THE LINGUISTICS AND PEDAGOGY OF COMPLEX NOMINALS AND THE COMPLEX NOUN PHRASE IN COMPUTER MANUALS: AN EST PERSPECTIVE (LANGUAGE, GRAMMAR, DESCRIPTIVE)
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes the most relevant properties of complex nominals (CNs) from the points of view of three descriptive and theoretical models. The rationale is that these syntactic structures require attention because their productivity renders them invaluable in designating new concepts and processes in the rapidly expanding field of computer technology. At the same time, they are so peculiar to English that a description of their properties may prepare the ground for pedagogic approaches that help reduce the time non-English-speaking technologists need to become proficient in reading technical texts in English. The Introduction establishes the limits of the dissertation by relating it to the notions of descriptive grammar (linguistics), register (pragmatics), and ESP/EST (pedagogy). Chapter I explores the issue of research in ESP/EST and of how new teaching approaches may have led to a neglect of the properties of technical English. Data is provided on how this neglect has affected research into specialized lexis, particularly that of computer technology. A case is made for the importance of CNs in technical vocabulary. Chapter II reviews the main approaches to CN description: traditional, structuralist, and generative. Important concepts in each school are selected and applied to CNs from a corpus obtained from computer manuals. A few gaps in current descriptions and theories are tentatively suggested. Chapter III concentrates on the surface properties of CNs from the corpus, with indications about the most frequently-occurring types. Further resort is made to generative processes. The chapter closes with a proposed pedagogic model of the complex noun phrase in computer texts, to be contrasted with a generalized model derived from current surface descriptions. Chapter IV takes a lead from Noam Chomsky in focusing on the EST learner facing a specialized text. In spite of the complexity of technical vocabulary in English, it is suggested that technical training, even in the mother tongue, produces in EST learners a readiness to decode specialized texts in English. Another model is presented that describes the various factors that may be part of such readiness and that may facilitate decoding. Teachers are urged to become aware of such factors.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Linguistics
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