Occupational Language Varieties and Scientific English

What Is Occupational Variety Used For?

Occupational variety has long been used to describe the distinctive language associated with a particular way of living.

• It differs from regional and class dialects; once established, it tends to vary.
• Occupational language is often used temporarily at work: people adopt it when they start and may stop using it when they stop working.
• The main point illustrates its distinctive character or professional linguistic identity.
• Example: Factory workers must master a variety of technical terms and administrative vocabulary (safety standards, old labels, union guidelines).
• They develop new slang and jargon to differentiate themselves from outsiders.
• The more specialized the occupation and the higher the position, the more technical the language is likely to be.
• The more an occupation is part of a longstanding tradition, the more likely it is to have greater linguistic ritual as a performance criterion among its members.
• Religious, legal, and central government language are the clearest cases, with grammar, vocabulary, and speech patterns strongly affected.
• However, all occupations are linguistically distinct, even if this only involves some specialized vocabulary items.

Are Professional Varieties Restricted to Paid Employment?

No, they are not. They also include sports, games, hobbies, character-building, and other group activities (non-adult members, age divisions of the international Scout movement).

The hierarchy is implicit in all occupational groups:

• Coach vs. trainee
• Neophyte vs. authority

New Technologies

• The electronic age has changed our lives.
• There are new ways to send and receive information.
• You can contact a bank or a supermarket, query a library catalog or a free database, and view shows on TV (Teletext).

Scientific English

• The distinctive character of this variety is its professional lexicon.
• Speech and sentence structures can make it difficult to understand.

Science in English

Grammatical and lexical features include:

• Lexical features: abbreviations, numerals, special symbols, etc.
• Semantically dense style: for example in systems programming or software engineering.
• Reduced use of grammatical words: fewer function words, e.g., 'we', 'the', 'during'.
• Scientific/academic style: average words per sentence about 22.2 (range 8–50).
• Impersonal style: frequent use of the passive voice, e.g., "was evaluated using...", "can be programmed...".
• Noun phrases: often complex structures.
• Limited use of narrative connectors: for example, 'however'.