SOME TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ESP

(EXCLUDING TERMINOLOGY)
 Frequent use of list bullets [elenco puntato]
 Use of discourse/ logical connectives
 Use of modals different from general English
 Non-temporal use of tenses (Trimble, 1985)
 Use of grammatical as well as lexical metaphors

DISCOURSE CONNECTIVES
 Cohesive devices that signal logical relations between parts of discourse, e.g.

o Subordinate conjunctions (when, although, because etc)

o Coordinate conjunctions (and, but, or)
o Adverbials (however, therefore, as a result, etc)

 Studies on the frequency of connectives in general vs. specialized English have revealed that
the frequency and distribution of connectives crucially depend on:
o Register (context of situation)
o Culture (context of culture)

Errors that must be avoided:

In this book, we deal with… CORRECT!
In this book, we are dealing with… WRONG!
In this book, we will deal with… QUITE INAPPROPRIATE

She knows a lot about illnesses she must be a doctor / she certainly is a doctor
modality stays here
certainly ≠ indeed is more similar to in fact (I’m adding information)
Modality
Modal forms express the speaker’s attitudes towards himself/ herself, listeners or subject matters.
They can be expressed through:
1. MODAL AUXILIARIES (may, might, can, could, will, would, shall, should, must)
BUT ALSO
2. Adverbs (probably, admittedly, arguably, perhaps, absolutely ecc.)
This is arguably an interesting event = it can be argued this is an interesting event [=si
può sostenere che l’evento sia interessante]
3. Phraseologies (kind of, in a way, in some respects, to be sure, I guess, as far as I know,
IMHO (=in my honest opinion)...)

When they aim at distancing yourself from what you’re saying, these expressions are also known as
“hedges” [attenuare]

Modals [I sensi dei modali]

 Degree of commitment (epistemic=how much you know about it)
 Degree of obligation, permission and prohibition (deontic=your duty à stronger modality)
 Ability, tendency (dynamic=e.g. I can swim à weaker modality)
 F.R. Palmer’s description of modals
EPISTEMIC & DEONTIC
 δέον [DEON] à obligation, duty (has originated words such as “deontology”)
 επιστήμη [EPISTEME] à knowledge
  δύναμη (Ancient Greek was δύναμις [DÜNAMIS]) àstrength, ability to
PALMER’S CATEGORIZATION OF MODALS
 Epistemic Possibility (may), It may rain tomorrow; It can rain
tomorrow
 Epistemic Necessity (must),
 Epistemic (?) (will); will for the future
 Deontic Possibility (may, can), a matter of register: mayàmore formal; canàinformal
 Deontic Necessity (must), oblige
 Deontic ? (shall); use in legal English and law text [obbligo legale]
 Dynamic Possibility (can),
 Dynamic ? (will). (Palmer 1990: 36-37) [più che la capicità esprime la tendenza]
e.g. People will do anything for money / are prepared [=sono disposti]

DEFINITIONS OF MODAL VERBS: aptitude or subjective characteristics

Lyons (1977:452): related to the speaker’s Palmer (1986: 16): ‘concerned with subjective
‘opinion or attitude towards the proposition that characteristics of an utterance, and it could
the sentence expresses or the situation that the even be further argued that subjectivity is an
proposition describes’. essential criterion for modality.’

SEMI-MODALS (they have the “to”)

Phrasal or periphrastic expressions which convey the meaning of COMMITMENT and various
degrees of OBLIGATION, but act more like regular verbs than modals
 can, could >>> be able to
 will, shall >>> be going to (gonna)(spoken form), be about to
 must >>> have to, have got to
 should >>> be to, be supposed to
 may, might >>> be allowed to, be permitted to

o Rare in written ESP

o But more and more common in spoken presentations (e.g. conference)

REMEMBER!
It is in SPOKEN language that most grammatical changes first appear in a language. Writing,
especially ‘formal’ professional writing, tends to be more conservative.

MODALS IN ESP
Should & May à stronger modality in ESP than in general English. Used to give instructions, e.g.
 “All exterior doors should be secured with a double cylinder or single cylinder dead bolt”
The instructions to close the airplane doors are given with “should” because it is more
polite than “must”.
 This hazard may be minimized through the use of tempered glass or a covering over

CAN & MAY

Often similar to “tend to” (often it is so)
e.g. “The process may be carried out indiscriminately by the wind or by insects which fly from
flower to flower”
(Palmer, 1979: 153-154)
WOULD & MAY
 Expressing criticism in a polite, non-aggressive way,
e.g. “The classical school have tacitly assumed that this would involve no significant change in
their theory; It may well be that ... but...” [attenuano i propri enunciati] (He doesn’t say the change
were wrong)
 Expressing a hypothesis, possibility (EPISTEMIC), e.g.
“It may be the case that within a certain range the demand of labour is for a minimum money-wage
and not for a minimum real wage. Suppose, then, that a price is put on the emissions of
automobiles. Obviously continuous metering of such emissions would be impossible”

