofer clarifies, speakers from the Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles all “contribute to the phenomenon captured by the term World Englishes” and “ELF interactions often also include interlocutors from the Inner and the Outer Circles” (2004: 211). A pluricentric vs a monocentric view on language is a focal common point which sees variety as part of a developing linguistic landscape that needs recognition, also in teaching terms (Pakir 2009). The omnipresence of English in Europe means that young people come into contact with a “great variety of usage” (Hülmbauer et al. 2008: 160) in their daily lives not only via top-down formal instruction, but extensively in bottom-up, beyond-the-classroom contexts, and English is often the shared language employed in international communication (cf. also Seidlhofer et al. 2006). However, as Berns and de Bot (2008: 211) underline, “non-school sources of contact do not necessarily represent the model of English presented to learners as the classroom model, one traditionally based on a British standard”. In pedagogical terms the increased exposure to different varieties of English in the real world linguistic landscape is not often acknowledged in teaching practices (Berns et al. 2007). Until very recently, both in terms of language norms and sociocultural references, the model in ELT has been mainly British English, including at times samples of American or, to a lesser extent, Australian or New Zealand English. EFL textbooks and materials have been criticized for this one-way socio-cultural representation, mostly linked to Anglophone, Inner-circle countries (for an overview see McKay, Bokhorst-Leng 2008; Méndez Garcìa 2005). Considering the current diversification of Englishes, such approaches appear reductionist: research in ELF and WEs has underlined how awareness of the “variousness”

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

203

(Kachru 1998) of Englishes should be included in curricula (Jenkins 2006; Kubota 2001) in order to “promote the awareness that English, as an international language, no longer belongs solely to speakers of the Inner Circle” (McKay and Bokhorst-Leng 2008: 196). This is recognized even in more conservative and skeptic views (Gnutzmann 2008; Maley 2010; Vettorel and Maley 2008; Görlach 1999; Kuo 2006). Görlach, for instance, supporting the fact that “active competence in more than one variety” cannot be taught2 and that “the BrE standard and more specifically RP in pronunciation – remain unchallenged”, acknowledges that “teachers will need to be aware of this type of code selection and also to face the fact of the ordered heterogeneity of the world language” (1999: 18), a view which is shared also by Maley (Vettorel and Maley 2008). Exposing students to the existing variety and variation in English can also promote “a tolerance for difference and a positive view for accommodation” (ivi, 6); as Matsuda (2002 quoted in Baumgardner 2006: 668) well summarizes, “[s]tudents may be shocked by varieties of English that deviate from Inner Circle English, view them as deficient (rather than different), or grow disrespectful to such varieties and users, which seems counter-productive to facilitating international understanding”. Taking into account the need for a broader perspective on Englishes in language teaching would thus mean creating a link to real uses of the language, within an inclusive and pluralistic perspective (Matsuda 2003). Given that in international contexts speakers of English are more likely to belong to the Expanding or Outer Circle (cf. e.g. Crystal 2003) than to the Inner Circle, making learners aware of different Englishes would also mean equipping them to successfully interact in differentiated communicative contexts, as a “person unable to cope with the Punjabi or Greek accent of the waiter or the taxi driver is communicatively deficient and ill-equipped to that very extent. It is WE at work, whether we like it or not” (Rajagopalan 2004: 114).

3. Englishes and EFL materials Such a pluricentred approach can overcome what Kachru (1992 [1982]: 10) defines as one of the “fallacies” about users and uses of English, i.e. learning English “as a tool to understand and teach American and British 2 Cf. also Gnutzmann (2008: 115ff.): according to him, the variety/model that should be adopted in the English language classroom is a “relatively homogenous, generally accepted input” to orientate learners and provide “the basis for a relatively unmarked, neutral accent”, with British English as the point of reference for European classrooms, also in cultural terms, being Britain the nearest reality.

204

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

cultural values” (1992 [1982]: 357); referring in particular to Outer Circle varieties, Kachru points out how the “multiple identities of English” have come to represent a diversity of culture” (ivi, 359) and therefore cannot be connected only to Inner Circle speakers and varieties. Textbooks constitute one of the main instruments in ELT practice (Matsuda 2003; Hutchinson, Torres 1994); besides grammars and dictionaries, coursebooks can “play a major part as status planners in that they have the power to deny or confer authority by ignoring or reflecting innovations in new varieties” (Bruthiaux 2006: 37; cf. also Modiano 2009: 219). They can act as ‘cultural mediators’ and substantially contribute to the acknowledgement of a pluricentric perspective (Matsuda 2006; 2009). Given their widespread use in ELT, the angles with which homogeneity or variety are represented can widely affect perceptions in present and future generations. Recent analyses of textbooks have shown openings towards a more comprehensive view, which appears to depart from inner-circle singularity. Both Görlach (1999) and Brown (1995) acknowledge a greater inclusion of varieties both in terms of speakers and of cultural content, and Gnutzmann points out that “newer generation of textbooks […] puts more emphasis on everyday problems, on aspects of multicultural living together, on culture-general topics and on global issues” (1999: 166; cf. also Vettorel 2008; 2010). However, traditionally Inner circles and Great Britain are given prominence, followed in turn by the USA and “far off lands” (Australia, India); when aspects related to the global spread of English are introduced, this is mostly done in the form of factual information (Kubanek-German 2008 [2005]: 253). With regard to ELF, Alpektin (2010: 105) maintains that “the traditional penchant for the largely exclusive focus on the target language seems to be disappearing, and there are signs that publishers are coming to the realization that ELF is an international language with the world as its culture”. Also Jenkins (2007: 245) recognizes improvements in a wider inclusion of “outer and (to a lesser extent) expanding circle Englishes”, though these examples constitute “little but a few nods in the direction of lingua franca English”. As for representation of English as an International language, Masuhara and Tomlinson (2008: 29) highlight that, despite the presence of characters and pictorial materials belonging to different cultures, the association is often with tourist attractions; only one material in their analysis includes EIL and the global spread of English, and another ELF-related issues. In the case of ELF in particular, encounters with diversity and with the complex sociolinguistic reality of English appear crucial for learners, as “linguistic and cultural forms expressed through ELF are likely to be hybrid,

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

205

dynamic, and continuously adapting to local needs, global influences, and the demands of communication across cultures” (Baker 2009: 574; cf. also Pennycook 2010). Coming into contact with a diversified range of linguacultures in classroom contexts could also help learners to create their own voice, in appropriating and authenticating linguistic and cultural spaces within the plurality of Englishes they are likely to come into contact with, rather than aiming at conforming to one native unrealistic model (Baker 2009; Kramsch 1993). As Alpektin (2002: 61) points out, in an ELF perspective “the language that is real for native speakers is not likely to be real for nonnative speakers” and it therefore “needs to be localized within a particular discourse community” (cf. also Seidlhofer 1999).

4. Corpus of analysis and methodology Our research has focused on a series of textbooks aimed specifically at teaching culture and ‘civilization’ aspects to students of Upper Secondary School within the Italian educational context. The fifteen textbooks (cf. Appendix 1) constituting the corpus have been selected in order to cover a reasonably wide range in time (2001-2010), as well as to identify possible changes in representations. Most materials in our corpus are published by well known publishing houses; the ones by Italian publishers3 are higher in number (9 out of 15). The corpus of selected textbooks deal with ‘civilization’ as, when compared to general language learning ELT textbooks, topics and issues related to socio-cultural and socio-linguistic representations are generally examined more in depth (Kachru 1992 [1982]; 1992). In order to investigate representations of Englishes in the corpus, we first identified topical areas connected to the theme of WEs and EIL/ELF, and subsequently extracts dealing with them, which were scanned manually for key-words related to plurality in representation of Englishes and ELF,4 and finally grouped and commented upon. Despite not all textbooks overtly referring to Kachru’s theoretical model, we have considered the latter as our main point of reference deeming it appropriate 3

Zanichelli, CLITT, Zanichelli, Helbling, San Marco, LANG, Black Cat/Cideb, Petrini; international publishers are OUP, Longman/Pearson, the latter present in our corpus also as Longman Italia. For two textbooks a revised edition has been included; RW (2005) and WA (2008) present few differences between the first and the second edition, while GLC (2001) and AG (2008) the second edition, was compiled by different authors and appears substantially restructured (cf. Appendix 1). 4 Aspects related to culture, due to space constraints, have not been included in this paper.

206

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

in examining representations of plurality. The identified key-words are: Native speaker, non-native speaker; mother tongue, first/second/foreign language; bilingualism, multilingualism; World Englishes, New Englishes, new Englishes; Global language, EIL, ELF. Findings have then been grouped according to main areas of representation: speakers of English(es), varieties in the Inner and Outer circles, and English as a global/international/lingua franca of communication.

5. Plurality, variety and speakers of English Three textbooks provide data about the fact that native speakers have been outnumbered by non-native speakers, and four introduce the concept, as e.g. WV (p. 16-17): “Global demographic trends show that native speakers of English have already been outnumbered by those who speak it as foreign or second language, […] The new English-speakers aren’t just passively absorbing the language, they’re shaping it. All languages are work in progress”. As in this example, the active role that non-native speakers play in shaping changes in the language is underlined in three more cases: in GLC (p. 48) we read that “as the language spreads among non-native speakers, it will inevitably be transformed to suit regional needs. Local vocabulary, slang and pronunciation will displace existing British and American usages”. NRHT (p. 143) reports that “English, like other languages, is a living thing and it changes according to the people who speak it”. AG (p. 13) specifically refers to the role and implications of English as a lingua franca: “[a]t the same time, the use of English in the world is changing as a result of globalization. Non-native English speakers have outnumbered native speakers, and, more and more often, interactions in English involve people who speak it as a lingua franca. In the future, the number of non-native speakers will continue to increase: the lack of a native-speaker accent will not be seen as a sign of poor linguistic competence, while communicative skills such as interpreting and translating will become even of greater importance”. Nine out of the fifteen textbooks include information about speakers of English as a first and second language in the world, in three cases specifically connecting the latter to colonialism (EESW, GLC, L); data are provided by four textbooks (GLC, SW, WV, CL). L, SfW and CL also refer to English as a Foreign Language (EFL): the latter reports that 89% of children in the European Union and 180 million in China study English at school. Six textbooks (NRHT, 142; CL, 6; SW, 15; L, 6-7; EESW, 17; WV, 10) also provide a map of the areas where English is spoken as a first and second language (e.g. Fig. 1).

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

207

Figure 1: Areas where English is spoken as L1/L2 (EESW, 17).

The term World Englishes as such appears only in one textbook with the following definition: “The concept of world Englishes is generally understood as the different varieties or appropriations of English that have developed around the world over time. Examples of world Englishes are with American or Indian English. For all these reasons, the English of England, the original source of all world’s Englishes, is considered as one of the “family” of world English varieties, with its own distinctive vocabulary” (WV, 16). The focus here is clearly on the development of varieties, where British English is one amongst WEs. Despite three textbooks (EESW, 157; AG, 12; WV, 16) including the Kachruvian model, only in one case (Fig. 2) we have a pre-reading activity guiding students to understand the plurality developed in Englishes.

 Figure 2: Kachru’s three circles model (AG, 12).

208

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

However, five coursebooks include specific activities aimed at reflecting on the role that English plays in the students’ reality (Table 1, cf. also Fig. 14): Table 1: Role of English –Activities.  EESW 2000

Words in my language taken from English: In groups, make a list of all the English words you know that are in current use in your language. Collect cutting from newspapers and magazines that contain English words. Divide these words into categories such as music, sport, science, commerce [...] how many categories can you find? (p. 9)

RW 2005

English, please: With a partner, make a list of all the English words that are used in your language. Do you know what they mean? Are they used in the same way in English? Why are English words used? Make your own translation so that they are easier to understand. (p. 104)

WA 2008

AG 2008

Before reading this section, do the following exercises: 1. Write a list of all the English-speaking countries you know and then check your answers with your classmates and your teacher. 2. Do you know if English is spoken in the same way in these countries? Give examples. 3. Is it important to study English in your country? Why/ Why not? 4. Do you ever read or write in English on the Net? If so, what? (p. 9) What about you? 1. are there any dialects spoken in your country? 2. Do you think people should always speak the national language or use dialects too? 3. Do you think it is important to have a good command of the English language? (p. 11)

CL 2010

Speaking Activity: 1. Did your grandparents and parents study English at school? If not, did they study a different language? What? 2. Is English a compulsory school subject in your own country now? How many years do school children have to study it? 3. Do you think that by the year 2025, everybody under the age of 25 will speak English in your country? Why? Why not? (p. 7)

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

209

The above activities appear particularly relevant as they relate to situations learners are likely to be familiar with, and can therefore foster meaningful and contextualized reflection. Moreover, many titles of sections, units and reading comprehension passages are presented in the form of questions (14 out of 28 instances, Table 2). In most cases this is referred to the implications brought about by the role of English as a global language, or to its diversification and plurality. In pedagogical terms, most questions are rhetorical and function as attention-getters for reflection. Table 2: Titles of sections, units, passages. ESC 2000

The English-speaking world today (p. 9)

GLC 2001

English as a world language (p. 148)

SW 2004

Which English? (p. 14); English, English Everywhere (p. 15) English Everywhere (pp. 18, 46, 74, 102, 130)

AC 2004 RW 2005 NRHT 2006 AG 2008

Standard English? (p. 9); What is English? (p. 23); English Down Under, Do they speak English in Australia? (p. 97) Global issues: English in the World (p. 142)

WA 2008

The world speaks English, but what English? (p. 10); New Englishes (p. 11); English as a Lingua Franca: Why English? (p. 12); What is in an accent? (p. 15); What is my mother tongue? (p. 21) Standard English? (p. 9); What is English? (p. 23)

NEF CL 2008

English around the world (p. 6)

WV 2009

English – a global language (p. 14); What is pidgin? (p. 15); World Englishes (p. 16) Who owns English? (p. 17); Many types of world Englishes (p. 16) English around the World (p. 6); Varieties of English (p. 10); One language? (p. 10) Do we speak the same language? (p. 11)

CL 2010

In one case (AG, Fig. 3) the section “A language and its changes” introduces the concept of different varieties under the title “The world speaks English, but what English?”, providing examples of new and hybrid Englishes.

210

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Figure 3: What English? (AG, 10).

5.1. Bi-/multilingual speakers of English Four textbooks include references to bilingualism and multilingualism (NHC, AG, WV, CL) thus acknowledging the fact that in many countries, and for the majority of non-native speakers, English is part of a bi/multilingual linguistic repertoire (cf. e.g. Kachru 1992). Two textbooks refer to India (WV, CL), one to the USA (NHC), one to Australia (CL) and one to Singapore (AG). Three textbooks devote specific attention to Canada: “Bilingualism in Canada […] started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as an officially bilingual nation; English and French have an equal status in federal court […] the public can receive federal government services in either English or French” (SFW, 76); “the two main languages are English and French; French is spoken by about six million people” (WV, 96); “Canada is a bilingual country. French and English are the official languages with equal status in Parliament, Federal Institutions and Federal Courts” (CL, 50); the same textbook also reports in “A Day in the life of an Inuit teenager” that, together with English and French, Inuttituk is studied as a native language at school (p. 51). Some

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

211

textbooks also refer to the presence of bilingualism in the UK, as for example in Wales, focusing on the recently recognized status of Welsh: “Wales as a bilingual country” (RW/WA, 36), “the rights of the language (Cymraeg) have also been helped by bilingual policies made law by Westminster Government” (SW, 39). The section “Welsh, a lesson in survival” (AC, 75) highlights how the recent interest in Welsh has given birth to Welsh-only schools and to language policies supported by the Welsh Language Acts (1967; 1993).

6. ‘new Englishes’: The inner circle In our data the representation of Englishes regarding the Inner Circle can be divided into three broad areas: the first relates to inner circle Standard varieties (British, American, Australian and Canadian English, South African English5, Caribbean English6); the second focuses on the Native languages of the populations in New Zealand (Maori), Australia (Aboriginal languages), and South Africa (Xhosa, Afrikaans), while the third presents Irish, Scottish and Welsh Gaelic. Nine textbooks devote special attention to American English, which is always presented in juxtaposition to British English, mainly concerning vocabulary, though some coursebooks also include pronunciation, language structures, spelling and accent (Figg. 4, 5, 6).

5

South Africa represents a peculiar case as both speakers of English as L1 and L2 are present. In accordance with Crystal’s classification and data (2003 [1995]: 107, 356; 2003 [1997]: 4), we will consider South Africa as part of the Inner Circle. 6 Given the diversified linguistic situation in the Caribbean islands, we have here taken into consideration the English-speaking area where Standard English, together with pidgins and creoles, is one of the varieties. Besides, as Crystal (2003 [1995]: 109) reports, speakers of English as L1 are the majority (apart from St Lucia).

212

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Figure 4: American English (SW, 163).

Figure 5: American, British Australian English (AG, 11).

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

Figure 6: Different aspects in British and American English (GLC, 151).

213

214

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

GLC (p. 152) reports the passage “Divided by a Common language” adapted from Bryson’s Mother Tongue (1990) focusing on different aspects of British and American English, mainly describing how Americanisms have entered other languages, British English included. Examples of these differences are also given in L (p. 23), NHRT (p. 144), CL (p. 10). The latter reports that “General American refers to the variety of English used by an educated Midwestern American”, specifying that “British and American people nearly always understand each other but, in some countries, the English language has been altered so much that it can be difficult for an English speaker from a different area of the world to understand it”, thus somehow placing variation in ‘new Englishes’ in a World English perspective. WV (p. 18) focuses on the differences between American and British English, providing quite an extensive description of linguistic changes, as well as examples related to grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, as in the following extract: The sound a, for example, was mainly flat, where the British English tend to introduce the sound ah. In addition, the English speak quickly, while Americans tend to be slower; the English tend to use a greater variety of tone, while intonation of American English is rather monotonous. For all these reasons mentioned above, the main difference between British and American English concerns the way people speak, that is their accent. But also the spelling of the words is quite different, for instance the word honour becomes honor in American English, centre becomes center and colour becomes color. Finally some words in British English have an American equivalent (Americanisms), such as flat whose American equivalent is apartment, or holiday which becomes vacation. The American language is also very rich in slang. A good deal of American songs, have reached British English, other Englishes and other languages.

Two textbooks also include references to different regional accents within the USA: SW (p. 163) mentions East Cast, West Cast and southern accents; NRHT (p. 144) highlights the presence of dialects in the southern states and the use of different languages by immigrants (e.g. Italian, German, Polish, Greek and Chinese). In NHC (p. 6) the reading passage “USA: Melting Pot or Salad Bowl?” briefly refers to linguistic issues connected to immigrants. SfW (p. 68) includes vocabulary, and highlights that “English is the official language, which is, of course, American English. The accent and the spelling of some words are the most important differences between British English and American English”. Black English is mentioned in four textbooks: AG (p. 10, cf. Fig. 4) and SW (p. 163) give a general presentation, while AC (p. 114) introduces a dozen specific terms

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

215

concerning hip hop and breakdance moves and WV (p. 10) reports examples of slang expressions such as “Hangout!, Hit me!, You bet, Park your butt!”. The main findings for other ‘new Englishes’ are summarized in Table 4: four textbooks contain references to vocabulary, while some include also pronunciation and accent. Table 4: Examples of ‘new Englishes’. SW 2004

AG 2008

WV 2009

A different form of English in spoken in each of them [Inner and Outer circle countries]. Pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling and use of grammar may be different. Therefore we have many varieties of English such as British English, American English Black English, etc. (p. 15) But English is not just one language: because of its global spread, it has developed a great variety of regional differences and new Englishes have been born around the globe. (p. 10) As a result of its expansion, English has acquired many regional characteristics. This is why American English and Australian English differ from British English, with their own words, spelling, pronunciation and grammar rules (p. 11) Canadian English: Canadian English is the resulting of the conflicting influences of British and American English. In vocabulary there is a lot of American influence. […], Canadian English in most respects resembles General American. In pronunciation, they are more similar than General American is to New England speech or the Southern dialect (p. 19) Australian English: Australian English and New Zealand English have a very similar vocabulary. Most of the Australian vocabulary derives from English local dialects. On the other hand, in recent years the influence of American English has been apparent. As in other world Englishes there are some typical Australian words (including slang words, which are more accepted than in the UK) (p. 19) Regional variation is practically absent in Australian. However, in the opposition to the situation in America, Australian English has different varieties which may reveal the social class of the speakers. The pronunciation of Broad Australian is very similar to cockney, while Educated Australian is close to RP (p. 20) New Zealand English: As most of its (NZ) immigrants came from Australia it is not surprising than the English spoken in New Zealand is very similar to Australian English (p. 20) Caribbean English: Standard British English has traditionally been the linguistic model for the Commonwealth Caribbean, although recently the import of US television, radio, and tourism has made American English an equally powerful influence. […] Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana. In the Caribbean area, there is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken. (p. 21)

216 CL 2010

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks English was exported to the other side of the world in 1770 when the British explorer J. Cook claimed Australia for Britain (p. 5) Australian English has added a large number of colloquial expressions such as beaut, G’day and Barbie (p. 10) Australian English has its own vocabulary. A considerable percentage of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual and common languages spoken at home include Chinese, Italian and Greek (p. 53)

In general, the main focus appears to be on differences between British and American English, as well as on the influence the latter has had on other varieties. WV devotes four descriptive pages (18-21) to Inner circle varieties; GLC (p. 148) highlights how in dictionaries of Australian, Caribbean, South African and Asian English there are words no native speaker could recognize, without, however, providing examples. SW, AG (pp. 66-73), CL and WA (pp. 88, 104, 112, 120, 121) include information about the role of English in former British colonies; SW and CL focus also on the special role that immigrants played in creating new varieties of Englishes in America, Africa and Australia. As for Australian English, only one textbook (WV, 19) includes instances of Australian/British vocabulary: footpath/pavement, weekender/holiday cottage, Sheila/girl, lolly/sweet, drongo/fool, paddock/field, singlet/vest, Aussie/Australian, dinkum/honest, shanty/pub, chromo/prostitute, fed with/tired of. Two textbooks provide examples from New Zealand Kiwi slang, in the case of SfW also relating it to Kiwi culture (Figg. 7, 8)

Figure 7: Kiwi slang (WV, 20).

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

Figure 8: Kiwi (SfW, 93).

217

218

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

6.1. Indigenous languages The influx that indigenous languages have had on English in Inner Circle countries is illustrated for South African, New Zealand and Australian English. WV (p. 20) includes rather detailed information concerning Australia and New Zealand: [they] have very similar vocabulary. Both have been enriched by words and concepts from hundreds of indigenous languages that pre-dates European settlers, fifty of which are still spoken today. Suffixes like –o and –ie, giving us expressions such as arvo (afternoon), reffo (refugee), and barbie (barbecue), are freely attached to words even in formal contexts. […] only few Aboriginal words were borrowed, though a third of place names is taken from their languages (p. 19). New Zealand has been settled by English-speaking people since about 1840 […]. As most of its immigrants came from Australia, it is not surprising that the English spoken in New Zealand is very similar to Australian English. In vocabulary, the Maori influx is greater than the Aboriginal one in Australia, but still quite small. However, Kiwis (as New Zealanders call themselves) have their own slang (Kiwi slang), too.

As for Australia, WA presents a matching activity followed by a reflection on the connection between Aboriginal English and culture (Fig. 9), while AG (pp. 22, 23) reports some Aboriginal symbols and a chronology of events for both Aboriginal Australians and Maori (pp. 7273; cf. also CL, 55, 59). A literary reference to the poem Shame by Kevin Gilbert, an Australian Aboriginal poet and playwright, can be found in RW/WA (p. 101) mainly aimed at fostering reflection on discrimination. With reference to New Zealand, SfW includes examples of greetings in Maori and the Haka dance (Fig. 10), which is probably known to students through rugby; RW/WA (p. 104) present a reflection on translation issues referring to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

Figure 9: Aboriginal English (RW, 97).

Figure 10: The Haka dance and Maori greetings (SfW, 96).

219

220

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

South Africa finds representation in WV (p. 20): English is spoken as the first language only by about 10% of the South African population, but it is the second language of many others. The English of native Afrikaners has inevitably influenced the “standard” English of white South Africans. Among the whites, who count only a fifth of the population, over 60% are of Afrikaner background (i.e. the Dutch farmers). These have influenced South African English a lot. There is a reasonable amount of Afrikaans borrowings, like kraal (native village), veld (flat open country), wildebeest (gnu), stoep (verandah), kopje (small hill), lekker bakkie (type of truck), dorp (village). From the surrounding majority of black nations only few words found their way into South African English.

Another reference is found in the “Biko” song7 (RW/WA, 123) which contains the “yihla moja” words in Xhosa8. Also AC (p. 19) mentions linguistic diversity in an e-mail written by a South African boy “We study the usual subjects – Science, History, Geography, etc., but we also study Afrikaans (which is my first language), English and Xhosa, a local African language”. Only one textbook contains references to the language spoken by Native Americans (WV, 18): Quite quickly American English was enriched by what settlers called Wigwam words. These words came from the language spoken by Native Americans, and were related to new discovered trees (such as hickory), fruits (for example pecan), foods (like pemmican) and animals (such as moose). Other words such as igloo and kayak came from the far north. Picturesque words form Indian languages have also been joined by phrases and catchwords and the first settlers also named their towns and the rivers of the new country with thousands of Indian place names.

6.2. Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic Five textbooks include references to Welsh and to Scottish and Irish Gaelic (McArthur 2002). CL (p. 17) reports that Irish Gaelic is spoken by less than 9% of the people living in Northern Ireland, Scottish Gaelic “by about 17% of the population, many of whom live in the Hebrides”, and 7

The song, sung by P. Gabriel, is about the South African anti-apartheid S. Biko, who was President of the Black People Convention and died in 1977 from injuries while in prison for related political reasons. 8 Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa, spoken by approximately 18% of the population.

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

221

Welsh by 20% of the people, being “the first language in rural north and West Wales”. SfW (Fig.11) provides some examples of greetings in Scottish Gaelic, including graphemes and sounds in Welsh. SW (p. 42) reports that Scottish Gaelic is spoken by about 80,000 Scots “primarily in the North and West of Scotland”, providing three examples: Latha Math! (Good day!); Tha gaol agam ort (I love you), Beannachd leibbh! (Goodbye). Two bilingual signs in Scottish (SW, 39) and Welsh (AC, 75) are included, and in the latter students are invited to guess which languages are represented. SW and RW/WA (p. 39) report that Eisteddfod is a Welsh-only event, and the latter (p. 36), under the title “Cool Cymru”, underlines that Welsh is first language to 20% of the population. The meaning of Cymru (friends, companions) is also provided as a point of pride in Welsh identity, referring to the numerous young people’s bands recently recording albums both in English and Welsh. The official role of Welsh is reported in the section “Great Britain Identity” (p. 9), too, with a reflection on Indo-European languages and Standard English.

Figure 11: Scottish and Welsh (SfW, 39, 32).

222

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

As the examples illustrated show, we can say that ‘new Englishes’ and language varieties in the Inner Circle find quite a comprehensive representation, providing a good overview of diversification, ‘minor’ languages included. In some cases, however, factual information is given prominence, and a greater number of language examples could have helped to foster reflection on linguistic plurality in the Inner circle.

7. New Englishes: The outer circle As for the Outer Circle, our findings show that in general prominence is given to the role that English played in the 18th and 19th centuries through the expansion of the British Empire (Table 5). Table 5: Examples for the Outer circle. GLC 2001

SW 2004 L 2005 NEF CL 2008 AG 2008

WV 2009

With the development of their colonial empire, the British also exported their language to the rest of the world. In some former colonies it has become the mother tongue in others a vitally important second language for use in administration, education and business. (p. 147) In the 17th century, English was spread by settlers going from Britain to America and in the 18th and 19th centuries by the expansion of the British Empire. (p. 15) The reason for this (spread) is partly connected to Britain’s colonial history. (p. 6) The English spread around the world, due to the influence of the British Empire and the importance of the United States, economically and culturally, after the World War II. (p. 6) Many factors have contributed to the global diffusion of modern English. First of all the British Empire which took this language to all continents. British colonies adopted English either as their first language, or as a second language. (p. 12) To be part of the Anglosphere means not only to use English as a first or second language but also to cling, by birth or choice, to the fundamental values and traditions that form the core of the original English-speaking cultures. (p. 10) Together with Hindi, English is used across the country, but its features depend heavily on the speakers’ ethnic group or social class. Even after the colonial period, English continued to be the language of the legal system, higher education, distractive network, science and technology, trade and commerce – either because the indigenous languages were not equipped for these roles and English provided for a convenient vocabulary, or because the use of English was considered prestigious and powerful. […]. English in India has evolved characteristic features at the phonological, lexical, syntactic, and even at discourse level. (p. 20-21)

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato CL 2010

223

[…] to understand its [English] importance we have to go back in time. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth England became a strong and prosperous country. […] A new age of travel, trade and settlement started. This was the first step in the spread of English across the world. (p. 4). Throughout the 19th century English became an important language on every continent thanks to the enlargement of the British Empire. […] Most (countries) also maintain English as their first language. (p. 5)

WV is the only textbook providing references to Indian English as a variety of its own, and RW/WA (p. 112) report that the sixteen official languages include English and Hindi, where “Hindi is spoken by 30% of the population and English is known as a ‘link’ language – the language people use to communicate across cultures”. AG (p. 13), WA (p. 115) and L (p. 57) also refer to the phenomenon of call centres, the latter underlining that Indian assistants are “trained to imitate British Accents” to “successfully become British on the phone”. WA highlights how trainees are taught how to sound British or American in small talk and culture, and refers to the neologism ‘to bangalore’ reporting that “many locals are upset because Kannada, the native language of Bangalore has become a minority language in the city with many people now speaking Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English”; an exemplifying literary passage from One Night@the Call Centre (2005) by C. Bhagat is included. The approach taken by AG (Fig. 3) is interesting as it includes linguistic examples and definitions of new Englishes and hybrid Englishes, such as Singlish, Chinglish, Spanglish, Hinglish, Frenglish and Wenglish; Nigerian Pidgin and Black English are also included, underlining that “immigrants have always played an important role in creating the new lishes, as in the case of Hinglish, Chinglish or Spanglish. […] In fact, in bilingual and multilingual contexts, many people only use a mixed language in informal situation” (p. 11). Also WV (pp. 18-21) devotes some pages to World Englishes giving details about Indian English, as well as Anglo-hybrids. Four textbooks include Pidgins and Creoles. AG (p. 11), introducing the concept of New Englishes, gives a definition of pidgin and of the reasons for its development, adding that “the very first pidgins developed among the African slaves on American plantations. Pidgins begin with simplified forms of language mixing words, expressions and grammar from different languages, but they gradually acquire a greater complexity and evolve into new languages, with their own grammar and even literature”. WA (p. 88) presents a brief text about Creoles in the West Indies, explaining that after the British domination Creole has become the official language in Haiti and the Antilles. Language examples are however not provided, apart from the “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley (WA/RW, 91) presenting some linguistic

224

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

features of Jamaican Creole: “Old pirates yes they rob I/ sold I to the merchant ship/ minutes after they took I”. WV ( p. 15) and CL (p. 7), besides defining pidgin, introduce the notion of Creole, the first citing Krio in Sierra Leone and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea, and the second Nigerian Pidgin and Jamaican Creole. WV (p. 21) focuses on Caribbean English explaining that “the many varieties of Creole, influenced by West African languages, are also productive. Jamaican Creole is the most widely known, and has spread beyond the region, especially to the UK, where it influences the speech of Black Britons”. Four textbooks mention influences on English from other languages (NRHT, 143; GLC, 147; L, 84; EESW, Fig. 12). CL (p. 7) provides examples from “Franglais” (e.g. le sandwich, le jean, le snacque bar), and AG (p. 15) a class discussion activity also dealing with the presence of foreign words in the students’ language; the same approach is taken by WA/RW (p. 104, cf. Table 1):

Figure 12: Loanwords in English (EESW, 17).

