Vague Language in Educational Settings - Quantifiers and Approximators in British and American English

Traditionally, the world of academia has clearly prioritised precision: academics usually strive to base their arguments on precise numbers and solid evidence, and students are primarily taught to be precise in the expression of their ideas. However, vague language can serve a variety of positive purposes in educational settings. This work aims at disclosing how and to what extent non-specific references to quantities (approximators and quantifiers) are used in educational settings. On the basis of corpus data, it compares the use of vague language in British English and American English. Hence vague language is investigated with respect to discourse type and language variety and culture. The results show that the use of vague language is distinct in the two varieties in some important respects, such as frequency and certain linguistic patterns of some quantifiers and approximators.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents: Vagueness from a philosophical perspective - Linguistic approaches to vague language - Discourse in educational settings - British and American English - Discourse analysis - Corpora as a data source - Frequency, linguistic patterns and functions of quantifiers and approximators in British and American English - Practical applications of the study.

Über den Autor / die Autorin

The Author: J¿rat¿ Ruzait¿ is a lecturer in English linguistics at the Department of English Philology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas (Lithuania).

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Jurate Ruzaite
• Verlag: Peter Lang
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erschienen: 31.05.2016
• EAN: 9783631562321
• ISBN: 978-3-631-56232-1
• Seiten: 240
• Abmessung: 148 mm x 14 mm x 210 mm
• Gewicht: 340 g
• Serien: Europäische Hochschulschriften (Reihe 14): Angelsächsische Sprache und Literatur ) / European University Studies (Series 14): Anglo-Saxon Language and; Europäische Hochschulschriften / European University Studies / Publications Universitaires Européenn; Europäische Hochschulschriften (Reihe 14): Angelsächsische Sprache und Literatur /Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature; Europäische Hochschulschriften (Reihe 14): Angelsächsische Sprache und Literatur /Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature; Europäische Hochschulschriften / European University Studies/Publications Universitaires Européenne
• Thema: Geisteswissenschaften, Kunst, Musik > Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft > Allgemeine und Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft