Language in the Professional Domains

The English language is the universal vehicle of communication in a number of professional domains. Since concepts and content are increasingly originally conceptualized in English this language provides more immediate access to these domains than other languages.

Apart from being directly relevant to the later professional pursuits of our students, the study of how language in its medial varieties (spoken, written and internet) shapes up to serve the specific needs of communication in professional domain discourse is a central concern for a university like Heinrich-Heine-University in Duesseldorf, a city at the center of international practice and competence in these domains, both in the city and in the academy.

Embedded in modern theories of language and varieties development, this specific research and teaching orientation of the subdepartment of English Language and Linguistics studies the development of communicative practices, prefabs (i.e. genres), discourse pragmatics and other grammatical and pragmatic aspects of the evolution of language, with an emphasis on – but not restricted to – legal, medical, economic and scientific discourse.

Narratives have always had a primary role in institutional and professional discourse: They form an essential part of the life, products, and publications of professional organizations and disciplines. Nevertheless, many text types and genres of the modern world are typically described as highly abstract, condensed and specialized, with variable adaptions though to the necessities of context and medium. Therefore, in the varieties of spoken interaction, the written medium and the internet, each domain of professional discourse tends to maintain its typical mixture of narrative vs. non-narrative variation, both across time and genres.

The research projects on narratives in various professions all depart from the specific needs of communication of the disciplines, in particular of different scientific domains, among which medicine a special case in point. The question when, how and why narrative presentation is preserved sheds light on the ubiquity and multi-functionality of narrative structure and enhances our understanding of the close interaction between discourse and grammar.