To sum up, eight out of fifteen textbooks include references to Englishes in the Outer Circle; most provide only brief information, set within a historical view of British Colonialism (cf. Table 5), with few linguistic examples; only Indian English is given more detailed attention, with three textbooks reporting the phenomenon of training in accent and pronunciation in call centres. A positive element is represented by the inclusion in five coursebooks of pidgins and creoles, where relevant examples are at times given, and of hybrid Englishes, which learners are

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

225

likely to be familiar with.

8. Global English, EIL and ELF The main examples in our corpus, which could also be seen as references to the Expanding circle, relate to the general global spread of English: its role as a global and international language is highlighted by most textbooks in relation to the reasons and/or consequences of this diffusion. References to English as a global language are included in seven textbooks (Table 6), to EIL in three and to English as a lingua franca in six (Table 7). Table 6: English as a global language EESW 2000 It is not the number of mother-tongue speakers which makes English important in the eyes of the world. The great number of people who use English as a means of communication for travel and work has made it a world-wide phenomenon. (p. 9) GLC 2001 There are no clear linguistic reasons for English’s global dominance. The grammar is complicated, the pronunciation eccentric and the spelling strange, to say at least. But logic does not necessary apply when building a lingua franca. Local vocabulary, slang and pronunciation will displace existing British and American usages. English could fragment into mutually unintelligible spoken forms. (p. 148) AC 2004 In addition, many of the English words – the most obvious being computer itself – have spread outside of the English-speaking world and become part of a global language of technology. (p. 128) NRHT 2006 Global issues: English in the world: […] Nowadays, English has become the language of the planet, the first global language. It is the language of pop singers, scientists, pilots, businessmen, diplomats. It is also the language of sport and communication. (p. 143) AG 2008 But English is not just one language: because of its global spread, it has developed a great variety of regional differences (p. 10) Many factors have contributed to the global diffusion of modern English. First of all the British Empire which took this language to all continents. […] After the Second World War, the economic and cultural influence of the USA contributed to the further spread of English; it became the working language of the most important organizations, such as the United Nations, NATO and the European Union (p. 12). […] A standard form of English, an international language comprehensible to the largest possible numbers of speakers all over the world, will probably be the most useful variety of English as far as global communication is concerned. (p. 13) WV 2009 English – a global language (p. 14) CL 2010 Today English has become the world’s first global language. (p. 8)

226

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Table 7: Examples of EIL, ELF. EESW 2000 GLC 2001 L 2005

AG 2008

WV 2009

CL 2010

The colonization […] has contributed to the worldwide use of English as a mother tongue, as a second language, and more recently as a lingua franca used by many people for communicating in a common language. (p. 9) But logic does not necessarily apply when building a lingua franca […] Lingua franca: a language used between people when their first languages are different. (p. 148) More recently, an enormous number of people have begun to study English as a foreign language, using it as an international lingua franca for travel and business, and in specialized fields such as medicine and science. (p. 7) English as a lingua franca: soon English established its role as an international lingua franca, a language used as the means of communication in fields like science, air and sea travel, the media and higher education. Non-native English speakers have outnumbered native speakers, and, more and more often, interactions in English involve people who speak it as lingua franca. English is the most common foreign language studied in the world. This means that it will retain its leading role as a lingua franca for many years. (p. 12-13) Lingua franca: a language used between people whose main languages are different. (p. 15) English, the International Lingua Franca: the common language for international communication. (p. 16) Researchers are starting to study non-native speakers’ “mistakes” – “she look very sad”, for example – as structured grammar. In generation’s time, teachers might no longer be correcting students for saying “a book who” or “a person which”. Linguist Jennifer Jenkins asks why some Asians, who had trouble pronouncing the th sound, should spend hours trying to say “thing” instead of “sing” or “ting”. International pilots, she points out, already pronounce the word “three” as “tree” in radio dispatches, since “tree” is more widely comprehensible. English has become the common linguistic denominator. (p. 17) In the future we will have a tri-English world composed by local English-based dialects, national varieties and an international standard English (p. 17, From a Newsweek article, n. d.) It is the dominant international language in communication, science and technology, business, travel, entertainment, politics and diplomacy. English is everywhere – at work and play. (p. 8) In many parts of the world English is a “lingua franca”, that is a language used for communication between people who speak different languages. (p. 4)

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

227

SFW 2008 In recent years, England’s greatest cultural export has been the WV 2009

CL 2010

English language, which has become the accepted international lingua franca. (p. 20) English has been, for the most advanced countries in the world, the common language for international communication, in such different fields as international air traffic control, sea navigation, and international business conferences. (p. 17) It is the dominant international language in communication, science and technology, business, travel, entertainment, politics and diplomacy. English is everywhere – at work and play. (p. 8)

The main focus appears to be on the global spread of English, and on its role in different domains of international communication; three textbooks give a definition of lingua franca, though only one (WV, 17) specifically refers to ELF research, also mentioning J. Jenkins, while in all other cases the term lingua franca is considered as a synonym of international language. The passage reported by EESW (Fig.13) refers to an interview with a manager from a manufacturing company in Northern Italy dealing with the “linguistic challenges” of a global market. This example appears particularly interesting as, while acknowledging the need for a lingua franca as “most of our customers communicate with us in English”, it testifies through the words of the manager to the widespread belief that native speakers are the best repository of linguistic competence (cf. answer to question 2 and 5). Moreover, quite an overt criticism of language skills as acquired in educational contexts is included, as in answers to questions 3 and 4 in the interview. “Eurospeak” is mentioned in GCL (Fig.14) highlighting the key-role played by English in Europe, and accompanied by two interesting activities to guide students to reflect on the spread of English in Europe (cf. also Table 2). On the whole, most textbooks acknowledge the international role of English. However ELF, despite being an extremely vibrant field of research (Kirkpatrick 2010) is the least represented and considered as synonym of EIL (cf. Jenkins 2007, infra 3.1). Only two textbooks (AG, 13; WV, 17) refer to possible future developments of the English language. Learning English as a FL is often equated with its role of lingua franca, covertly referring to the situation in the Expanding circle, and frequent references are made to the various and numerous fields in which English is used as an international language.

228

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Figure 13: English for global competition (EESW, 155).

Figure 14: Eurospeak: activities (GLC, 150).

9. Conclusions The data in our corpus show that Englishes appear to be better represented in relation to variety in the Inner than in the Outer and Expanding Circle. The space allotted to topics referring to World Englishes and the regions covered (Kubanek-German 2008 [2005]: 256) appear to show openness in terms of representation of plurality, where British English is not seen as

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

229

the only possible reference point, and the active role of non-native speakers and of bi-/multilingual settings is acknowledged. Only two textbooks do not include any information about language change and development connected to the spread of English worldwide, while six appear to be particularly consistent in this approach as they present more detailed and relevant background information about the development of varieties in the last decades of the twentieth century. The fewer examples provided for Outer Circle Englishes appear mostly connected to historical colonization factors than to linguistic variety. The role of English as an international means of communication appears well represented, though the term ‘lingua franca’ is always, except in one case, considered as a synonym of global/international language rather than with reference to current research in ELF. Some recent textbooks (WV 2009, AG 2008, CL 2010) include wider representations of World Englishes, though this does not appear a generalized trend: SfW (2008), for instance, only refers to the Inner circle, C (2006) and AC (2004) contain no or very limited references to Englishes. Hints to plurality are already present in some less recent materials (RW 2005 and EESW 2000); interesting is the fact that major innovations in the representation of Englishes are contained in textbooks by Italian-based publishers,9 thus in ‘glocalized’ materials (Gray 2002). Introducing a WEs perspective into ELT programmes may take time (Brown 1995: 241), also due to potential resistance by teachers (cf. e.g. Maley 2010; Vettorel, Maley 2008). However, as Sifakis and Sougari (2010: 311-314) note, it is encouraging that younger teachers in particular appear to be open to the possibility of comprising outer-circle varieties in the curriculum, probably in terms of motivation, too; teacher training, besides innovations in materials, appears in this sense a focal area (cf. e.g. Bamgbose 1998; Lopriore 2010). Though textbooks may not include an exhaustive report of complex socio-linguistic factors for WEs, or may not be seen as direct ‘agents of change as this role should be played by teachers using materials as “resources for adaptation” (Seidlhofer 1999: 236), they can nevertheless play a major role in the potential and desirable modification in the inclusion of the plurality and variety into which English has developed (McKay 2002). Given the variety of contexts in which students meet English(es) in real-world settings beyond the classroom, acknowledging the plurality of linguistic voices in ELT materials can prepare them to be competent users and to “shuttle” (Canagarajah in Rubdy, Saraceni 2006: 210-211) between different real usages in the kaleidoscopic plurality of English(es). 9

Amongst which one is a small publishing house.

230

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

References Alpektin, Cem. 2002. Towards intercultural communicative competence. ELT Journal 56/1. 57-64. —. 2010. Redefining multicompetence for bilingualism and ELF. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 20/1. 95-110. Baker, Will. 2009. The Cultures of English as a Lingua Franca. TESOL Quarterly 43/4. 567- 592. Bamgbose, Ayo. 1998. Torn between the norms: Innovations in World Englishes. World Englishes 17/1. 1-14. Baumgardner, Robert J. 2006. Teaching world Englishes. In Braj J. Kachru, Yamuna Kachru J., and Cecil L. Nelson (eds.), The Handbook of World Englishes. Malden, MA: Blackwell. 661-679. Berns, Margie. 2005. Expanding on the Expanding Circle: Where do WE go from there? World Englishes 24/1. 85-93. —. 2008. World Englishes, English as a lingua franca, and intelligibility. World Englishes 27/3-4. 327-334. Berns, Margie and Kees de Bot. 2008 [2005]. English language proficiency at the secondary level: A comparative study of four European countries. In Claus Gnutzmann and Frauke, Intemann (eds.), The Globalization of English and the English Language Classroom. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. 193-213. Berns, Margie, Kees de Bot and Hasebrink Uwe (eds.). 2007. In the Presence of English: Media and European Youth. New York: Springer. Block, David and Deborah Cameron. 2002. Globalization and Language Teaching. London: Routledge. Brown, Kimberley. 1995. World Englishes: To teach or not to teach? World Englishes 14/2. 233-245. Bruthiaux, Paul. 2006. Restandardizing localized Englishes: Aspirations and limitations. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 177. 31-49. Crystal, David. 2003 [1995]. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press —. 2003 [1997]. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Edhe, Julian (ed.). 2006. (Re)Locating TESOL in an age of Empire. Basingtoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Gagliardi, Cesare and Alan Maley (eds.). 2010. EIL, ELF, Global English: Teaching and Learning Issues. Bern: Peter Lang. Gnutzmann, Claus. (ed.). 1999. Teaching and Learning English as a Global Language. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag.

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

231

—. 1999. English as a global language. Perspectives for English language teaching and for teacher education in Germany. In Claus Gnutzmann (ed.), Teaching and Learning English as a Global Language. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag. 157-169. Gnutzmann, Claus and Frauke Intemann (eds.). 2008 [2005]. The Globalization of English and the English Language Classroom. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. Gnutzmann, Claus. 2008 [2005]. ‘Standard English’ and ‘World Standard English’. Linguistic and Pedagogical considerations. In Claus Gnutzmann and Frauke Intemann (eds.), The Globalization of English and the English Language Classroom. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. 107-118. Görlach, Manfred. 1999. Varieties of English and language teaching. In Claus Gnutzmann (ed.), Teaching and Learning English as a Global Language. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag. 3-21. Gray, John. 2002. The global coursebook in English Language teaching. In David Block and Deborah Cameron (eds.), Globalization and Language Teaching. London: Routledge. 151-167. Hülmbauer, Cornelia, Eva Böhringer and Barbara Seidlhofer. 2008. Introducing English as a lingua franca (ELF): Precursors and partner in Intercultural communication. Synergies Europe 3. 25-36. Hutchinson, Tom and Eunice Torres. 1994. The textbook as agent of change. ELT Journal 48/4. 315-328. Jenkins, Jennifer. 2006. Current Perspectives on teaching World English and English as a Lingua Franca. TESOL Quarterly 40/1. 157- 181. —. 2007. English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Julian, Ethe. (ed.). 2008. (Re)locating TESOL in an age of Empire. Basingtoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Kachru, Braj B. 1992 [1982] (ed). The Other Tongue. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. —. 1992 [1982]. “Teaching World Englishes.” In Kachru Braj B. (ed.), The Other Tongue. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 355-365. —. 1992. World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching 25/11. 1-14. —. 1998. World Englishes and Culture Wars. Retrievable at http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/doc/en/scholar/seym/4_Kachru.doc (last accessed 06/01/11). Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2010. Introduction. In Kirkpatrick Andy (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. London: Routledge. 1-14.

232

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Kramsch, Claire. 1993. Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kubanek-German, Angelika. 2008 [2005]. Global English and global education. In Claus Gnutzmann and Frauke, Intemann (eds.), The Globalization of English and the English Language Classroom. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. 245-258. Kubota, Ryuko. 2001. Learning diversity from World Englishes. Social Studies 92/2. 69-72. Kuo, I-Chun. 2006. Addressing the issue of teaching English as a lingua franca. ELT Journal 60/3. 213-221. Lopriore, Lucilla. 2010. World Englishes and Language Teacher Education. In Cesare Gagliardi and Alan Maley (eds.), EIL, ELF, Global English: Teaching and Learning Issues. Bern: Peter Lang. 69-92. Maley, Alan. 2010. The reality of EIL and the Myth of ELF. In Cesare Gagliardi and Alan Maley (eds.), EIL, ELF, Global English: Teaching and Learning Issues. Bern: Peter Lang. 25-44. Masuhara, Hitomi and Tomlinson, Brian. 2008. Materials for General English. In Brian Tomlinson (ed.), English Language Learning Materials. London: Continuum. 17-37. Matsuda, Aya. 2002. “International Understanding” through teaching world Englishes. World Englishes 21/3. 436-440. —. 2003. Incorporating World Englishes in Teaching English as an International language. TESOL Quarterly 37/4. 719-729. —. 2006. Negotiating ELT assumptions in EIL classroom. In Julian Edhe (ed.), (Re)locating TESOL in an age of Empire. Basingtoke: Palgrave MacMillan. 158-170. —. 2009. Desirable but not necessary? The place of the world Englishes and English as an International Language in English teacher education preparation programmes in Japan. In Sharifian Farzad (ed.) English as an International Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 169-189. McArthur, Tom. 2002. The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McKay, Sandra L. 2002. Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McKay, Sandra L. and Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy. 2008. International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts. Towards a Socially Sensitive EIL Pedagogy. London: Frances Taylor. Méndez Garcìa, Maria. 2005. International and Intercultural issues in English teaching textbooks: The case of Spain. Intercultural Education 16/1. 57-68.

Paola Vettorel and Sara Corrizzato

233

Modiano, Mark. 2009. Inclusive/exclusive? English as a lingua franca in the European Union. World Englishes 28/2. 208-223. Pakir, Anne. 2009. English as a lingua franca: Analyzing research frameworks in international English, world English, and ELF. World Englishes 28/2. 224-235. Pennycook, Alistair. 2010. The Future of Englishes: One, many or none? In Andy Kirkpatrick (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. London: Routledge. 673-687. Rajagopalan, Kanavillil. 2004. The concept of ‘World English’ and its implications for ELT. ELT Journal 58/2. 111-117. Rubdy, Rani and Saraceni, Mario (eds.). 2006. English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles. London: Continuum. Rubdy, Rani and Saraceni, Mario. 2006. An Interview with Suresh Canagarajah. In Rubdy Rani and Mario Saraceni (eds.), English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles. London: Continuum. 200-211. Seidlhofer, Barbara. 1999. Double Standards: Teacher education in the Expanding Circle. World Englishes 18/2. 233-245. —. 2004. Research perspectives on teaching English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 24. 209-239. —. 2009. Common grounds and different realities: World Englishes and English as a lingua franca. World Englishes 28/2. 236-245. Seidlhofer, Barbara, Angelika Breiteneder and M. Luise Pitzl. 2006. English as a lingua franca in Europe: Challenges for applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 26. 3-34. Sharifian, Farzad. (ed.). 2009. English as an International Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Sifakis, Nikos C. and Areti-Maria Sougari. 2010. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: An Investigation of ELF Teachers’ Beliefs on what Keeps them from Integrating Global English in their Classrooms. In Cesare Gagliardi and Alan Maley (eds.), EIL, ELF, Global English: Teaching and Learning Issues. Bern: Peter Lang. 301-320. Tomlinson, Brian. (ed). 2008. English Language Learning Materials. London: Continuum Vettorel, Paola and Maley, Alan. 2008. Dealing with diversities. An interview with Alan Maley. English Teaching Professional 58. 4-6. Vettorel, Paola. 2008. EYL textbooks, ELF and intercultural awareness: Only Xmas, Easter, and double-deckers? Perspectives XXXV/1. 45-68. —. 2010. EIL/ELF and representation of culture in textbooks: only food, fairs, folklore and facts? In Cesare Gagliardi and Alan Maley (eds.), EIL, ELF, Global English: Teaching and Learning Issues. Bern: Peter Lang. 153-185.

