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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Theexistenceofspecialistlanguages(orLanguagesforSpecificPurposes-LSP)isan
objectivefact,ofwhichusersofagenerallanguagemaybecomeconvincedforexam-
plebyestablishingcontactswithrepresentativesofvariousprofessionalgroupssuch
asdoctors,lawyers,orITspecialists.Thisfactiswellillustratedbytheconversation
betweenaclientandanexpertinawell-knownshortstorybyJulianTuwimentitled
Ślusarz.
Thedefinition,oreventheexistence,ofLSPisnolongerobviouswhenwecom-
parethetermssuchasspecialistlanguageorFachsprachewiththetermofLanguage
forSpecificPurposes(LSP).FranciszekGrucza,citingtheresearchbyJohnSwales
(1992),writesthat“ontheEuropeancontinent(...)moreattentionispaidtospecialist
languagesassuch,whereasintheUKrathertospecificpurposeswhichtheselanguages
areusedfor”(1994:19).
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Thismayleadtofar-reachingconclusionsthatacontinental
approachpresupposestheexistenceofaspecialistlanguageasalanguagevariantthat
mustbedefined,thatitsdistinctivefeaturesmustbeidentifiedandthatthedividingline
separatingitfromgenerallanguagemustbedrawn.TheEnglishtermimpliesthatitis
notthelanguagebutthepurposeofitsusethatisspecific.Itcanthereforebeassumed
thatbyusingthelanguageforspecificpurposesweselectandmodifyresourcesprovi-
dedbythegenerallanguage.
Theproblemisrathertheoreticalandresearchersofspecialistlanguagesdealingwith
theminpracticaltermsfocusontheissuessuchasthedistinctivefeaturesofspecia-
listdiscourses,mainlyinthefieldoftheirregisters,stylesandgenresaswellasthe
challengestheyposetospecialistlanguagetranslatorsandteachers.Itisworthnoting
thatthisexaminationofspecialistlanguagesbringstogetherresearchersindifferent
languageareas,regardlessofwhethertheyusethetermspecialist(specific)purpose
orspecialist(specific)language.
Theseissuesandconcernsarereflectedinthecontentofthismonographconsistingof
13chapters.Inhischapter-InSearchofaTheoryofBusinessEnglish,MarcinGrygiel
referstoproblemswithdefininglanguageforspecificpurposes,whichisbusiness
languageinthiscase.TherelationshipbetweenLGPandLSPisdescribedinchapters
byBeataKopecka,Aeroplane,Airplane,Aircraft,Plane-ontheBorderlinebetween
LGP–AviationEnglishandbyOlgaJakubiak,LanguageforSpecialPurposesversus
LanguageforGeneralPurposes–theirSimilaritiesandDifferences.
Themonographalsoincludesthestudyofselectedfeaturesofspecialistdiscourses.
ThemedicaldiscourseisanalyzedbyAdamPluszczykandArturŚwiątekinthechap-
terentitledTheAnalysisoftheFeaturesofEnglishforSpecificPurposesbasedon
HospitalSlang.ThisvariantofdiscourseisalsodiscussedinthechapterbyMagdalena
ZabielskaandMagdaŻelazowskaentitledDiseaseEntitiesinCaseReportsfrom
OtolaryngologyfromthePerspectiveofPolish,EnglishandRussianTranslation
Studies.
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TranslationbyBarbaraBorkowska-Kępska
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