The 18th European Symposium on Special Language Special Language and Innovation in Multilingual World

ALBINA AUKSORIŪTĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

From 22 to 26 August 2011, the 18th European Symposium on Special Language Special Language and Innovation in Multilingual World (Special Language and Innovation in a Multilingual World) was held for the first time in Russia, at Perm State University. A wide range of topics was discussed, including new technologies for professional communication, multilingualism and special language, translation problems, cognitive aspects of special language, professional competence and special language, innovations in special-language teaching, terminology and terminography, linguistic features of special discourse, and others. The European Symposium on Special Language is held every two years.

More than eighty papers were presented at the symposium, divided into six sections: 1) Terminology and Terminography (Terminology and Terminography); 2) Linguistic Features of Special Discourse (Linguistic Features of Special Discourse); 3) Innovation Technologies in Professional Communication (Innovations in Professional Communication Technologies); 4) Cognitive Aspects of Special Languages (Cognitive Aspects of Special Language); 5) Innovation in LSP Training (Innovations in Special-Language Teaching); 6) Translation and LSP (Translation and Special Language). Two colloquia were organized: Language policy and LSP planning (Language Policy and Special-Language Planning) and The Many Faces of Analysis in Cognitive-Communicative Terminology (The Many Aspects of Cognitive-Communicative Terminology Research).

Four papers were delivered by invited speakers: Johan Myking (University of Bergen, Department of Literature and Aesthetics), Boris Proskurnin (Perm State University), Gerhard Budin (University of Vienna), and Sergiusz Grinev-Griniewicz (University of Białystok).

In his paper Parameters of Special Language Planning (Parameters of Special-Language Planning), J. Myking examined five parameters of terminology and

194

A. Auksoriūtė

18-asis Europos specialiosios kalbos simpoziumas Special Language and Innovation in Multilingual World

special language, drawing on the premise that language can always be subject to regulation. According to him, the idea that language can be regulated had not previously been acknowledged; however, in recent years, language-planning issues in the fields of terminology and special language have attracted particular interest. This interest was prompted primarily by theoretical challenges associated with social challenges, especially as English has become established as a “lingua franca” in scholarly research and university lectures.

B. Proskurnin took a somewhat different approach to special language, analyzing Charles Dickens’s poetic language as a special language. G. Budin presented the paper Designing and Implementing Strategies of Global, Multilingual “Disaster Communication” (Designing and Implementing Strategies for Global Multilingual “Disaster Communication”), in which he presented the results of research programmes on communication during natural and human-caused disasters, launched in 2001 and comprising two European Union projects and several national projects: the development of multilingual terminology databases, an eight-language dictionary, and a multilingual parallel corpus in the field of risk management.

The paper by the fourth invited speaker, S. Grinev-Grineiewicz, Terminological Aspects of Language Policy (Terminological Aspects of Language Policy), gave a detailed account of the history and development of language policy, discussed its conceptual system, the terms used, and other terminological aspects of language policy, and compared approaches to understanding language policy in Western and Eastern Europe. According to the speaker, language-policy planning, particularly long-term planning, must be based on a comprehensive analysis of the state of terminology and an examination of its directions and trends, a forecast of language development, and the identification of directions and methods for regulating specialized vocabulary.

Since 2001, the International Institute for Terminology Research (International Institute for Terminology Research (IITF)) has organized colloquia in conjunction with the European Symposium on Special Language. The main purpose of these colloquia is to provide an opportunity to discuss current problems in terminology theory and its application. Of the two colloquia organized in 2011, the first (Language policy and LSP planning) focused on language policy and special-language planning (a topic also addressed in the paper by the aforementioned invited speaker from Norway, Professor J. Myking). The main coordinator and organizer of the event was Heribert Picht.

The organizers invited well-known specialists to present and discuss this topic at the colloquium. In addition to the keynote speakers, who spoke for 45 minu-

Terminologija | 2011 | 18

195

…tes, respondents were also invited whose aim was either to supplement or clarify information in the keynote presentations, or to offer a different perspective on the issue. The respondents had familiarised themselves with the keynote presentations in advance and spoke for 15 minutes each.