234

World Englishes and ELF in ELT Textbooks

Appendix 1: Corpus - Textbooks CODE

L

TITLE TEXTBOOK Exploring EnglishSpeaking World Gateway to Language and Culture Surfing the World Across Cultures Lifelike

RW

Real World

NRHT

New Roaming Fabbri, Laura, Here and There Poppiti, Raffaele, Shelly, Janet Carrano, Gabriella, Clepsydra Eusebio, Caterina Fitzgerald, New Donatella, Frizell, Headway Jessica, Harraway, Culture Rachel Banzato, Donata, Around the Dalziel, Fiona Globe

EESW

GLC SW AC

C NHC

AG WA SFW NEFCL WV CL

World Around Slides from the World New English File – Culture Link Worldwide Views Cultural Links

AUTHOR

PUBLISHER

DATE

Lavery, Clare

Milan: Longman Italia

2000

O’ Malley, Klaran

Turin: LANG (Paravia, Bruno Mondadori) Bologna: Zanichelli

2001

Harlow: Longman

2004

Genoa/Canterbury: Black Cat-Cideb Crawley: Helbling Languages Bologna: Zanichelli

2005

Rome: CLITT

2006

Oxford: Oxford University Press

2008

Turin: LANG (Pearson, Paravia, Bruno Mondadori) Crawley: Helbling Languages Bologna: Zanichelli

2008

Oxford: Oxford University Press

2008

Bergamo: San Marco Novara: Petrini

2009

Dandini, Maria Grazia Sharman, Elizabeth Thomson, Geaeme, Maglioni, Silvia Clearly, Maria

Clearly, Maria Layton, Margaret, Spiazzi, Marina, Tavella, Marina Fitzgerald, Donatella, Harraway, Rachel Piccioli, Ilaria Bowen, Philippa, Cumino, Margherita

2004

2005 2006

2008 2008

2010

LEXICON AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN EFL MANUALS MARIA ANGELA CERUTI (UNIVERSITY OF PAVIA)

AND LUCILLA LOPRIORE (ROMA TRE UNIVERSITY)

1. Introduction The interest in the L2 lexicon has been growing steadily since the 1980s and most recent research in English language teaching has focused on its development and emphasized its important role in second language acquisition (Meara 1983, 1987; Nation 1990, 2001; Singleton 1999; Schmitt 2000, 2002; Bogaards and Laufer 2004; Long and Doughty 2009). But, while certain areas have been privileged, in particular those regarding pedagogical and cognitive issues, less attention has been paid to the relation between the pedagogical tasks devised for learners’ lexicon development and the specific cross-cultural awareness tasks linked to the source texts used in the language teaching materials and aimed at the development of learners’ ‘intercultural communicative competence’ (Byram, Nichols and Stevens 2001; Alred, Byram and Fleming 2003). The close connection between the cultural dimension of lexicon and that of the texts learners are presented with is often overlooked and the types of tasks proposed seem to be paying very little attention to the relevance of specific language and cross-cultural awareness activities within multilingual contexts (Kramsch 1993, 1998, 2009; Byram, Nichols and Stevens 2001; Alred, Byram and Fleming 2003; Zarate, Lévy and Kramsch 2008). This contribution presents the preliminary results of a survey carried out on four course-books currently in use in Italian schools for students at

236

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

intermediate level (B1).1 The survey investigates the relation between learners’ lexicon development and that of their cross-cultural awareness.

2. Learning and developing lexis: Current issues The starting point for the study was the identification of the most current trends and issues in learning and language acquisition, with special regard to the acquisition of vocabulary. Like other aspects of language (for example, syntax or phonology), the acquisition of lexis is a very challenging field, and has received special attention by the studies and research of many scholars (e.g. Nation 2001, 2005; Schmitt and Meara 1997; Singleton 1999; Laufer 2003; Huckin, Haynes and Coady 1993; but also – on a more applied level – Lewis 1993; Carter and McCarthy 1988) who have contributed to and discussed all the issues that will be referred to throughout the article. Special attention was also devoted to the relationship between the issues concerning vocabulary acquisition and classroom activities. This relationship is what links the work of second language researchers and materials writers. While the former help identify the preferred routes towards a better understanding of the acquisition processes, the latter are the ones who make the actual choices about the kind of lexis and text types around which all language learning tasks are developed. The more informed one is about both the learning process and the activities that can best favour it, the more possibilities there will be to shape efficient teaching and learning pathways in the majority of learning contexts. More specifically, the issues addressed below have all emerged from the literature reviewed as crucial to make learning – and vocabulary learning in particular – more effective, and also as relevant to the development of cross-cultural awareness. For example, reflecting on the nature of lexicon, Singleton (1999) underlines the fact that “lexical meaning is no different from other aspects of language in being in part a function of the network of interrelationships between the relevant units. One clear implication of this is that one cannot hope to deal adequately with the meaning of a particular expression [...] without regard to the ways in which that expressions relates semantically to other expressions” (p. 36). This implication that “the lexicon cannot be just an inventory of individual words but must also cover a large variety of combinations of 1

The course-books examined are New Horizons (Radley and Simonetti 2008), UpBeat (Freebairn, Bygrave and Copage 2009), Success (Comyns Carr, Parsons, Riley and Fricker 2008), and Voicing English (Lopriore and Ceruti 2010). For the purpose of this study the four course-books have been coded anonimously.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

237

words” (Singleton 1999: 37) is obviously applicable to the researcher, the language educator and the learner. In his works devoted to investigating how vocabulary is learnt, Nation (2001, 2005) expressed with the LIST acronym the goals of language learning, and therefore of learning vocabulary, that are “important in the language classroom” (2001: 1). He refers to L for focus on Language, which obviously includes vocabulary; I for focus on Ideas, which is not just content and subject matter knowledge, but also cultural knowledge; S for focus on Skills (Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing, and their integration, but also accuracy, fluency and strategies); and T for focus on Text or discourse, and the way in which they encode or embed language – by means of discourse rules, for example – in units larger than sentences. The way learning in general can be addressed in the classroom is also to be taken into account, insofar as it can have different effects on the acquisition of vocabulary depending on the learners’ competence level, engagement and availability of interactive skills. A relevant distinction in this respect is that between implicit and explicit learning (e.g. N. Ellis, 1994), which refers to how conscious the operations involved are. In the former case “simple attention to the stimulus suffices for implicit learning mechanisms to induce statistical and systematic regularities in the input environment” (N. Ellis 1994: 214). So, implicit learning is recognized as a natural process, affected by repetition, that does not involve other conscious operations. Explicit learning, on the other hand, is seen as a “more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses in a search for structure” (N. Ellis 1994: 1). Explicit learning thus implies a search for rules, or the application of an already known rule, operations that are affected by the quality of the mental processing at play. This brings us forward to the notions of attention, awareness and noticing (Schmidt 1995, 2001, but also Godfroid et al. 2010) and to the fact that the quantity of learning – and of learning vocabulary as well – is somehow proportional to the quality of the mental processing that occurs when learning takes place. By linking learning to teaching and to the learning/teaching environment, Nation (2001: 2-3) distinguishes among four strands of learning development applicable to any informed vocabulary learning pathway and which all materials writers and educators should be aware of. They are inter-related and comprise meaning-focused input, that works best “if learners are familiar with at least 95% of the running words in the input they are focusing on” (p. 2), form-focused instruction (e.g. as expressed by Long 1988, and R.Ellis, 1990) where “a very large amount of research stretching back to the late 19th century [...] shows that the gradual cumulative process

238

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

of learning a word can be given a strong boost by the direct study of certain features of the word” (p. 2),2 and meaning-focused output, where learners are encouraged to focus their attention on the information they convey, thus listening like speakers and reading like writers. “From a vocabulary perspective, these productive activities can strengthen knowledge of previously met vocabulary” (p. 2). The fourth identified strand is that of fluency development, where “learners become more fluent in using items they already know” (p. 3). Similar reflections – testifying to the central role played by vocabulary within the whole learning process – are put forward by Boers et al. (2004: 54), “SLA research has now acknowledged the importance of learners mastering prefabricated multi-word lexical chunks (fixed and semi-fixed expressions, strong collocations, pragmatic functions, idioms, etc.). Mastery of such ready-made chunks helps learners produce fluent language under real time conditions (Skehan 1998). This emphasis on holistic and syntagmatic organization is now strongly advocated in educational linguistics” (e.g. Lewis, 1993 and the Lexical Approach to Language Teaching and Learning). It is thus focusing more closely on vocabulary that the role played by the notions of frequency and range gains prominence. While the study and analysis of frequency is especially favoured by the increasing availability of corpora stored in electronic format, range is intended as the variety of “different texts or sub-corpora each particular word occurs in” (Nation 2001: 16). In order to make the most of the language tasks and activities encountered, it is therefore important, both on the part of the learners and of the educators, to be aware of the distinction, in all kinds of texts, between high-frequency and low-frequency words, and, as far as range is concerned, for example among academic words, technical words, or culturally related words. Such awareness can help direct the learners’ attention and help them notice elements of language and facets of words to be retained in their working memory and stored in their mental lexicon for future efficient and appropriate use. In this respect it is also important to be aware not just of words but of word families, “starting from the most elementary and transparent members and moving on to less obvious possibilities” (Nation 2001: 8). This refers us to the fact that vocabulary development can be defined in terms of both size, that is the comprehension and retention of new words in the mental lexicon, and depth, that is the development, in terms of 2

It has to be noted that recent experiments (e.g. Laufer, 2003) seem to challenge the supremacy of reading as a major course of vocabulary acquisition in formfocused instruction.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

239

enrichment and expansion of the lexical information already represented in a lexical entry. An interesting approach to the notion of depth is also the one put forwardby Read (2004: 219), who considers that, apart from accounting for precision of meaning and comprehensive word knowledge, a third way to conceive of depth of vocabulary knowledge is in terms of the building of a social network. The assumption is that, as a learner’s vocabulary size increases, newly acquired words need to be accommodated within a network of already known words, and some restructuring of the network may be needed as a result. This means that depth can be understood in terms of learners’ developing ability to distinguish semantically related words and, more generally, their knowledge of the various ways in which individual words are linked to each other. This approach has one significant difference from the other two: whereas the others focus on the acquisition of individual words, this one explores the development of links between sets of words in the mental lexicon.

In an environment like the language classroom, devoting attention to and fostering the recognition – for example – of affixes, suffixes, multiwords, compounds, or of the associative relations between words that can “depend mainly on frequent collocations rather than on aspects of meaning” (Nation 2001: 39, quoting Levelt 1989: 184), as well as of the characteristics of text types in which they occur, is a way of building a more conscious approach to each learner’s vocabulary development. All this bearing in mind the concept of learning burden, that is the amount of effort required to learn items of vocabulary (Nation 2001: 23ff), and “the importance of meeting words in use as a way of developing vocabulary knowledge” (Nation 2001: 37). The last interesting trait which is worth considering for a more complete view of the process of learning vocabulary is the recognition of the central role of learning strategies to increase the efficiency of acquisition. This is a quite recent trait in the field of acquisition studies, and one that is often neglected. In Nation’s words, “[it] is [...] very important in vocabulary learning that learners rapidly develop knowledge and strategies that increase the efficiency of, and reduce dependence on, short-term phonological memory. [...] The more they can use meaning based techniques of learning word forms [...] and the more they can support their short-term phonological memory through analogy with known words and familiarity with the underlying phonotactic patterns, the less their learning will be restricted by the size of their short-term phonological memory” (Nation 2001: 44).

240

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Learning vocabulary in a foreign language can thus be considered as a complex process that involves the combination and integration of several cognitive tasks. The following paragraph by Jiang (2004: 101-102) gives an interesting summary of some of the important elements at play, as they have been outlined in the paragraphs above: One can view L2 vocabulary acquisition as encompassing two dimensions [...] The first dimension is primarily concerned with the status of a lexical entry in the mental lexicon, i.e., the retention, consolidation, and automatization of words in the lexicon. [...] This dimension is related to the aspects of vocabulary acquisition often referred to as size or breadth (Goulden, Nation and Read 1990; Laufer and Nation 1995; Wesche and Paribakht 1996; Qian 1999; Vermeer 2001) and automaticity (Kempe and MacWhinney 1996; Segalowitz and Gatbonton 1995; Segalowitz, Segalowitz and Wood 1998; Segalowitz, Watson and Segalowitz 1995). The other dimension is primarily concerned with the content of a lexical entry, i.e., the enrichment, expansion, and refinement of lexical information represented in a lexical entry. It involves processes whereby a learner becomes more knowledgeable about a word. [...] Sematically, it can mean a more precise understanding of a word’s meaning [...] and the expansion from knowing the core meaning to knowing peripheral, figurative, and connotational meanings. This dimension covers much of what has been referred to as depth or richness (Bogaards 2000; Haastrup and Henriksen 2000; Henriksen 1999; Nation 1990; Qian 1999; Read 1993; Richards 1976; Vermeer 2001; Wesche and Paribakht 1996; Wolter 2001) and organization (Meara 1996, Schmitt and Meara 1997).

The following section will try to highlight where inter- and crosscultural communication and competence can place themselves in this scenario.

3. Inter-cultural communication, cross-cultural competence and language awareness The notion of ‘intercultural communication’ has circulated for quite a long time and in many different fields (education, business professional development, health and pedagogy), but it is in language education that this notion is most predominantly present. In order to define ‘intercultural communication’, the concepts of ‘culture’ and that of ‘communication’ should be briefly discussed. If ‘culture’ is, according to Hofstede (1994: 5), “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another”, Bowers (1992) defines it as an ‘inherited wealth’ in

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

241

which we share memories, metaphors, maxims and myths, Singer (1998: 5) describes it as “a pattern of learned, group-related perceptions – including both verbal and nonverbal language, attitudes, values, belief systems, disbelief systems and behaviours that is accepted and expected by an identity group”, Alptekin (1993) believes that culture is not just civilization, that “our socially acquired knowledge is organized in culturespecific ways which normally frame our perception of reality such that we largely define the world through the filter of our world view”. Alpetkin’s view is partly shared by Kramsch’s (1993, 1998) idea of culture, i.e. a common system of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, and acting. Kramsch (1993: 2) extends the idea of culture to its pedagogical implications in the field of language education: Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them.

The view of culture has further changed during the last twenty years, from the idea of culture of the ‘élite’ to the notion of ‘common culture’ (Fenner and Newby 2000: 143). Culture has also been increasingly associated with the idea of communication and it has been framed through the prefix ‘inter’ to highlight the bridging function of cultural communication within and across human beings and cultures. The reasons behind this idea originate in the concept of communicative competence as developed by the sociolinguist Dell Hymes (1972) who specifically investigated the idea of sociocultural competence later on associated with the notions of plurilingualism and cross-cultural competence. In Europe the flow of migrant workers within largely monolingual and monocultural countries which have been transforming them into multicultural contexts over the last twenty years, has triggered a change in perspective by introducing the notion of ‘intercultural communication’. For this reason, the Council of Europe (1998, 2001) highlighted the need for a shift in education in order to take into account the integration of learners with diverse cultural and linguistic background as well as the development of new types of communicative competencies. The Council has recognized the importance of socio-cultural competence as well as the significance of general competences which include knowledge of the world, cross-cultural language awareness, and also intercultural skills.

