Information Technology in Languages for Specific Purposes: Issues and Prospects

257 Pages·13.982 MB·

by  Macià Elisabet Arnó, Cervera Antonia Soler, Ramos Carmen Rueda (Editors).

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Information Technology in
Languages for
Specific Purposes
Issues and Prospects
Educational Linguistics
Volume 7
General Editor:
Leo van Lier
Monterey Institute of International Studies, U.S.A.
Editorial Board:
Marilda C. Cavalcanti
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Hilary Janks
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Claire Kramsch
University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
Alastair Pennycook
University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
The Educational Linguistics book series focuses on work that is:
innovative, trans-disciplinary, contextualized and critical.
In our compartmentalized world of diverse academic fields and
disciplines there is a constant tendency to specialize more and
more. In academic institutions, at conferences, in journals, and in
publications the crossing of disciplinary boundaries is often
discouraged.
This series is based on the idea that there is a need for studies that
break barriers. It is dedicated to innovative studies of language use
and language learning in educational settings worldwide. It
provides a forum for work that crosses traditional boundaries
between theory and practice, between micro and macro, and
between native, second and foreign language education. The series
also promotes critical work that aims to challenge current practices
and offers practical, substantive improvements.
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
Elisabet Arno Macia
Antonia Soler Cervera
Carmen Rueda Ramos
Editors
Information Technology in
Languages for
Specific Purposes
Issues and Prospects
Sprin
ger
Editors:
Elisabet Amo Macia, Antonia Soler Cervera, Carmen Rueda Ramos
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available
from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 10: 0-387-28595-4 ISBN 13: 9780387285955 Printed on acid-free paper.
e-ISBN 10: 0-387-28624-1 elSBN 13: 9780387286242
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005933092
© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without
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scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
know or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms,
even if the are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to
whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.
Printed in the United States of America.
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to our
"better halves", Vicenf, Rafa,
and Luis, for their patience
when they have had to do
without "the other half.
Contents
Contributing Authors xi
Foreword by Mark Warschauer xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction
1
The Role of Information Technology in LSP: Some Central Issues 3
Elisabet Amo, Antonia Soler and Carmen Rueda
PART I. Corpus-based studies
2
Corpus Linguistics and English for Academic Purposes 19
John M. Swales
3
Interaction in Academic Spoken English: 35
The Use of T and 'You' in the MICASE
Inmaculada Fortanet
VIU
4
Exploring Epistemic Modality in Academic Discourse Using Corpora 53
Vassiliki Rizomilioti
PART II. Computer-mediated communication
5
Finding Common Ground in LSP: 75
A Computer-Mediated Communication Project
Christine Appel and Roger Gilabert
6
Uncovering Tasks and Texts - Teaching ESP through 91
Online Workshops
Virginia Hussin
1
The SMAIL Project. A Dialogic Approach to
Computer-Assisted Language Learning for the LSP Classroom 105
M del Rosario Caballero and M. Noelia Ruiz
PART III. Specific Technology-based Projects in Different Educational
Settings
Technology for Trust, Collaboration, and Autonomy Among Asian 123
Students at the University Level
Claudia Devaux, Renate Otterbach, and Ying Ying Cheng
9
Networking for Learning and Teaching English for Specific Purposes 139
Deborah Healey
PART IV. Technology and Learner Autonomy in Higher Education
10
Learning English with Computers at University Level 157
David Lasagabaster and Juan Manuel Sierra
IX
11
Using the Internet to Promote Autonomous Learning in ESP 177
M. Jose Luzon and M. Isabel Gonzalez
12
Integration of E-learning into a Tertiary Educational Context 191
Ruth Trinder
PART V. Terminology and Lexis: Teaching and Translation
13
The Development of a Computer Science Dictionary, or How 213
to Help Translating the Untranslatable
Jordi Pique-Angordans, Santiago Posteguillo and Lourdes Melcion
14
The Importance of Key Words for LSP 231
Mike Scott
Conclusions
15
Information Technology in LSP: Prospects on a Brave New World 247
Elisabet Amo, Antonia Soler and Carmen Rueda
Index 263
Contributing Authors
Christine Appel Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Elisabet Arno Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
M. Rosario Caballero Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain
Ying Ying Cheng Fortune Institute of Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Claudia Devaux The Gull Institute, San Francisco, USA
Mmaculada Fortanet Universitat Jaume I, Castello de la Plana, Spain
Roger Gilabert Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain
M. Isabel Gonzalez Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Deborah Healey Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
Virginia Hussin University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
David Lasagabaster Universidad del Pais Wasco, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Maria Jose Luzon Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Lourdes Melcion University of Surrey-Roehampton, London, UK
Renate Otterbach University of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
Jordi Pique Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Santiago Posteguillo Universitat Jaume I, Castello de la Plana, Spain
Vassiliki Rizomilioti University ofPatras, Patras, Greece
Carmen Rueda Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
M. Noelia Ruiz Universitat Jaume I, Castello de la Plana, Spain
Mike Scott University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Juan Manuel Sierra Universidad del Pais Vasco, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Antonia Soler Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
John M. Swales University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Ruth Trinder Vienna University of Economics and Business
Administration, Vienna, Austria
Foreword
I first used the Internet in fall 1993, as a Fulbright Scholar at Charles
University in Prague. I immediately recognized that the Internet would
radically transform second language teaching and learning, and within a year
had written my first book on the topic, E-Mail for English Teaching. The
book galvanized a wave of growing interest in the relationship of the Internet
to language learning, and was soon followed by many more books on the
topic by applied linguists or educators. This volume, though, represents one
of the first that specifically analyzes the relationship of new technologies to
the teaching of languages for specific purposes (LSP), and, in doing so,
makes an important contribution.
The overall impact of information and communication technology (ICT)
on second language learning can be summarized in two ways, both of which
have special significance for teaching LSP. First, ICT has transformed the
context of language learning. The stunning growth of the Internet—resulting
in 24 trillion email messages sent in 2005, and more than 600 billion Web
pages and 50 million blogs online in the same year—has helped make
possible the development of English as the world's first global language.
English is no longer the sole possession of a few colonial countries, but
rather is now the unofficial lingua franca of the world. Increasingly,
universities and businesses are using English as a main language of
communication, even if they are located in countries where English was
formerly considered a foreign language, such as Sweden, the Netherlands, or
Egypt. And professionals in a wide variety of fields throughout the world,
whether or not they use English in face-to-face communication regularly,
use English on a daily basis online. It is no exaggeration that the languages
for specific purposes field owes its current prominence to the development
of the Internet and the correspondingly enhanced need to use English for