CREATIVITY IN GENERATING COMPUTER SCIENCE TERMINOLOGY – AN ETYMOLOGICAL STUDY FROM THE APPLIED LINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate certain aspects of human creativity manifested in
generating terminology in English specific to the domain of Computer Science/IT, which is of interest
for the specific UPB students’ profile, with applications in the teaching of English for Specific
Purposes – ESP. As this research has been the result of a close collaboration between the ESP teacher,
focused in this case on IT and her students at bachelor level, respectively, the use of the data has then
been channelled towards the creation of a range of didactic applications for the ESP course. The specific terminology is studied and grouped by categories for which optimal classification criteria are attempted at, and the goals for which the scientific research has been initiated is reflected in a series of applied linguistics based guidelines: creating tasks for internalizing the field terminology, innovative means of specialized lexis acquisition, as well as activities for the development of essential information (re)discovering skills - in a field unavoidably subjected to a much faster obsolescence process than in any other human knowledge areas, meant to be further transferred by the students into lifelong language autonomous study abilities. Moreover, the thus generated glossary can represent, we maintain, a rich source for the development of ‘lay’ English lexis – a direction which is also exploited by designing specific tasks. The whole process involving the teacher and the students can be conducive, by reflection and personalization of the action, towards the personal and professional optimization of the participants.