Interpretation of the Concept Gender in Legal Discourse

It is commonly accepted that the language of law is often considered to be a highly traditional and, to a certain extent, a conservative means of professional communication, which tends to be stereotypically viewed impenetrable by the layman. Various peculiarities of the language of law and the fact that many legal systems differ all over the world in terms of their origins and frameworks often make legal discourse difficult to comprehend. To communicate professionally, the English language for instrumental purposes is increasingly employed at international level. Considering the above stated, the present study aims at analysing selected areas of the language of law. More specifically, usin…

Harmonization of Communication in Professional Setting

The 21st century has introduced many changes in modern workplaces which have become multilingual and multicultural. The present paper sheds light on selected aspects of workplace discourse, revealing that backstage communication in a professional setting plays a very significant role in establishing and maintaining effective subject-bound transaction and/or interaction between the partners involved in communication. The theoretical framework of the paper is designed to consider recent contributions in professional communication research supported by some seminal theoretical writings on linguistic ecology that explore the role of language in natural interactions that occur among people worki…

Metaphoric Conceptualization of Social Reality in the Language of News Media

Today, social reality can hardly be viewed as the one-state-one-nationone language ideological framework (Bauman and Briggs, 2003). The modern multilingual and multicultural communities are inclined to examine social reality in a multiple variety of socio-economic and political manifestations and forms. To understand how social reality can be explored through examining certain socio-political processes in a country, the present paper aims at analysing the role of conceptual metaphor in cases when political scandals, involving corruption charges of high-ranking officials in Latvia are considered. For this purpose, the present study has focused on the analysis of selected commentaries that de…

Implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning at Schools in Latvia

The European Union supports multilingualism and promotes the learning of foreign languages since their knowledge enhances understanding among peoples and increases employability. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of foreign language education in schools, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been promoted in Europe; this has influenced ways in which Latvia nowadays approaches bilingual education. A qualitative case study was undertaken to explore the implementation of CLIL at schools in Latvia, CLIL being seen as an element of bilingual education. This article outlines the development of CLIL in Latvia, which is largely embedded in national level policies which have…

Epistemic modality in professional communication