242

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Teachers have thus become more aware of the possibilities of going beyond just giving information to learners about a country where the language in question is spoken. They have gone beyond the teaching of civilization while enhancing cross-cultural understanding. As a consequence, special attention has recently been devoted to teaching language and culture in integrated ways while developing learners’ intercultural communicative competence. ‘Intercultural communication’ refers to interactions between people with significantly different cultural backgrounds, it can nowadays be considered an independent, multi- and interdisciplinary academic field. Beneke (2000: 109) believes that “intercultural communication in the wider sense of the word involves the use of significantly different linguistic codes and contact between people holding significantly different sets of values and models of the world”, while ‘intercultural competence’ is to a large extent the ability to cope with one’s own cultural background in interaction with others. Byram and Fleming (1998: 34) believe that someone who has intercultural competence “has knowledge of one, or, preferably, more cultures and social identities and has the capacity to discover and relate to new people from other contexts for which they have not been prepared directly”. Byram (1997) believes that ‘intercultural communicative competence’ requires certain attitudes, knowledge and skills in addition to linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse competence. The attitudes include curiosity and openness as well as readiness to see other cultures and the speaker’s own without being judgmental. According to Fantini (2005), ‘intercultural communicative competence’ is “the complex of abilities needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself.” Fantini further explores this idea when he clarifies that “whereas ‘effective’ usually reflects one’s own view of one’s performance in the second language culture (i.e., an ‘etic’ or outsider’s view of the host culture); ‘appropriate’ relates to how one’s performance is perceived by one’s hosts (i.e., an ‘emic’ or insider’s view)”. It is in the relationship between different identities – individual and collective – that learners’ perception of others may sustain the development of specific competencies. Once intercultural contact has begun, Intercultural communicative competence development generally evolves as an on-going and lengthy process, occasionally with periods of regression or stagnation, but more commonly with positive results and no end point. Different individuals bring differing goals and motivations to the intercultural experience that result in varying levels of competence. Some wish to achieve native-like behavior in the host culture; others may be

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

243

content simply to gain acceptance; and for still others, mere survival may be adequate (Fantini 2005: 2).

One of the most relevant dimensions of intercultural communication is ‘language awareness’, that is awareness of learners’ both first and second language. Language awareness is, according to Carter (2003: 64), “the development in learners of an enhanced consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and functions of language.” It has also been defined as explicit knowledge about language, and conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, language teaching and language use. “Language awareness issues include exploring the benefits that can be derived from developing a good knowledge about language, a conscious understanding of how languages work, of how people learn them and use them in a language learning environment.”3 Language awareness can only be sustained and enhanced through reflection and introspection, through specific activities aimed at enabling learners to react linguistically and culturally in an appropriate manner in a variety of communicative situations (Fenner 2001). Since it is today increasingly recognized that language learning and learning about target cultures cannot realistically be separated, developing students’ skills in intercultural communication is necessarily a part of language teaching. In the last few years ELT materials have gradually introduced specific sections in course-books specifically devoted to the development of intercultural communication and cross-cultural competencies. But, what are the pedagogical implications for developing these competencies within a language learning context? One of the fields of foreign language learning where language and culture meet is lexis where learners are engaged in understanding and using vocabulary that have a cultural dimension. In spite of the widespread implementation of the lexical approach in foreign language teaching, very few studies have been specifically devoted to the link between lexical development and cross-cultural awareness. Some useful guidelines for teachers involved in this type of teaching are the ones developed by Spinelli and Siskin (1992: 313) and highlighted by Nation (2001: 52): • •

3

Present and practise vocabulary within culturally authentic semantic fields and networks of relationships. Present and practise vocabulary in ways that distinguish the native and target culture.

www.languageawareness.org

244

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence • • •

Use authentic visuals where native culture/target culture referents differ in form. Present and practise a word’s denotation and connotation. Present and practise vocabulary in ways that will reinforce appropriate behaviour in the target culture.

The above guidelines are a useful tool for both teachers and material writers who aim at developing learners’ lexical competencies as well as their cultural and intercultural awareness and one of the fields where both teachers and material writers converge and collaborate is the language course-book.

4. Lexis and culture in ELT manuals: A case study How far have the most recent studies on inter-cultural competence and on lexical development been implemented in the development of foreign language materials and course-books? To what extent has the intersection of language and culture been exploited in terms of lexis awareness and cross-cultural competence? These questions started the research study on ELT course-books that is presented in this contribution.

4.1. Aims and objectives The main aim of this research study was that of exploring how the links between the acquisition of vocabulary and the development of crosscultural competence are implemented within the specific context of English as a foreign language. The specific objectives were geared at carrying out a preliminary survey of the existing teaching materials with particular reference to English course-books that include sections or separate booklets about cultural and cross-cultural issues and lexical development.

4.2. Research design: Criteria and procedures A preliminary analysis of the English course-books currently used in the first two years of Italian upper secondary schools led to the choice of the first volumes of four course-books.4 Three of the books selected have been the top three most sold books in Italy in 2008 and in 2009, while the fourth

4 The range of the Common European Framework levels was from A2 to A2+ heading towards B1.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

245

one has just been published. The selection comprised the student’s book, the workbook and all the additional materials. 4.2.1. Research questions Since the aim of the study was to explore the relation established between lexis and cross-cultural development, it was important to focus on the lexis presented in each book and find out – for example – whether there were examples of culturally-marked vocabulary and to see if lexis was exploited only for language development or also for raising cross-cultural awareness. Emphasis was also placed on the relevance of the cultural elements for the learners, and therefore it was important to investigate whether the cultural elements included in the learning materials were in any way meaningfully connected to the learners’ first language and/or to their personal experience. The main research questions guiding the case study were thus summarized as follows: • • • •

What kind of approach to lexical development and cross-cultural awareness is used in each book? How is the relation between learners’ lexical development and their cross-cultural awareness presented and implemented in the coursebooks? Where is most emphasis placed? On ‘culture with capital C’ or on 5 ‘culture with small c’ ? How is lexis inducive to cross-cultural awareness?

4.2.2. Key research points The main research points in the analysis included: a. The approach to lexical development and cross-cultural awareness; b. The type of focus on culture: - big C or small c - mainly based upon British and American models or inclusive of international issues and characters; 5

The term ‘culture with capital C’ refers to the traditional notion of culture, i.e. art, literature, music, while ‘culture with small c’ refers to an idea of culture comprehensive of everyday life, e.g. the way people greet each other or what people usually eat. This type of culture may change over time much more frequently.

246

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence c. The type of lexis: - culturally marked - exploited for language only - exploited for cross-cultural awareness; d. The types of activities and tasks presented in the cultural sections; e. The types of texts used in the activities; f. The authenticity of the language used; g. The connection to the learners’ personal experience.

In order to carry out the analysis, each course-book was analyzed with the purpose of identifying and selecting activities that were ‘culturally related’, i.e. that had a specific focus on culture and cross-cultural development, specifically within the notion of ‘culture with small c’. Approximately 30 activities were thus selected out of each coursebook6 and were analyzed according to the above-mentioned research points. The grids below provide an example of some of the criteria and of the analyses carried out. The first grid has been used for the preliminary selection and classification of the activities of each of the 4 course-books, while the second one is an extract of activities analyzed. Table 1: Initial criteria. Approach to lexical development

Separate lexical booklet

Special section on Explicit focus on lexis within units intercultural /modules communication

Specific section on Awareness raising Characters in the culture activities about books ‘use of language’

6

Use of visuals

Each student’s book was composed of approximately 160 pages.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

247

Table 2: Extract from Grid 2. Format and Focus language use / development

Culturerelatedness *The titles below refer to specific activities in each book Sensitive Tourists – Gap Year

Exploitation for cultural awareness

Aims and expansions

Issues

Link to L1 and learners’ experience

Part of a sequence

Amount of big ‘C’

Authentic language use

Amount of White family – Lexis typical ‘Anglo’ Tribute Band culture Neighbourhood – Please do not [...] (in a notice)

Prevailing skills

Aim at crosscultural competence

5. Preliminary findings For the purpose of the survey, the four identified course-books were coded as A – B – C and D. What emerged after a preliminary analysis, following the issues outlined in Grid 1 (see above), is summarized below. Course-book A presents vocabulary boxes in each unit. There are specific round up sections at the end of each module, even though there is no specific practice on lexis in the workbook. There seems to be more focus on lexis in the homework booklet, and there is no separate lexical booklet. As far as culture and inter-cultural competence are concerned, there are specific sections devoted to the presentation of cultural elements, but there is no explicit focus on inter-cultural communication. The characters in the book are mainly representative of English speaking countries, though not just of traditionally ‘Anglo’ (i.e. British and NorthAmerican) cultures, while the settings for the activities presented are mainly British or American. In Course-book B lexis is presented in specific pages within each unit, both in the student’s book and in the workbook, and there is a separate vocabulary booklet which offers further lexical practice. There are specific sections devoted to the presentation of cultural elements, but there is no explicit focus on inter-cultural communication. The characters in the book are representative of different nationalities and cultures, even of countries whose first language is not English, but the settings for the activities presented are mainly British or American.

248

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Course-book C presents vocabulary boxes in each unit. Specific practice on lexis is offered in the workbook and recycling of the vocabulary exploited in the units is found in the separate lexical booklet. There are specific sections devoted to the presentation of cultural elements, but there is no explicit focus on inter-cultural communication. The characters in the book are mainly representative of traditional ‘Anglo’ cultures, and the settings for the activities presented are almost exclusively British or American. Course-book D claims to present vocabulary by means of corpusdriven tasks. Lexis is recycled throughout the student’s book and the workbook. There are special sections of vocabulary expansion in each module which focus on multiple ways of expressing ideas. There is a separate lexical booklet aimed at expanding the core vocabulary presented. There are specific sections on cultural awareness and the use of authentic language is regularly focused on. The characters in the book are a mixture of native and non-native speakers and the settings for the activities presented are international.

5.1. Cultural and intercultural development in course-books In order to better focus on the development of cross-cultural competence as an integral part of foreign language teaching, one of the aspects selected for the research study was the status and the role of culture presented within the course-books analyzed. The first question to be asked was about the prevailing notion of culture adopted in the books because, in general, authors tend to present aspects of culture that teachers would easily recognize and that they would expect to find in the teaching materials they use. Even if there have been several attempts to regard culture in a wider perspective, many teachers of English still tend to consider culture in a restricted way and not as a broadly defined concept. There are now two widely accepted types of culture in foreign language learning: one that is usually referred to in current literature as ‘high-brow’ culture with a capital ‘C’ and includes the study of literature, art, history, and music, the other type emphasizes informal patterns of human interactions and viewpoints and it is referred to as ‘small-c’ culture. While the ‘big-C’ Culture is already taught in the classroom; it is the ‘small-c’ one that needs to be emphasized, especially in the FL classroom. The notion of ‘big-C’ Culture and of ‘smallc’ culture was thus employed in order to define how much of these two views of culture was used in the course-books. One of the research questions

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

249

was aimed at finding out whether the course-books focussed on the traditional view of culture, i.e. ‘big-C’. Table 3: Percentage of presence of ‘big-C Culture’.

36%

39%

64%

Course-book A: Yes 64% - No 36%

61%

Course-book B: Yes 39% - No 61%

10% 23%

90%

Course-book C: Yes 10% - No 90%

77%

Course-book D: Yes 23% - No 77%

The above chart represents some of the data collected from the four course-books; they show a clear difference among them. Only one – course-book A - has a clearly predominant percentage of issues related to ‘big-C Culture’, while course-book B shows a minor emphasis and coursebooks C and D a very low percentage of ‘big-C Culture’. A different shift in perspective that is emerging in newly published course-books indicates that the traditional image of culture is not the prevailing perspective in all the course-books analyzed as the striking difference between the books shows. Another aspect to be investigated in the course-book sections specifically devoted to culture was the type of English culture represented

250

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

and the countries that culture was usually representative of. Was it a culture predominantly based upon British and American models, or was it representative also of other English-speaking countries and people? Table 4: Percentage of presence of British and American culture.

39%

44% 56%

Course-book A: Yes 56% - No 44%

61%

Course-book B: Yes 61% - No 39% 13%

37%

63% 87%

Course-book C: Yes 63% - No 37%

Course-book D: Yes 13% - No 87%

As the charts show, the predominant culture in three of the four coursebooks is the so called ‘anglo-culture’; most of the topics presented in the cultural sections refer to specific features of British or American culture, while the fourth course-book shows a very limited interest in anglo-culture. If EFL teaching materials are beginning to show a growing, though not prevailing, tendency to present aspects of ‘small-c’ culture and of features of culture not exclusively related to British or American culture, it was interesting to investigate whether there was a similar shift in favour of an explicit focus on the development of foreign language learners’ crosscultural competencies through the use of the foreign language.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

251

The chart below shows how each of the four course-books deals with activities where learners are explicitly asked to reflect upon the second language culture as well as compare it with their own. While one of the course-books – Course-book C – devotes only a limited amount of its activities to learners’ awareness of cultural issues, three of the four coursebooks, one more strikingly than the other two, show in their activities a consistent tendency to draw learners’ attention upon issues related to cultural and intercultural topics. Even if not explicitly stated in all of the course-book guidelines as one of the main aims of the courses, the need to focus learners’ awareness of such issues clearly emerges in the tasks provided in course-books A and B and more specifically in course-book D. Table 5: Percentage of activities aimed at developing cross-cultural competence through L2.

50%

44%

50% 56%

Course-book A: Yes 50% - No 50%

23%

77%

Course-book C: Yes 23 % - No 77%

Course-book B: Yes 44% - No 56% 17%

83%

Course-book D: Yes 83% - No 17%

252

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Whether this represents a growing tendency in the most recent EFL course-books is a state difficult to ascertain but the fact that foreign language tasks are being devised in order to sustain and develop inter- and cross-cultural competence, is already a good sign of a shift in perspective in this field.

5.2. Lexis development in cultural sections In order to identify the link between lexis and culture and of checking if vocabulary development was taken care of in the cultural sections in the four course-books, we looked for examples of culturally-marked vocabulary in the activities proposed and, subsequently, whether the lexis presented was exploited only for language development or also for crosscultural awareness. With culturally-marked we mean vocabulary that is marked in a cultural way, by means for instance of specifically ‘dense’ collocations. An example of that is the collocation ‘white family’ found in a text focusing on traditional British families in one of the course-books, or the derivation of the novel noun ‘gapper’ from the collocation ‘gap year’ in another course-book. Such items are considered as ‘culturally-marked’ because not just their meaning, but also the meaning of the texts, activities or exercises in which they are found cannot be fully exploited or understood without placing them in a specific cultural frame. Another indication of the attitude of the course-books towards the development of lexis within cultural sections was represented by the way in which the vocabulary used intrinsically reflected specific cultural values. This was, for example, the case with a sign in an Asian park in a text focusing on ‘sensitive tourism’ in one of the course-books, where there was a clear indication of the use of different registers when addressing visitors (who are probably foreigners) using polite expressions such as ‘Please do not’ instead of a more neutral ‘Don’t’, as compared to when addressing vendors (who are probably locals) with expressions such as ‘Vendors are not allowed to [...]’. A third point was that of checking whether the activities focusing on lexis in cultural sections were also aiming to develop the learners’ cultural awareness along with their language competence. This could be done for example by directing the learners’ attention to different ways of responding to the same stimulus (e.g. an invitation to a party) in different contexts, by using language which is not only efficient but also appropriate to each of the contexts, or by noticing – through the texts presented and by means of the language used – the way in which, for example, the dress-

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

253

code in a place of worship differs according to the culture of the worshippers. The following pie-charts visualize the data collected for the four course-books. The values are expressed in percentages, out of the total number of culturally-related activities in each course-book. Table 6: Percentages of activities containing culturally-marked lexis as compared to the total number of cultural activities in each coursebook

36%

47% 53% 64%

Course-book A: Yes 53% - No 47%

27%

Course-book B: Yes 64% - No 36%

35%

65%

73%

Course-book C: Yes 27 % - No 73%

Course-book D: Yes 65% - No 35%

254

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Table 7: Percentages of activities containing lexis intrinsically reflecting values as compared to the total number of cultural activities in each course-book.

