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DEFINING AND APPLYING THE TERMINOLOGICAL MINIMUM IN ESP
CONTEXTS
Shakhlo Urunova
Andijan state technical institute
E-mail:
Abstract:
This article covers the issues of terminological minimum compilation for the passage
of ESP lessons in non-philological universities. Teaching students the terminology minimum,
which is structured in English in a particular specialty, contributes to the increase in the
professional competence of students and the formation of lexical skills. The article reveals the
concept of the terminological minimum, as well as the formal specifications and criteria for the
formation of the terminological minimum.
Keywords
: lexical minimum, terminological minimum, prescriptive and descriptive approach,
glottodidactic tool, selection criteria.
Introduction.
In order to develop a linguistic system of professional language teaching, it is
important that students strictly choose the language material that will enable them to maximally
activate the process of mastering the English language in relation to the chosen specialty. It is
necessary to choose the most frequent lexical units, typical syntactic constructions, arrange them
in a certain form, which will be the basis for easy assimilation of readers and subsequent use in
active communication. All this requires consistent adherence to the printmaking in the
description of language and speech materials, developing the ability to self-study on the basis of
a conscious and practical method, allowing the acquired knowledge and formed skills to be
actively transferred to unfamiliar language and speech materials in new conditions of real
communication. In this regard, the teaching of the terminological vocabulary of the English
language occupies one of the main places in the teaching of its specialty in a foreign language to
students of the non-philological direction. All this suggests that the need to choose a lexical
minimum is scientifically justified.
Material and methods
In this article, we have used methods of description, conceptual analysis, comparison and
contrast. Based on the analysis, the concept is generalized and concretized.
Discussion and results
Currently, the question of the choice of lexical material, taking into account the language of
specialization, is the main issue in linguistics. In the works of academic N. M. Şanskiy, G. G.
Gorodilova, S. G. Barkhudarov, L. G. Sayakhova, N. Z. Bakeeva, V. I. Zimin, L. N. Novikov
and others, the issues of lexical minimum selection are considered. These scientists noted that the
further development of educational lexicography, the development of the theory and practice of
compiling various educational dictionaries, in the first place, the development of a complex and
aspect-minimum of the active type, which is primarily aimed at the communicative.
The concept of the terminological minimum is associated with the term "lexical minimum" in the
methodology. Many methodist scientists emphasize that one of these two concepts does not
differ from the other, scientist O.L.Yarashenko (2014) says that there is a partial difference
between these two concepts . Although these two terms are related to one another, their
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methodological structure, the scope of their adoption, functions and the methods of their
presentation must be a clear limit. That is, according to the peculiarities of the sources of the
every language units, when the general words are compared with special words-terms, it is worth
considering that they can be used by potential special occupants and differ in special features.
If we analyze the reasons for the origin of these two concepts, we will see that they were not
studied as a scientific concept separately, otherwise only their general characteristics were
studied. The term
lexical minimum
appeared due to the volume of requirements of a specific
educational program, the concept of a
terminological minimum
arose for the lack of necessary
educational materials for LSP ( Language for special purposes) .
The term "lexical minimum" is often used in educational contexts and considered as the choice
of the vocabulary source in accordance with the level of learners (Lukasik, M.2017). In
particular, such a lexicon is important and necessary in teaching LSP. In the lexicographical
dictionary, such a definition is given: "lexical minimum-the words chosen according to the level
of application and the proximity of meanings are used in the conduct of communication in the
language and significant for language study purposes. Such a lexical choice focuses mainly on
words that are used a lot from statistical gist, as well as stylistic neutral and have a strong
semantic meaning, and such words help the learner to communicate in everyday communicative
situations (Hartmann, R.R.K./ G. James 2002).
M. Lukasik (2018) gave a definition to the
terminological minimum
as a practical tool in the
selection of a special lexicon intended for teaching learners of different levels of special purpose
language learning (LSP) courses .
Compiling a special lexical minimum in the English language is based on the traditions of
compiling lexicography of general words. But the developers of a special terminological
minimum are faced with special problems, in particular, depending on the level of the students of
a particular stage, they have to deal with such tasks as to determine the volume of the
terminological minimum, develop the structure of the terminological minimum, determine the
specific characteristics of the interpretation of the meaning of a special lexical units,
scientifically substantiate the vocabulary necessary and sufficiency for mastering, determine the
principles and criteria for the selection of the lexical minimum, etc.
Mark Lukasik (2018) states that when isolating the terminological minimum, it is based on 2
approaches, these are both prescriptive and descriptive approaches (Fig 1) .
According to the prescriptive (traditional) approach, the terminological minimum is obtained as
special official standardized lexical units, which is the terminological vocabulary of a particular
special field or science. Also terminological minimum is defined as a unit of special lexical
competence, a measure of assessing the degree of knowledge of terms, as well as a resource
covering the basic terms of a certain sphere. From this point of view, we can conclude that the
terminological minimum as a lexical competence of the student that helps in the differentiation
of language learners with initial knowledge belonging to a special branch of science and as well
as a to LSP, meanwhile in the evaluation of this competence as a factor of the terminological
minimum assessment.
According to the social-cognitive criteria of the prescriptive approach, the terminological
minimum is interpreted as the lexical minimum which is informative tool of lexical units in
special texts.
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As a resource terminology minimum is used to produce (glotto) didactic materials (textbooks,
course materials, etc.), lexicographic works (dictionaries, minimum dictionaries), terminological
tools (terminological databases), other programs.
