FUNCTIONAL-LINGUISTIC PARAMETERS OF ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This paper is devoted to basic functional-linguistic analysis of modern English professional and business discourse. The aim of this paper is to look at the phenomenon of modern English professional discourse from a functional-linguistic perspective to discuss key elements of verbal interaction that define rhetorical uniqueness of this type of communication and combine traditions, standards and conventional nature with enough freedom for speakers to express themselves and be creative in composing texts of their own. The author sums up different approaches to the definition of professional communication, singles out and describes major functional features of this type of verbal interaction: goal-setting, functional loading of professional communication, typical participants, chronotopos, forms of verbal behaviour, role and status relations, pragmatic conventions and standardization, etiquette, functional differences between official and semi-official professional discourse, peculiarities of written communication. All the above mentioned functional features of modern English professional discourse impose severe limitations on the speech arsenal available to people. Basic functionallinguistic analysis of discursive fragments reveals what aspects should be further elaborated on in terms of improving the process of strategic planning of speech, selecting proper linguistic means to cause appropriate pragmatic impact on listeners/ readers, work out ways to increase efficiency of rhetoric.