25% 39%

61%

75%

Course-book A: Yes 75% - No 25%

Course-book B: Yes 61% - No 39%

30%

47% 53% 70%

Course-book C: Yes 47 % - No 53%

Course-book D: Yes 70% - No 30%

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

255

Table 8: Percentages of activities containing lexis exploited for cultural awareness as compared to the total number of cultural activities in each course-book.

31%

33%

69%

67%

Course-book A: Yes 33% - No 67%

Course-book B: Yes 31% - No 69%

13%

43% 57% 87%

Course-book C: Yes 13 % - No 87%

Course-book D: Yes 43% - No 57%

What appears after examining the data is that at least in three out of the four course-books (A, B, and D), the percentage of activities containing lexis which is either culturally-marked or intrinsically reflecting cultural values is reasonably high (between 53 and 65% in one case, and between 61 and 75% in the other case), which testifies to both a tendency in this respect but also the potential for further exploitation of such materials. However, the data collected concerning the actual exploitation of lexis for the development of cultural awareness, as well as of language awareness, is not just as encouraging. None of the course-books exceeds 50% of such activities, with only course-book D reaching a mere 43%.

256

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

5.3. Language and culture The explicit relation between language and culture was explored by analyzing the texts chosen and the type of language used in each course-book. The texts employed in the sections specifically geared at developing some form of cultural awareness and intercultural competence were explored in order to measure the degree of relation to the cultural issues addressed and whether they were exploited for culture. The charts below show what emerged from each of the four course-books. Except for one course-book – C – the majority of the texts presented in the other three course-books are all explicitlyculturally related, that is they are aimed at developing learners’ cultural awareness. Table 9: Explicitly culturally-related texts.

33%

39%

61%

67%

Course-book A: Yes 67% - No 33% Course-book B: Yes 61% - No 39%

23%

39%

61% 77%

Course-book C: Yes 23 % - No 77% Course-book D: Yes 61% - No 39%

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

257

The language employed by each of the course-books was analyzed in order to check whether it was authentic, that is whether it mirrored real language in use. The charts below show how in all the four course-books – even if at different levels – the language used is predominantly authentic. It is only through the authenticity of the language that learners can achieve a greater awareness of the cultural value carried by the language they are learning. Table 10: Authentic use of language in texts.

31%

36%

64%

69%

Course-book A: Yes 69% - No 31%

Course-book B: Yes 64% - No 36% 17%

38%

62%

Course-book C: Yes 62 % - No 38

83%

Course-book D: Yes 83% - No 17%

5.4. Learning centredness The issue of learning-centredness was mainly analyzed by taking into account the way in which the activities presented offered practice for all the language skills, and whether there was any connection of the cultural elements to the learners L1 or experience. For example, one of the criteria adopted to check on such key issue was that of identifying if there were expansion activities, meant not just to link the activities to the learners’

258

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

experience, but also aiming at the development of cross-cultural competence. The following charts visualize the data collected. Values are expressed in percentages, out of the total number of culturally-related activities in each course-book. Table 11: Prevailing skills practised in culturally-related activities in each course-book. 6%

3%

28%

39%

56% 3%

67%

Course-book A: Reading 56% Interactive skills 39% Writing 3% Speaking 3% Listening 6%

Course-book B: Reading 67% Interactive skills 28% Writing Speaking Listening 6%

7%

13% 48%

50% 40%

35%

3%

Course-book C: Reading 40% Interactive skills 50% Writing Speaking 3% Listening 7%

4%

Course-book D: Reading 35% Interactive skills 48% Writing Speaking 4% Listening 13%

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

259

Table 12: Percentages of activities linked to the learners’ L1 and/or experience as compared to the total number of cultural activities in each course-book.

31%

44% 56% 69%

Course-book A: Yes 56% - No 44%

37%

Course-book B: Yes 69% - No 31%

39%

63%

Course-book C: Yes 63 % - No 37%

61%

Course-book D: Yes 61% - No 39%

As far as the skills practised are concerned, reading seems to be the preferred channel to deliver cultural information in two course-books, A and B. Course-books C and D on the other hand clearly privilege the integration of skills, thus testifying to an attempt at greater learner involvement. Writing and speaking are very rarely exploited though, at least in isolation, while listening receives a fair amount of attention only in course-book D. Even if all four course-books pay attention to linking cultural issues to the learners’ L1 and/or personal experience, none of them exceeds 70% of activities paying attention to this issue. This is a clear indication that there is still ground for improvement, and that providing more skill integration and more evident links with the learners’ experiences is an opportunity which could be better exploited.

260

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

6. Conclusions The preliminary findings illustrated so far seem to confirm that, although in each of the course-books a clear emphasis is laid on lexis, learners are rarely sustained in their exploration of the cultural dimension of vocabulary, particularly since the relation between learners’ lexicon development and their cross-cultural awareness is not frequently offered and rarely implemented. The focus of most sections is still heavily based on ‘anglo-culture’ only, but there are some examples also of world cultures. Even if the course-books do not seem to lay a particular emphasis on the development of sound inter-cultural communication, the fact is that in all the four course-books, • emphasis is generally laid on ‘culture with small c’; • there is a growing tendency to use authentic language; • there is a consistent amount of lexis that is culturally marked and that intrinsically reflects values; • the link to learners’ first language and to their personal experience is a predominant feature. These are all elements closely linked to the elements necessary for developing language and culture awareness, which indicate a positive move within ELT materials. Awareness is critical to cross-cultural development since it is enhanced through the process of noticing and of introspection in learners’ first and second language, because this way the individual’s first language and culture as well as his/her second language and culture are contrasted and compared. What teachers need to address is the learners’ ability to step outside in order to observe and compare, and to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.

References Alptekin, Cem. 1993. Target-language culture in EFL materials. ELTJ 47/2. 136-143. Alred, Geof, Michael Byram and Mike Fleming. 2003. Intercultural experience and education. Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education 2, Buffalo, NY. Beneke, Jürgen. 2000. Intercultural Competence. In Ulrich Bliesener (ed.), Training the Trainers. International Business Communication, Vol. 5, Carl Duisberg Verlag. 107-125.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

261

Boers, Frank, Muriell Demecheleer and June Eyckmans. 2004. Etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning idioms. In Paul Bogaards and Batia Laufer (eds.). 53-78. Bogaards, Paul. 2000. Testing L2 vocabulary at a high level: The case of the Euralex French tests. Applied Linguistics 21. 490-516. Bogaards, Paul and Batia Laufer (eds.). 2004. Vocabulary in a Second Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Bowers, George. 1992. Memories, metaphors, maxims, and myths: language learning and cultural awareness. ELTJ 46/1. 29-38. Byram, Michael. 1997. Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Byram, Michael and Mike Fleming. 1998. Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective: Approaches through Drama and Ethnography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Byram, Michael, Adam Nichols and David Stevens. 2001. Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Carter, Ron. 2003. Language Awareness. ELTJ 57/1. 64-66. Carter, Ron and Michael McCarthy (eds.). 1988. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. London: Longman. Comyns, Carr, John Parsons, David Riley and Robert Fricker. 2008. Success. Milano: Pearson Paravia Bruno Mondadori. Council of Europe. 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. 1998. All Different – All Equal, Education Pack, 2nd edition. Strasbourg: European Youth Centre. Ellis, Nick (ed.). 1994. Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages. London: Academic Press. Ellis, Rod. 1990. Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Basil Blackwell: Oxford. Fantini, Alvino. 2005. About Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Construct. Brattleboro, VT; School for International Training. Available at: http://www.sit.edu/SITOccasionalPapers/feil_appendix_e.pdf. Fenner, Anne-Brit. 2001. Cultural Awareness and Language Awareness Based on Dialogic Interaction with Texts in Foreign Language Learning. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publications. Fenner, Anne-Brit and David Newby. 2000. Approaches to Materials Design in European Textbooks. Graz: ECML/Council of Europe. Freebairn, Ingrid, Jonathan Bygrave and Judy Copage. 2009. Up Beat. Harlow: Pearson Educational Ltd.

262

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

Godfroid, Aline, Alex Housen and Frank Boers. 2010. A procedure for testing the Noticing Hypothesis. In the context of vocabulary acquisition. In Pütz, Martin and Laura Sicola (eds.). 2010. Cognitive Processing in Second Language Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 169-197. Goulden, Robin, Paul Nation and John Read. 1990. How large can a receptive vocabulary be? Applied Linguistics 11.4. 341-363. Haastrup, Kirsten and Birgit Henriksen. 2000. Vocabulary acquisition: Acquiring depth of knowledge through network building. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 10. 221-240 Henriksen, Birgit. 1999. Three dimensions of vocabulary development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21. 303-317 Hofstede, Geert. 1994. Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind. London: Harper Collins Publishers. Huckin, Thomas, Margot Haynes and James Coady. 1993. Second Language Reading and Vocabulary Learning. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Hymes, Dell. 1972. On communicative competence. In John Pride and Janet Holmes (eds.). Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 269-293. Jiang, Nan. 2004. Semantic transfer and development in adult L2 Vocabulary acquisition. In Paul Bogaards and Batia Laufer (eds.). Vocabulary in a Second Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 101-126. Kempe, Vera and Brian MacWhinney. 1996. The crosslinguistic assessment of foreign language vocabulary learning. Applied Psycholinguistics 17/02. 149-183. Kramsch, Claire. 1993. Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. 1998. Language and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. 2009. The Multilingual Subject. What Language Learners say about their Experience and why it Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Laufer, Batia. 2003. Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language: Do Learners Really Acquire Most Vocabulary by Reading? Some Empirical Evidence. Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue Canadienne des Langues Vivantes, 59/4. 567-587. Laufer, Batia and Paul Nation. 1995. Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics 16. 307-322. Levelt, Willem J. 1989. Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Lewis, Michael. 1993. The Lexical Approach. Hove, UK: LTP.

Maria Angela Ceruti and Lucilla Lopriore

263

Long, Michael J. 1988. Instructed interlanguage development. In Leslie M. Beebe (ed.). Issues in Second Language Acquisition: Multiple perspectives. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House/Harper and Row. 115-41. Long, Michael H. and Catherine J. Doughty (eds.). 2009. Handbook of Language Teaching. Oxford: Blackwell. Lopriore, Lucilla and Maria Angela Ceruti. 2010. Voicing English. Torino: Loescher Editore. Meara, Paul. 1983. Vocabulary in a Second Language. London: CELT. —. 1987. Vocabulary in a Second Language, Volume 2. London: CILTR. —. 1996. The dimension of lexical competence. In Gillian Brown, Malmkjaer, Kirsten and John Williams (eds.). Performance and Competence in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP. 3553. Nation, Paul. 1990. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury House. —. 2001. Learning Vocabulary in another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. 2005. Teaching and learning vocabulary. In Hinkel, Eli (ed.). 2005. Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Mahwah, USA: LEA. 581-596. Qian, David. 1999. Assessing the role of depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension. Canadian Modern Language Review 56. 282-307. Radley, Paul and Daniela Simonetti. 2008. New Horizons. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read, John. 1993. The development of a new measure of L2 vocabulary knowledge. Language Testing 10. 355-371. —. 2004. Plumbing the depths: How should the construct of vocabulary knowledge be defined? In Paul Bogaards and Batia Laufer (eds.). 209227. Richards, Jack. 1976. The role of vocabulary teaching. TESOL Quarterly 10. 77-89. Schmidt, Richard. 1995. Conscious and foreign language learning: A tutorial on the role of attention and awareness in learning. In Richard Schmidt (ed.). Attention and Awareness in Foreign Language Learning. Honolulu: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawai’i. 1-64. —. 2001. Attention. In Peter Robinson (ed.). Cognition and Second Language Instruction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3-32. Schmitt, Norbert. 2000. Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

264

Lexicon and Intercultural Competence

—. 2002. An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schmitt, Norbert and Paul Meara. 1997. Researching vocabulary through a word knowledge framework. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19. 17-36. Segalowitz, Norman S. and Elizabeth Gatbonton. 1995. Automaticity and lexical skills in second language fluency: Implications for computerassisted language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning 8. 129-149. Segalowitz, Sidney J., Norma S. Segalowitz and Anthony G. Wood. 1998. Assessing the development of automaticity in second language word recognition. Applied Psycholinguistics 19. 53-67. Segalowitz, Norman S., Vivien Watson and Sidney J. Segalowitz. 1995. Vocabulary skill: Single-case assessment of automaticity of word recognition in a timed lexical decision task. Second Language Research 11. 121-136. Singer, Marshall R. 1998. Culture: A perceptual approach. In Milton J. Bennett. Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Press. 97-111 Singleton, David. 1999. Exploring the second language mental lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Skehan, Peter. 1998. A Cognitive Approach to Learning Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Spinelli, Emily and Jay H. Siskin. 1992. Selecting, presenting and practising vocabulary in a culturally authentic context. Foreign Language Annals, 25(4). 305-314. Vermeer, Anne. 2001. Breadth and depth of vocabulary in relation to L1/L2 acquisition and frequency of input. Applied Psycholinguistics 22. 217-234. Wesche, Marjorie and Tahereh Sima Paribakht. 1996. Assessing second language vocabulary knowledge: Depth versus breadth. The Canadian Modern Language Review 53.1. 13-40. Wolter, Brent. 2001. Comparing the L1 and L2 mental lexicon: A depth of individual word knowledge model. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 23. 41-69. Zarate, Geneviève, Danielle Lévy and Claire Kramsch (eds.). 2008. Précis du Plurilinguisme et du Pluriculturalisme. Paris: Editions des Archives.

THE GENERAL SERVICE LIST: VOCABULARY SELECTION BEYOND FREQUENCY ANDREA NAVA AND LUCIANA PEDRAZZINI (UNIVERSITY OF MILAN)

Introduction Attempts to define a core vocabulary for a second language can be traced back to a variety of educational and professional purposes (e.g. devising a more efficient linguistic system, designing syllabuses, writing graded reading materials, mastering everyday situations in oral communication). Since the beginning of the 20th century, different criteria have been established for the compilation of balanced and purpose-oriented basic word lists. With the advent of statistical lexicology, emphasis has been increasingly placed on word frequency regarded as an objective selection criterion vis-à-vis subjective criteria based on common knowledge and experience and “not surprisingly, the results of these frequency counts [have] varied greatly according to the texts chosen” (Stein 2002: 3). This chapter aims to illustrate an example of vocabulary selection the principles for which laid the foundations for the compilation of the wellknown General Service List (West 1953), a selection of around 2000 headwords. Our interest in this linguistic and pedagogical endeavour derives from the fact that, although partly based on less objective criteria than contemporary corpus-based projects, the list has proven to be sufficiently reliable for its selection of lexis. Indeed, it is still of practical relevance both in syllabus and material design and is employed in testing projects. Here we will focus on the process by which the purposes and criteria of word value for word inclusion and exclusion were identified with a view to providing evidence of the way a set of subjective culturebound criteria were implemented for the creation of the list. These subjective selection criteria arising out of specific needs and assumptions

266

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

about the use of English as a foreign language in specific contexts appear to lend themselves to a closer analysis of the cultural bias they embody.

