Specialized Communication, an International Handbook, Volume I

The ways in which language, cognition, and society interact in the communication of specialized knowledge are the guiding thread underlining Specialized Communication: An International Handbook (Volume 1), edited by Thorsten Roelcke, Ruth Breeze and Jan Engberg.This first volume establishes the theoretical, functional, and methodological foundations for the study of specialized communication, addressing how disciplinary knowledge is created, transmitted, and transformed across professional, academic, and institutional contexts.The handbook, which features contributions from more than 60 researchers, introduces specialised communication in the fields of applied linguistics, communication studies, and sociology of knowledge.The volume is organized in four main parts, each addressing a key dimension of the field.Part I introduces relevant general aspects of specialized communication, focusing on key concepts, definitions, classifications and typologies in the first chapters, to then turn to theory-based topics such as specialized communication and cognition or interdisciplinarity.Part II turns to functional aspects of specialized communication, focusing on how verbal and non-verbal textual elements help achieve specific communicative aims.Part III explores the methodological foundations and analytical procedures for investigating specialized communication in practice across genres and disciplines.Lastly, Part IV shifts the focus to the media through which specialized communication is realized and transformed, showing that each type of media makes use of specific linguistic and non-linguistic resources.This volume integrates a range of theoretical frameworks that underpin its analyses.The Meta-Model of Specialised Communication emphasizes that specialized communication is far more than language in domain, but a nexus