WILL
 Different degree of commitment depending on adverbial modification (e.g. will certainly,
probably, possibly...)
 Often avoided in academic writing, e.g.
This paper will present ≠ This paper presents

Intention, less certainly A fact, more objective

WILL IN ACADEMIC ENGLISH
To which we return ≠ To which we will return
[non ci ritorna in continuazione] [su cui ritorneremo]

The use of the simple present tense is non temporal: it doesn’t mean that we return to this point
REGULARLY, but that we are CERTAIN to do so

SHALL (LEGAL ENGLISH) (e.g. bidding process)

Very strong modality, describes a duty, e.g.
 In contracts: “The Contractor shall furnish all the materials and perform all of the work
shown on the drawings/projects and/or described in the specifications entitled Exhibit A...”
(ancient form)
 In non-negotiable orders, e.g. the Commandments “I am the Lord your God, Thou shalt have
no other gods before me...” =you shall

SHOULD & OUGHT TO

In EST (English for sience and technology meaning is close to “must” but “with less force, less
insistence that something be done”, must would be too strong (Trimble, 1985: 119), e.g.
“The theoretical mathematic model ought to enable us to establish optimal procedures for the
cryopreservation of human egg cells and embryos...”

INTERNAL vs. EXTERNAL OBLIGATION (it’s you who feel this obligation)
 “Must” and “should” are usually considered to express “internal obligation” (a necessity that
is felt by the individual herself/himself)
e.g. “I must go” the obligation start from me
 “Have to” and “ought to” are usually considered to express “external obligation” (a
necessity that comes from outside)
e.g. “I have to go” external force, “because of my mother”
  “Had better” conveys an idea of danger (“You’ve been ill for a week now. You’d better see a
doctor...”) à stronger modality than “should”, “have to” and “ought to”
e.g. “I’d better go” if I don’t go there will be a risk

DEGREE OF CERTAINTY
1. Must / shall in legal English
2. Need
3. Had better (risk)
4. Ought to
5. Should (sound politer than must)
6. Have to
7. Can
8. Could
9. May
10. Might [potrebbe]

CULTURE
Intercultural patterns of discourse organization, e.g.:
 Italian scientific texts typically use more connectives than their English counterparts
(remember when you write your essays in English!!);
 British English favors modals (can, will, should), whereas American English favors semi-
modals (have to, be going to, be supposed to...)
AVOID GENERALIZATIONS!!!

NON-TEMPORAL USE OF TENSES

“By non-temporal use of tense we mean that the writers of a piece of discourse do not use time as
the major factor governing the choice of verb tenses” (Trimble, 1985: 123) Expert of technical
English
Simple present favorite tense to convey certainty (as in “to which we return” vs. “to which we will
return”)

NON-TEMPORAL USE OF TENSES

Occurs mainly:
 When writers describe apparatus
 When writers make text references to visual aids
 When writers refer to previously published research (including their own)
Trimble, 1985: 123-127

DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS
 PRESENT TENSE àpermanent device (the typical apparatus used to perform a certain
task)
[simula fenomeni atmosferici per la costruzione degli aerei]
e.g. “the [wind] tunnel is a blowdown-to-atmosphere facility operating over the Mach number range
0.2 to 3.5. Mach number in the tunnel is generated by fixed nozzle blocks at supersonic speeds...”
[=ugello]
 PAST TENSE à temporary device (apparatus used only for a given experiment)
e.g. “the test section was constructed of a pure copper cylinder 2 ft long, 6 in in ID and 6.25 in OD.
Both ends of the cylinder were closed with removable Pyrex glass...”
(ft=feet; in=inch; ID=internal diameter; OD=outside diameter)
VISUAL AIDS
 Data on the picture à present tense (the data is there à still valid)
 Act of showing/ presenting the data à present tense
 Process of data gathering à past tense
How could you describe a presentation in Power Point
e.g. “The results which are shown in Table 5 were achieved by developing a new computer
program. These results indicate that...”

REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS RESEARCH

 Research of primary importance to the writer’s current work à simple present or present
perfect
 Research of secondary importance to the writer’s current work à simple past

e.g. “David deduced that auroral display was essentially a fixed pattern ... In contrast to [this] are
the detailed studies by Akofosu and collaborators...”