1. The movement towards ‘vocabulary control’ The publication of Michael West’s General Service List (1953) marked the culmination of a long period in which lexis had been at the centre of a movement towards ‘vocabulary control’ (Palmer 1936). The start of this movement can be pinned down in the early thirties in the research carried out by three outstanding figures in the English language teaching history: Lawrence Faucett (1892-1978), Michael West (1988-1973) and Harold Palmer (1877-1949). Their involvement in projects addressing specific needs of teachers and learners of English in overseas contexts, and particularly their experimentation in the design of reading materials, provided a fruitful context of research in which issues of vocabulary selection were purposely approached. Two projects in particular will be briefly mentioned here: West’s New Method Readers, published from 1927 onwards and Palmer’s Standard English Readers, developed in the same years (1926-27). Their research in the definition of a given limited vocabulary, still independent at this stage, provided the ground for later work carried out “in cooperation and in a systematic and rational way” (Palmer 1936: 14). West’s teaching career had taken him to spend about twenty years in Bengal and his experience of teaching English “in difficult circumstances” greatly contributed to the development of his original approach to foreign language teaching (Smith 2007). In his attempt to improve the reading skills of Bengali children who had limited contact with school, he decided to work out specific adaptation procedures which would make written texts more accessible as well as providing learners with more exposure to the foreign language. As Howatt (2004: 280-281) points out, two main principles seemed particularly useful to West in order to achieve these aims: a “lexical selection” principle and a “lexical distribution” principle. The first principle was intended to simplify the vocabulary in a text by substituting archaic words by more common contemporary synonyms; the second principle involved the introduction of fewer new words in combination with the use of much longer texts. By rewriting the texts for his New Method Readers and basing his selection on sources such as Thorndike’s (1921) The Teacher’s Word Book, West decided that a maximum of 1,500 words would represent the core vocabulary for learners at a first stage of his reading scheme.

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

267

Palmer carried out his research into reading materials and vocabulary selection in a completely different context, Japan, where he was invited in 1921 at the request of the government to give his advice on methods of English teaching in schools and stayed working as a linguistic adviser until 1936. His Standard English Readers were designed to focus on plain English and intended to be “a compromise between the kind of oral work he instinctively favoured and the reader-centred nature of typical teaching in all subjects, not only English, in Japanese schools” (Smith 2003b: xiii). The companion books to each reader were intended to support teachers in oral work on the text. Palmer’s new interest in reading made him turn his attention to issues of vocabulary selection as well. At the beginning of 1930 he started to compile a 3,000-word list for Japanese middle-grade schools. In the compilation of the list, “the opinion of teachers and other competent persons in Japan as to the relative value of words, their place in respect of word-frequency” was also taken into consideration (Faucett et al. 1936: 21). While West and Faucett were more inclined to take into account existing word lists, Palmer was rather skeptical about what he defines “the objective method” and thought that objective lists “represent the analysis of a body of literature selected subjectively and more or less at haphazard” and “the problem of [...] ‘range’ has never been faced except in a very sketchy way” (Palmer 1936: 16). He decided then to rely on a more pragmatic approach based on a method of vocabulary selection that was “partly subjective, partly objective and above all what may be called empirical” (Palmer 1936: 21). He argued that “the main issue should be, not whether a given list is ‘objective’ or ‘subjective’, but whether a given list has been tested in practice or not so tested” (Palmer 1934: 50). The work of adaptation for his Standard English Readers provided a “practical and concrete method” (Palmer 1934: 51) that would greatly influence the research methodology used by Palmer and colleagues in the definition of the selection criteria of the words to be included in the General Service List. In addition to the contributions to the vocabulary control movement mentioned earlier, another scheme of vocabulary selection which gained remarkable popularity in those days was Basic English, published in 1930. “Basic” stands for British American Scientific International Commercial and its inventor, Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), intended it as a selected list of 850 words (including only sixteen verbs) and a simple grammar which would serve the purpose of an “auxiliary language”, similar to Esperanto, for international communication (Howatt 2004: 284).

268

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

What is the relationship between Basic English and the projects of vocabulary selection carried out by Palmer and colleagues? Although it was considered “a very special creation and off the track of the more familiar plans of vocabulary control” (Palmer 1936: 20), Basic English “appeared to represent a significant challenge to the vocabulary lists being developed by Palmer within the Institute for Research in English Teaching (Smith 2003b: xvi). What is more, the increasing popularity of Basic English seemed to downplay the importance of existing teaching materials which were based on more conventional lists. Palmer and West tried to counteract the success of Basic English writing a fierce critique of Ogden’s project. However, they thought it was time to start reconsidering one of the main issues associated with Basic English, that is the role of English as a world language. This change of perspective was fundamental for a more coordinated work on vocabulary selection which was going to be carried out during a conference convened by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

2. The Interim Report on Vocabulary Selection: Standpoints and criteria of word value The Carnegie Conference, held in New York in 1934, brought together a group of specialists including Palmer, West and Faucett, with the aim of coordinating their previous individual efforts to define the criteria for vocabulary selection and reach an agreement upon a vocabulary list which would be of reference for EFL material writing worldwide. As Palmer (1936: 22) points out, every effort had to be made “to supply a vocabulary having the best ‘surrender-value’ (i.e. the maximum value to learners whose study of English might be interrupted or prematurely brought to an end)”. The concept of surrender value was borrowed from the financial world to convey the idea that English teaching “needed to provide something which would be of value at whatever stage pupils left school” (Smith 2003a: xiii). The committee based their work of selection on the analysis of two already published vocabularies: the IRET 3,000 word list and the FaucettMaki-Thorndike and Horn word frequency list (Palmer 1936: 23). The latter was derived from two existing word lists based on frequency counts – one by Thorndike (1921) and the other by Horn (1926). Thorndike’s list was based on a very large selection of literary texts while Horn’s list was compiled using non-literary texts such as business letters and personal letters (Faucett et al. 1936: 20-21). For the creation of this new list, Faucett and Maki thought that, together with raw frequency, range of

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

269

usefulness had to be taken as a relevant criterion for word selection in a good working vocabulary (Smith 2003b: xviii). In a second conference which took place in London in 1935, the committee was faced with the task of preparing a report on vocabulary selection, the Interim Report on Vocabulary Selection for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (Faucett et al. 1936), which served as the basis for the General Service List of English Words (GSL), compiled and edited by West in 1953. As Stein (2002: 18) underlines, “the GSL has become an invaluable teaching tool, but it is to be regretted that the revised edition does not include a full description of the aims and principles on the basis of which it was compiled”. The Interim Report illustrates in great detail all the principles of word inclusion and exclusion which were not made explicit in the list and it is for this reason that, more than the GSL itself, it will be taken as the primary source for the analysis of the selection criteria that will be presented in this chapter. The vocabulary in the Interim Report contains approximately 2,000 words classified into five main lists: structural words, adjectives and adverbs, verbs, nouns and miscellaneous words. The words in each list are presented in four groups: those selected for inclusion in the GSL; those discussed and left in “suspense”; those considered still “doubtful” and those “excluded” (Faucett et al. 1936: 29). These “classified lists” are arranged in the form of a questionnaire and additional notes and instructions are provided for the “critics” (supposedly teachers for the most part) who were expected to send their opinion on the words to be included and excluded. The lists were intended to include a “wide-range vocabulary” from which more specialized vocabularies were excluded and considered for specialized lists (Faucett et al. 1936: 23). As stated in the “Introductory statement” of the Interim Report, the work undertaken by Faucett and colleagues arose out of a practical urgent need, that is “the facilitation of the processes of teaching English to many millions of children, youths and adults throughout the world, who need English in addition to their mother tongue as a means of intercourse, or as an instrument of culture, or for both purposes”. It is aimed at “the simplification of teaching, not the simplification of language”, accomplishing in this way a truly pedagogical objective (Faucett et al. 1936: 1). The vocabulary classified in the Interim Report represents then “a foundation vocabulary for school use in the teaching of English to nonEnglish-speaking pupils from twelve to eighteen years of age” (Faucett et al. 1936: 30). The purposes of vocabulary selection in the Interim Report are defined according to nine “standpoints” which clearly reflect the attitudes of the

270

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

members of the committee in relation to the use of English as a world language (Faucett et al. 1936: 9-11). Three of these standpoints seem particularly significant for the present discussion: the “foundation standpoint”, “purification of style” and the “standpoint of the practical teacher”. According to the foundation standpoint, a limited vocabulary is considered necessary as “a nucleus or starting point” (Faucett et al. 1936: 9). This implies identifying a basis on which the learner will gradually build up his or her further language knowledge. Purification of style is said to be needed to counteract “a tendency towards loss of stylistic values” caused by “cheap journalism, the cinema, the foreigner’s preference for slang and rare variants”. Vocabulary selection appears to take up the function of ‘verbal hygiene’ offering “an opportunity of purging the language of words and other items which tend to be misused” (Faucett et al. 1936: 10). Finally, the standpoint of the practical teacher emphasizes the need to provide teachers with “a list of words arranged in order of value” to help them define their language teaching syllabus (Faucett et al. 1936: 10). The members of the committee were in no doubt about the fact that the value of a word in a selected vocabulary was never absolute but was to be determined by the context and the purposes of the selection process. Hence, it was out of the three main standpoints to vocabulary selection that the criteria underlying the creation of the four-pronged classified lists appended to the Interim Report arose. The following criteria of word value were singled out (Faucett et al. 1936: 13): a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

word-frequency structural value universality in respect of geographic area range of applicability to varieties of subject, or subject-range value for purposes of definition of the meaning of other words value for word building stylistic function of a word.

The criteria identified make word value a multifaceted concept. Although the issue of frequency was not neglected, and was actually at the top of the list of the seven criteria, it was not taken as the be all and end all of word selection, as will be illustrated below. The remaining criteria seem to focus primarily on ‘usefulness’ viewed from either a language-internal (“structural value”, “value for purposes of definition of the meaning of other words”, “value for word building”) or a language-external (“universality in respect of geographic area”, “range of applicability to

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

271

varieties of subject, or subject-range”, “stylistic function of a word”) perspective. Let us first briefly consider the criteria referring to language-internal usefulness. By structural value the researchers mean the ability of a word to act as a function word and appear in grammatical collocations. Although the identification of such words (e.g. for, that, may) did not prove challenging for the researchers, it was the itemizing of their different meanings and uses that represented a formidable task. Indeed, Faucett and colleagues point out that their “simplicity […] may conceal the fact that these structural words are combined in many important ways” (Faucett et al. 1936: 25). Structural words were collected in the first of the classified lists appended to the Interim Report. Another group of words deemed to possess value for a selected vocabulary were definition words. These are words which can function as general words in paraphrases, such as those resorted to by students when lacking the precise word for a concept or by teachers when attempting to clarify the meaning of unfamiliar words without relying on the learners’ mother tongue. The last language-internal criterion has to do with word-building. There was some awareness of the technical nature of word building in that elements of word building were to be one of the special lists meant to cater for specialized learning needs and to accompany the General Service List. Given its specialized nature, value for word-building was considered as a criterion for inclusion/exclusion only when it acted in tandem with other criteria. It should already be apparent from this brief overview of the languageinternal criteria that the word selection process underlying the General Service List was coloured by the researchers’ subjective outlook. However, it was in the implementation of the remaining criteria of word value that the influence of the researchers’ social and cultural background as well as their assumptions about the language and its use in specific contexts fully came into its own. These latter criteria will be the focus of the following sections.

3. Word frequency Frequency alone was never used exclusively by Faucett, West and Palmer for the purposes of word selection. Faucett et al. (1936: 13) point out that a close correspondence was noted between the results of the so-called objective method (statistical word counts) and the subjective method (the researchers’ “judgment”). However, beyond the 1,500 word frequency cutoff point, a combination of both methods was called for, as neither purely objective nor purely subjective lists were deemed satisfactory.

272

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

Both the objective, statistics-driven method and the subjective, experience-informed method were, for example, relied upon in selecting the so-called “words of precision” (Faucett et al. 1936: 18), i.e. words lending an extra semantic load to more general words. As such, words of precision play an important role in counteracting the tendency towards semantic impoverishment inherent in selected vocabularies, which the researchers bemoan on several occasions in the Interim Report. As a general rule, it was decided that words of precision were to be included only if they were of relatively high frequency. Hence, as shown in Table 1,1 ‘dense’ was relegated to the ‘suspense’ list as deemed not frequent enough to warrant its inclusion in the General Service List. ‘Immense’ was included in the list, while doubts were raised as to the suitability of ‘huge’ and ‘tiny’, and ‘enormous’ was definitely excluded. It is apparent that frequency alone cannot account for the way the latter words were categorized. ‘Immense’ was probably viewed as a genuine representative of words of precision while ‘huge’, ‘tiny’ and ‘enormous’ were thought of as merely stylistic variants of the more general adjectives ‘big’ and ‘large’. Table 1: Words of precision. Included thick (1640) immense (2142)

Suspense dense (3632)

Doubtful huge (2036) tiny (1858)

Excluded enormous (2285)

4. Universality in respect of geographic area Heavily dependent in its implementation on the researchers’ subjective outlook was also the criterion of “universality in respect of geographic area” (Faucett et al. 1936: 13). The criterion of universality was introduced to ensure that the resulting word list would also be of practical relevance outside the local contexts where the researchers had taught and researched English language teaching. To give an example of how the criterion of universal distribution works in practice, let us consider the area of food (Table 2). The word ‘lunch’ and its formal variant ‘luncheon’ were included as the concept referred to by these words was deemed of universal relevance. However, the same criterion led to quintessentially English ‘institutions’ such as 1

The figures in brackets following each word in the tables refer to frequency rankings.

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

273

‘pie’ and ‘pudding’ being placed in the “doubtful” category and eventually excluded from the General Service List. Table 2: Universal distribution. Included lunch/eon (1668, 3575)

Suspense

Doubtful pie (1095) pudding (3430)

Excluded

Alongside the overarching condition of “geographical distribution of the need for the word”, Faucett and colleagues (1936: 14) list a number of caveats or “special considerations” (“ascendant words”, “American variants”, “squeamishness”, “religious objections”, “moral concepts”, “names of peoples”). These resulted largely from the need to account for the breathtaking changes in science and technology that characterized the beginning of the 20th century, as well as changes in social customs and moral standards, and the realization that the industrialized West could no longer be the sole arbiter of norms and moral codes. The researchers made special provisions for those words which, while still unevenly distributed from a geographical point of view, were “ascendant” (Faucett et al. 1936: 14), i.e. expected to become of universal relevance in years to come, such as those designating recent technological innovations (Table 3). Hence, it was decided to include in the General Service List the words ‘electricity’, ‘radio’, ‘photograph’, ‘film’, ‘camera’ and ‘typewriter’. ‘Cinema’, which had yielded no corpus occurrence, was put up for evaluation but eventually excluded. Table 3: Ascendant words. Included electricity (4896) radio (3315) photograph (3313) film (3206) camera (4732) typewriter (3074)

Suspense

Doubtful cinema (no occurrences)

Excluded

Although the General Service List was meant to reflect the British English variety, for the sake of universality, a timid overture was made to American English. It was thus decided to include those Americanisms which appeared “desirable as simplifications” – e.g. ‘airplane’ for

274

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

‘aeroplane’ but exclude those that might engender confusion – e.g. ‘sidewalk’ for ‘pavement’ (Faucett et al. 1936: 14). Other areas of special consideration pertaining to the criterion of universality were what Faucett et al. (1936: 14) refer to as “squeamishness” (i.e. politeness and decency) and more generally the area of morality (“moral concepts”). It goes without saying that the requirement that only words referring to “universally approved or disapproved qualities” be included called for the implementation of the subjective method. For example (Table 4), relatively infrequent words such as ‘caution’, ‘discipline’ and the adjective ‘civilized’ were included while the more frequent ‘rage’ was excluded  perhaps in deference to the proverbial British stiff upper lip. On the other hand, adjectives smacking of Victorian respectability such as ‘courteous’, ‘decent’ and ‘respectable’ were placed in the ‘doubtful’ category. Table 4: Squeamishness and morality. Included caution (4251) discipline (4125) civilized (4252)

Suspense

Doubtful courteous (2753) decent (3813) respectable (4078)

Excluded rage (2981)

Another caveat to the ‘universality’ criterion concerns religion. The researchers attempted to single out those words embodying universal religious concepts (Table 5: ‘devil’ and ‘angel’) from those that resonated with specific faiths (e.g. ‘chapel’, which was placed in the ‘doubtful’ list). As the aim of this selection process was to make sure the resulting list would not incur possible “objections” (Faucett et al. 1936: 14) on religious grounds, words describing common foods which, however, have special connotations in specific faiths were excluded (e.g. ‘beef’, ‘pork’, ‘bacon’). Table 5: Religion. Included devil (1553) heaven (1004)

Suspense hell (2469) angel (1813)

Doubtful chapel (2427)

Excluded beef (3340) pork (3710) bacon (3593)

Faucett et al. conclude their review of special considerations by accounting for why the researchers decided to exclude from the list such common words as those designating the names of national groups. The

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

275

issue here is again one of avoiding causing offence. As it was not feasible to provide a comprehensive list of all such words in the General Service List, it was decided to exclude all bar those also referring to names of languages (e.g. English).