Three presentations were delivered in the first part of the colloquium, which was devoted to language policy. The first presentation, When cognitive sciences meet real life: Decoding the semiotic cocktail of food labels from a fairness perspective (Kognityvinio mokslo ir gyvenimo sandūra: maisto etikečių semiotinio mišinio dekodavimas iš nešališkumo perspektyvos), was delivered by Victor Smith and Henrik Selsøe Sørensen (Copenhagen Business School); their respondents were Niina Nissilä of the University of Vaasa (Finland) and Serguey Shelov of the V.V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute (Russia).

Albina Auksoriūtė (Institute of the Lithuanian Language) presented language policy in Lithuania and delivered the presentation Language policy in Lithuania – state-of-art and social conditions and theoretical foundation (Kalbos politika Lietuvoje – dabartinė padėtis, socialinės sąlygos ir teorinis pagrindas). The respondent to the presentation was S. Grinev-Griniewiczius, who briefly outlined the particular features of language policy in Latvia.

The third presentation, Nordic language policy – a long tradition which is still very much alive (Šiaurės šalių kalbos politika – ilga ir gyvybinga tradicija), was delivered by Christer Laurén (University of Vaasa), who discussed the language policies of the Scandinavian countries in considerable detail.

The second part of the colloquium was devoted to special language planning, and three keynote presentations were delivered on this topic. H. Picht spoke about the use of parallel languages, its possibilities, characteristics, and shortcomings. The respondents to his presentation, Parallel language use – a solution for minor languages? (Ar lygiagretus kalbų vartojimas yra tinkamas sprendimas mažosioms kalboms?), were Merja Koskela and Nina Pilke (University of Vaasa).

Christian Galinski, director of Infoterm, delivered the presentation The work of today’s TC/37 in the light of ‘semantic interoperability’. Standardisation as an issue of corpus planning (Šiandieninio TK 37 darbas semantinio suderinamumo sąlygomis. Standardizacija kaip tekstyno planavimo problema), whose respondents were Birthe Toft (University of Southern Denmark) and Vera Tabanakova (Tyumen State University).

The colloquium was brought to a close by Klaus-Dirk Schmitz (Cologne University of Applied Sciences), who spoke about the particular features of localisation. The respondents to the presentation Localisation – an issue of terminology planning. Theoretical foundation and practical

196

A. Auksoriūtė

18-asis Europos specialiosios kalbos simpoziumas

Special Language and Innovation in Multilingual World

implications (Lokalizacija – terminologijos planavimo problema. Teorinis pagrindas ir praktinis pritaikymas) were Sue Ellena Wright (Kent State University) and S. Grinev-Griniewiczius.

The second colloquium (The Many Faces of Analysis in Cognitive-Communicative Terminology) examined issues in cognitive terminology. Its coordinator and organiser was Larissa Manerko of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Cognitive terminology is one of the fastest-growing branches of cognitive linguistics in Russia, so all the presentations were delivered by Russian scholars.

This colloquium aimed to demonstrate the diversity of cognitive-methodological approaches grounded in the nature of terms, their semantics and conceptualisation, terminological systems and the relationships among their components, as well as the possibility of distinguishing cognitive systems operating in professional discourse. In the first part, five presentations by Moscow scholars were delivered. They examined semantic and naming processes through the analysis of various methods, discussed scientific concepts as part of semiotic systems, and demonstrated the differences between terms and their synonyms when used in particular contexts.

The second part of the colloquium was devoted to modelling human linguistic abilities as expressed through terminological systems. Four presentations by Moscow-based scholars were delivered.

At the 18th European Symposium on Special Language and in the two colloquia, around one hundred presentations were delivered. Scholars from various countries examined a wide range of issues in special language, revealed differences in perspective, discussed current problems, and debated and sought ways to resolve them.

Perm State University published the abstracts of the 18th European Symposium on Special Language and is also preparing a collection of articles based on presentations delivered at the symposium and colloquia.

Received 2011-12-20

Albina Auksoriūtė Institute of the Lithuanian Language P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius Email: [email protected]

Terminologija | 2011 | 18

197