Chapter 12
Business discourse from a psycholinguistic approach
Business discourse has always captured the
attention of several social and cultural fields. Within the
framework of linguistics, disciplines such as pragmatics,
sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology have contributed to
the analysis of this communication process and the design of a
linguistic model, suited to its contextual, social, and cultural
determining factors. This chapter addresses the need for expanding
this model by the incorporation of the latest achievements in
psycholinguistics through a neurosemantic approach to language,
focusing on three points: (1) the mental organisation of linguistic
knowledge into networks; (2) the strong ties between linguistic
processes and other cognitive functions; and (3) the effectiveness
of the contrast principle which emerges from the lexical units and
transcends the textual level. The business language data used in
this study derive from texts related to and/or produced by three
Spanish companies. The analysis is intended to attain a more
comprehensive formulation of business discourse as a communicative
modality, and, in addition, determine the major cognitive strategies
found in its different textual manifestations.
Article outline
- 1.Business discourse as a communication modality
- 2.A psycholinguistic approach
- 3.Versatility and creativity in business communication
- 4.Selection and combination mechanisms in business
discourse
- 5.The contrast principle in business communication
- 6.Conclusions
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
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