5. Range of applicability to variation of subject, or subject-range The criterion of “subject range” (Faucett et al. 1936: 14) shifts the focus from universality in terms of geographical distribution to universality in terms of need for the use of words across different discourse domains. Inclusion in and exclusion from the General Service List was thus determined on the basis of whether words were applicable to general, nonspecialized uses or, conversely, were restricted to professional, expert users. The latter type of words (which also included “classroom words”, i.e. words of “instrumental value” for the school learner, but of little use to other language users – Faucett et al. 1936: 15) were meant to be collected in the Special word lists which were to accompany the General Service List. The implementation of the criterion of subject range will be illustrated with reference to three main discourse domains: employment and business, jobs and professions, mechanics, instruments and tools. In the domain of employment and business (Table 6), Faucett et al. singled out for inclusion those words that describe the processes of finding and applying for a job (e.g. ‘apply’, ‘employ’, ‘recommend’), starting and terminating employment (e.g. ‘appoint’, ‘dismiss’, ‘qualify’) as it was acknowledged that one of the main reasons why adult learners study English is to gain employment or further their career prospects. Also included were all those words that might be used by both seller or service provider and customer in a business transaction, such as ‘bill’ and ‘loan’. Conversely, ‘invoice’, ‘bond’ and ‘draft’ were excluded in that restricted to the professional user and so was ‘acknowledge’ as used in fixed formulas in business correspondence.

276

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

Table 6: Employment and business. Included apply (831) employ (188) recommend (1588) appoint (1232) dismiss (2696) qualify (3841) bill (375) loan (2869)

Suspense

Doubtful

Excluded

invoice (2670) bond (1345), draft (1318) acknowledge (1592)

Likewise (Table 7), Faucett et al. decided to include words designating non-professional roles in the army (‘officer’, ‘soldier’, ‘captain’) whilst excluding those referring to professional military roles (‘general’, ‘major’, ‘colonel’, ‘lieutenant’). ‘Doctor’ was taken as the most general word for a ‘physician’; interestingly enough, doubts were raised as to whether the word ‘dentist’ might fall within the common core remit or referred to what was still perhaps a niche specialization. Table 7: Jobs and professions. Included officer (863) soldier (1000) captain (1479) doctor (764)

Suspense

Doubtful

Excluded general (336) major (2661) colonel (4776) lieutenant (3940)

dentist (4039)

The researchers were also faced with the problem of accounting for developments in mechanics in their General Service List. As usual, they attempted to single out those words of more general use as opposed to those of limited application. For example (Table 8), with regard to instruments and tools, ‘nail’, ‘screw’ and ‘hook’ were deemed to qualify for inclusion but ‘jack’ and ‘reel’ were viewed as too specialized. ‘Bicycle’ was singled out as a universal means of transport, but ‘waggon’ was excluded in that it did not fare well in the bad country roads of the Far East and Tropical countries – hence what was preferred was ‘cart’. Recent developments such as the tram, the car and the motorboat, which unsurprisingly did not yield any occurrence in the corpora the researchers

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

277

had consulted, reflecting as they did an “unmechanical world” (Faucett et al. 1936: 16), were put up for evaluation but eventually excluded. Table 8: Instruments and tools. Included nail (2207) screw (4204) hook (2900) bicycle (3601) cart (3119)

Suspense

Doubtful

Excluded jack (2842) reel (3435) waggon (1661) tram, car, motorboat (no occurrences)

6. Stylistic function of a word The final criterion which will be considered in an attempt to account for the selection process underlying the General Service List is dubbed by Faucett and colleagues “stylistic function of a word” (Faucett et al. 1936: 17-18). Broadly speaking, what is meant by ‘stylistic function’ is the more marked uses of words, as deployed in e.g. formal or informal registers or specific genres, such as romances (e.g. “words expressing emotions”). Given the overarching pedagogic aim of Faucett et al.’s project, ‘markedness’ was also interpreted as words proving “dangerous” to students in that possible language learning pitfalls (e.g. ‘eventual’, which is often taken to mean ‘as it may turn out’, ‘indifferent’, which may be interpreted as ‘not different’ and ‘industrious’, which might be confused with ‘industrial’). Register-marked words were included in the list only if they were highly frequent (Table 9). ‘Furnish’ as a more formal alternative of ‘give/offer’ and ‘attempt’, more formal than ‘try,’ both turn up in the list, whereas ‘roam’ and ‘slumber’ did not qualify in that not frequent enough. Given the formal bias inherent in the corpora referred to, it is little surprise that colloquial or vernacular terms such as ‘lad’, ‘mate’, ‘mam’ and ‘pa’ were excluded.

278

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

Table 9: Register-marked words. Included give (103), offer (405), furnish (620) try (265), attempt (1037) wander (1826) sleep (403)

Suspense

Doubtful

Excluded

roam (3445) slumber (3290) lad (2816) mate (2247) mam/ma (1423, 2677) dad/dy (3083, 3558) pa/pa (2217, 1525)

As regards words expressing feelings and emotions (Table 10), Faucett et al. (1936: 18) acknowledged the need to provide names for what they called “fundamental emotions and feelings”. However, as is pointed out by West in the introduction to the 1953 edition of the General Service List, second languages are predominantly used “to express ideas” (West 1953: x) rather than emotions. Indeed, to convey their inner feelings, speakers tend to resort to their own native language. Hence, beyond a core of words representing the most common emotions and feelings, the General Service List does not include words that were viewed as merely expressing additional “romantic” connotations, as befit certain styles of writing (e.g. the verb ‘long’). Table 10: Words expressing feelings and emotions. Included delight (906) disgust (2777) envy (1932) joy (845) mercy (2386) pity (1606) scorn (2985)

Suspense

Doubtful

Excluded long (95)

7. Beyond frequency: ‘Judgement’ and ‘word value’ West, Faucett and Palmer can be said to have foregrounded the importance of contextual and cultural factors in vocabulary research, according to a

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

279

“tradition of pragmatism and adaptation” typical of that period (Smith 2003b: xxvi). Their work on vocabulary selection was the result of a cooperative endeavour which contributed to making the selection procedure more convincing than the ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’ process of frequency counting alone. The authors were all middle-class individuals from Anglo-Saxon countries who had moved to faraway countries to act as language experts, as countless other Britons or Americans would do throughout the following decades (Phillipson 1992). They saw themselves as ‘technicians’, offering suggestions and solutions which would suit existing circumstances (Smith 2003a: xiii). Their theoretical and practical knowledge and their sensitivity put them in a different league from those who would come to be known as the infamous ‘monolingual expatriate EFL teachers’ and yet the power imbalance vis-à-vis local teachers clearly tilted in their favour. Indeed, although the Carnegie Conference had been convened with the aim of providing practical help to teachers and materials writers of English as a foreign language, local non-native experts were conspicuous by their absence. The pathway leading to the compilation of the General Service List was not free of a priori ideas. Indeed, the linguistic and professional superiority of the Inner Circle applied linguist went hand in hand with the moralizing attitude of the missionary. Sole reliance on statistical data had appeared simplistic and unsophisticated to the researchers, and resort to their judgement afforded them a chance to cleanse the language of what was redundant and imprecise, of what might be seen as objectionable insofar as a threat to moral and religious customs, with the manifest aim of making the General Service List as universally applicable as possible. There is no gainsaying the fact that such ‘verbal hygiene’ emanated from the rationalism of the Anglo-Saxon colonizer imposing itself over the emotionalism of Eastern and Southern peoples. On more than one occasion the researchers bemoan the effects of a lack of emotional restraint in certain genres of writing, and in the Introduction to the 1953 edition of the General Service List the English language is characterized as being inherently “unemotional” (West 1953: x). Clearly, in spite of attempts at ‘verbal hygiene’, there was no wish on the researchers’ part to implement social engineering, and the fact that word selections which might now be branded as ‘politically incorrect’ abound in the list (e.g. the word ‘sir’ was included, but ‘madam’ was excluded; ‘confectioner’ and ‘milliner’ were also excluded in that they were said to refer to professions exclusively associated with women) in no

280

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

way diminish the importance and the impact exerted by the General Service List on pedagogical lexicology and lexicography.

Conclusions As outlined in the account in the first part of this chapter, the compilation of the General Service List came after a long period of experimentation on vocabulary selection carried out by West and colleagues, first in individual projects and then in a team during the Carnegie conference. The result is a principled list of about 2,000 headwords (however, the number of words is actually above this figure) whose aim was to provide the necessary core vocabulary to learners of English at an early stage. The General Service List cannot be considered a ‘frequency’ list per se, as is sometimes supposed, although frequency figures were later added to the final version (Howatt 2004: 289). Frequency was just one of the criteria which informed vocabulary selection, as shown in the analysis of the criteria set out in the Interim Report. Conversely, it was mainly intuition and personal experience which played a major role in shaping the principles of word inclusion and exclusion. In spite of this, a comparative study conducted by Nation (2004: 9) on different word lists (the General Service List, the Academic Word List with three 1000 word lists from the British National Corpus) has proved that “virtually all the GSL 1st 1000 is in the BNC 3000 (except four words: hurrah, ounce, scarce, shave)” and “most (97%) of the GSL 1st 1000 is in the BNC 2000”. These results provide further evidence of the fact that Faucett and colleagues based their research on a well-designed corpus and were able to compile an instrument with potentialities which go beyond the actual learners’ needs they had initially envisaged. These considerations on frequency take the discussion back to the type of methodology employed in vocabulary selection. On the one hand, Faucett et al. defined the criteria of word value in relation to those purposes and principles which viewed usefulness from mainly a languageexternal perspective. On the other hand, they clarified the principles of inclusion and exclusion against existing word lists based on frequency counts. The judicious combination of the objective and the subjective method led them to exclude from the General Service List words which, while relatively frequent, were, for example, viewed as lacking universal relevance or were thought of as liable to cause offence in certain cultures. Since Faucett and colleagues’ project research into vocabulary selection has taken two different forms (Howatt 2004: 291). One has favoured an intuitive approach and defined word-lists according to the

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

281

meanings that learners need to express in particular situations of everyday life (cf. e.g. the Council of Europe’s Threshold Level project in the 1970s and more recent projects based on the Common European Framework of Reference). The second, boosted by the innovations of computer technology, has carried out more extensive corpus-based investigations on word frequency and concordances. The COBUILD project is perhaps one of the most influential outcomes of this second approach, in that since its beginning in the 80s of last century, it has generated several pedagogical spinoffs, such as the Lexical Syllabus (Sinclair and Renouf 1988, Willis 1990), which has provided the lexicogrammatical contents for the innovative Collins COBUILD English Course (1988-1990). The project was hailed as a breakthrough in language research, yielding as it did [...] a new, thorough-going description of the English language, and one which was not based on the introspection of its authors, but which recorded their observations of linguistic behaviour as revealed in naturally occurring text (Renouf 1987).

The overarching word selection criterion underlying the Lexical Syllabus itself was frequency. The authors maintained that the needs of English language students at the beginning and intermediate stages would best be served by a syllabus consisting of a) the commonest word forms in the language; b) their central patterns of usage; c) the combinations which they typically form (Sinclair and Renouf 1988: 194).

Unlike the creators of the General Service List, the COBUILD researchers drastically limited the role of the subjective method. Although this frequency-driven syllabus was to a certain extent supplemented by items selected according to other criteria (e.g. need to complete lexical sets, such as days of the week), it is apparent that the aim of creating a universally applicable English word inventory for pedagogical purposes was pursued through relying on the supposed ‘objectivity’ of computer analysis and minimizing the subjective, culture-bound input of the researcher. The association between ‘frequency’ and ‘pedagogical usefulness’ has proven to be a powerful one in the last two decades, and has been called upon in many applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching (for a critique cf. Widdowson 2003). Since its compilation in the early fifties, the General Service List seems to have stood the test of time and is still considered a suitable reference tool in the implementation of EFL syllabus and material design as well as in testing projects (e.g. Nation and Beglar 2007). The original

282

The General Service List: Vocabulary Selection beyond Frequency

list has been extended and ranked in frequency order by John Bauman and Brent Culligan (1995), as a result of a more consistent grouping of derived forms, while semantic field categories for all entries have been added by James Dickins (Extended Version of Rank Frequency List: Spoken English). The GSL has also been used to mark off the word selection of specialized lists such as the Academic Word List (Coxhead 2000) and employed in technology-based projects such as the vocabulary profilers used for the analysis of the word frequency levels of a text (cf. The Lextutor Project by Thomas Cobb).

References Bauman, John and Brent Culligan. 1995. General Service List (accessed 15/12/2010 from http://jbauman.com/gsl.html). Cobb, Tom. Web Vocabprofile (accessed 15 December 2010 from http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/). Coxhead, Averil. 2000. A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly 34/2. 213-238. Dickins, James. Extended Version of Rank Frequency List: Spoken English (accessed 15/12/2010 from http://www.languages.salford.ac.uk/ staff/dickins.php). Faucett, Laurence William, Harold Edward Palmer, Edward Lee Thorndike and Michael Philip West. 1936. Interim Report on Vocabulary Selection for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. London: King. Horn, Ernest. 1926. A Basic Writing Vocabulary. Iowa City, IA: College of Education, University of Iowa. Howatt, Anthony Philip Reid and Henry George Widdowson. 2004. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nation, I. S. Paul. 2004. A study of the most frequent word families in the British National Corpus. In Paul Bogaards and Batia Laufer (eds.), Vocabulary in a Second Language: Selection, Acquisition and Testing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 3-13. Nation, I. S. Paul and David Beglar. 2007. A vocabulary size test. The Language Teacher 31/7. 9-13. Palmer, Harold Edward. 1934. The Grading and Simplifying of Literary Material. Tokyo: Institute for Research in English Teaching. —. 1936. The history and present state of the movement towards vocabulary control. In Richard C. Smith (ed.). 2003. Teaching English

Andrea Nava and Luciana Pedrazzini

283

as a Foreign Language, 1912-1936: Pioneers of ELT. Vol. V. Towards Carnegie. London: Routledge. Phillipson, Robert. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Renouf, Antoinette. 1987. Corpus Development. In John McH. Sinclair (ed.), Looking Up. London: Collins. 1-40. Sinclair, John McH. and Antoinette Renouf. 1988. A lexical syllabus for language learning. In Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy (eds.), Vocabulary and Language Teaching. London: Longman. 140-158. Smith, Richard C. (ed.). 2003a. Introduction. In Richard C. Smith (ed.), Teaching English as a Foreign Language, 1912-1936: Pioneers of ELT. Volume III. Michael West. London: Routledge. ix-xxvi. —. (ed.). 2003b. Introduction. In Richard C. Smith (ed.), Teaching English as a Foreign Language, 1912-1936: Pioneers of ELT. Volume V. Towards Carnegie. London: Routledge. xi-xxix. —. 2007. Michael West’s life and career. Warwick ELT Archive (accessed 15 December 2010 from http://www2.warwick. ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/collect/elt_archive/halloffame/west/). Stein, Gertrude. 2002. Developing your English Vocabulary. Tuebingen: Stauffenburg Verlag. Thorndike, Edward L. 1921. The Teacher’s Word Book. New York: Teacher’s College, Columbia University. West, Michael. 1953. A General Service List of English Words, with Semantic Frequencies and a Supplementary Word-list for the Writing of Popular Science and Technology. London: Longmans, Green. Widdowson, Henry George. 2003. Defining Issues in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Willis, David. 1990. The Lexical Syllabus. London: Collins.