Towards a Systemic Model for Terminology Planning

Book excerpt: Previous work on terminology planning can be, more or less, divided into general guidelines, local planning, and translation-based activities. This book, however, by avoiding this line of research and any kind of prescription, represents a movement towards generalisation as a prerequisite of theorisation. Its research is predicated on the hypothesis that all terminological activities are founded upon some fundamental principles, which, at the same time, are manifested through context-bound variations or parameters. A particular advantage of the book is its employing of both field research and a review of research literature. The former allows it to carry out a comparative study by using a maximum variation sampling technique for gathering data from four language agencies of different ecolinguistic situations, namely Termcat (Catalan), TNC (Swedish), DGLFLF (French), and the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in Iran. In order to this, it uses a questionnaire concentrating on the macro- and micro-structures of the target organisations as a route map. The literature review allows the book to benefit from research documents from more than thirty sociolinguistic communities. The book’s unique feature includes the introduction of new concepts such as linguistics of science, systemic terminology, systemic planning, terminology argumentation, and sociocognitive terminometrics, among others. A further distinguishing feature is the fact that it discusses terminology not in a vacuum, but as a component of the language of science system.