Strategic features of ESP from a socio-cognitive perspective

Abstract

It has been observed that the analysis of elements traditionally associated with the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) area, grammatical, lexical or rhetorical, has not sufficiently covered so far the variability and complexity of ESP communication. Nevertheless, since the 1990s, an emergent line of investigation has been contributing and offering new insights into this field (White, 1998, 2001; Cameron & Low, 1999a; Roldán, 1999; Draaisma, 2001; Roldán et al. 2001; Úbeda, 2001). This trend of research adopts the cognitive/experientialist approach proposed in Lakoff (1987), Sweetser (1990), or Fauconnier (1997), among others. Given the importance of social and cognitive components in communication, the aim of this paper is to explore strategic features of professional and academic technical discourse. Accordingly, we have attempted to show the interconnection of genre and register features in ESP communication in a selection of authentic texts. The communicative role that metaphoric and metonymic aspects play has also been considered. In addition to this, the function of hedging as evidence of reader/writer interaction and viewed as a social and cognitive phenomenon is illustrated and discussed and, finally, future research points are suggested