Charting The Diachronic Dimension Of Specialised Languages: Epistemological Challenges And Pedagogical Relevance
Résumé
The study of specialised languages (SLs) – e.g. financial English, medical German or legal Spanish – as they develop in time is still in its infancy and faces numerous and considerable obstacles. One of the main challenges in the diachronic approach to SLs lies in the fact that the research community is deeply divided on the subject. Indeed, many proponents of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) share Hutchinson and Waters' view that: ESP is not a matter of teaching 'specialised varieties' of English. The fact that language is used for a specific purpose does not imply that it is a special form of the language different in kind from other forms. (1987: 18) This position means that specialised varieties of English (SVEs) do not exist, which implies that their temporal dimension is a moot point for ESP authors. Furthermore, ESP's insistence on teaching purposes and learners'needs focuses attention on present or near-future pedagogical interests, and rules out extending teaching or investigating ventures into the past of SLs. In this paper, I take a differing view by starting from the European approach to SLs as it develops on the Continent and especially in France. The French notion of "anglais de spécialité" (ASP), as distinct from ESP, suggests that SLs stem from underlying specialised domains. This diverges neatly from ESP because specialised domains are very different from specific purposes. Purposes are fleeting realities that depend on learners' circumstantial needs whereas specialties – such as law or medicine – are more stable institutional realities that have existed for a long time. As a result, there is a widely shared consensus in the French ASP community that language and domain culture should not be considered separately and that studying one SL also comprises taking into account the related culture of the domain and of its community. In the ASP view, "specialised languages" exist as distinct objects and the idea that they develop in time, and especially that their past is worth exploring, is gradually gaining ground among French scholars. However, this position is recent and still lacks firm theoretical grounding. This paper may be one of the first endeavours to open and chart the new diachronic territory of SLs and its main purpose is to outline a rationale and establish epistemological foundations for the study of SLs in time. To that effect, I propose to proceed in three stages. First, I think it necessary to survey the diachronic landscape of SLs in an extensive and comprehensive way covering past centuries. My aim here is to show empirically that specialised languages exist in time and that some of them are very old. I also intend to highlight that studying their temporality has attracted little or no interest from linguists so far although a diachronic posture is justified on scientific grounds. The second section is devoted to providing this line of research with robust epistemological foundations by resorting to John Searle's theory of collective intentionality. Third, I discuss the pedagogical relevance of engaging in this type of research. I try to show that it contributes to a more holistic approach to SLs and that it meets the specific needs of future SL teachers. The paper concludes that taking the diachronic dimension into account in SL descriptions helps to build the specialised encyclopaedic knowledge SL teachers need to meet the needs of learners.