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Language and Science1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2008

Margaret van Naerssen  and
Robert B. Kaplan
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Extract

Teaching English [or any language] as a medium for science and technologymust involve us in the teaching of how scientists and technologistsuse the system of language to communicate, and not just what linguistic elements are most commonly used (1979:12–23).

In this comment, he implies the definition of the problem underlying any discussion of “language and science.” Such a discussion must deal with the language(s) used to communicate science, with the varieties scientists use to communicate with each other, and with the ways in which those varieties (as differentiated from the “general variety” of the language) may be taught to someone else. These different issues assume quite different underlying questions. This brief review will try to address some of the complex questions involved.

Type
Language and the Professions
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 7 , March 1986 , pp. 86 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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