As a glottodidactic tool, the terminological minimum is of great importance in increasing the
linguistic competence of students in various professional situations. The terminological
minimum is included in the program of classes in the higher educational institutions of technical
education, that is, in universities and technical schools of the non-philological direction, where
more LSP is taught. Terminological minimum comes also in the form of glossary in textbooks
and materials intended for self-study.
In the descriptive approach, the terms are not standardized. The terminological minimum is
selected as a result of the statistical analysis according to this approach.
S.Grucha (2004), who supports the descriptive approach, developed a universal measure of
terminological minimum structure. The scientist allocates 3 stages in the compilation of the
terminological minimum: 1) compilation of a list of the most commonly used terms 2)
verification and introduction of the collected terminological material 3) addition of not-used
terms.
We consider the case, which is attached to the opinion of the scientist Marek Lukasik (2018), and
in addition to it, the main design manners that should be taken into consideration in choosing
terminological minimum for ESP (English for specific purposes) as follows:
-main subject area or a field and its development should be taken into account
-special features of the special lexicon within the same field
-users of terminology and their requirements
-type of terminological minimum that needs to be established (prescriptive, descriptive)
-availability of resources for terminological minimum
- verification of sources (terminographic analysis)
- reflected conceptual continuity
-inclusion or exclusion criteria of lexical terms in the terminology system
- methods of separation and verification of lexical terms
-data management
-macro-and microstructure of the terminological minimum
- product ( terminological lexicography) distribution ( marketing strategies)
-user feedback
-linguacultural peculiarities of terminological minimum
-psycholinguistic features of terminological minimum in teaching process
In addition to the above idea, we can say that in the compilation of the terminological minimum,
it is necessary to study the nature of this terminological system and study the etymology of terms
and their meaning.
The next feature, which should be taken into the next account, is the difference in terms of
different lexical units in LSP, that is, the differences between terms and nomenaclature, between
terms and professional words, the difference in standardized and non-standardized terms, as well
as abbreviations (abbreviations) that can be found in texts of a special specialty,
internationalization of terms and other peculiarities can be the basis for our minimum
compilation.
The conceptual system of some fields belongs only to a certain lingua-cultural area or is within
the framework of a single geographic region, which includes terms related to culture (for
example, legal terms) or terminological regionalisms (for example, terms related to a certain
cultural crafts).This brings problems in the compilation of a monolingual and multilingual
terminological minimum according to the conceptuality. The inconsistency of conceptual
meanings is not only related to culture, but also can be seen in such directions as science or
technology (Lukasik M.2018).
G.Bedny notes that scientific terms have different semantic meanings in different languages, and
different peculiarities in interpretation process. He investigate the terminological problems in
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the science of psychology, he says that many problems are observed in the interpretation and
translation of terminology from Russian into English and this terminology had been developed in
Russia in a special social-cultural direction (Bedny G. 2015).The diversity of terminology in the
technical sphere arises from the development of a local technical culture and the local influence
of brand names, which later became terms.
As we have already noted, the main emphasis when compiling any lexicography is on the
extirpation of users. X.K.Simonsen (2000) states that the degree of success of any product
depends on the assessment of the users. In addition to the user characteristics (their general
knowledge, level of experience, language proficiency, their motivation etc.).), as well as related
to knowledge (extension/ verification of real knowledge), related to communication (text
production/ reception of text), as well as additional lexicographic needs of the user should be
studied ( Tarp S. 2008).
According to the prescriptive approach the users of the terminological minimum are
professionals of a certain specialty, state bodies, terminologists, linguists (cognitive linguists),
experts in the field of computer science, dictionaries, translators and, of course, teachers.
If terminological minimum performs the descriptive role, then the list of users can include all
LSP learners, students, specialists, semi-specialists and non-specialists. The
descriptive
terminology used for teaching language is divided into active and passive types, depending on
the skills of students .As a didactic tool, it can be used as a course material.
When choosing a lexical minimum in teaching a foreign language, the scientist J.Jalalov (2012)
says that it is necessary to sort out the vocabulary , relying mainly on 3 principles, and they are
the following: "selection source", "selection criteria" and "selection unit" . When we say" source
of choice", it is understood that the formed lexical is separated from the language system, and the
lexical minimum is obtained from the sources in oral and written speech. Accordingly, we can
conclude that the terminological minimum is obtained from sources which belong to a
particular specialty in the form of oral and written texts like ads, brochures, menus, tables,
recipes used in everyday life, songs, articles in journals and magazines, films, film trailers,
photos, documentaries, interviews, various broadcasts.
When we say "selection criteria", the measurements and indicators that are relevant in
determining the completeness of the lexicon are considered.Alim J.We can say that the
statistical , methodological and linguistic criteria are the basis of the terminology minimum
compilation, while Jalolov takes into account the idea of the lexical minimum selection criteria
list.We can see this in a clearer form in the app below.
When we say "selection criteria", we consider the measurements and indicators that are relevant
in determining the completeness of the lexicon. We can say that the statistical, methodological
and linguistic criteria are the basis of the terminological minimum compilation, taking into
account the idea of the scientist J.Jalolov (2012) which is about lexical minimum selection
criteria. We can see this in a clearer form in the figure below (fig 2).
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Topics selected within a
specific field of study to
develop professional
competence, taking into
account the learners’
needs, age, and interests."
Criteria of choosing terminological minimum
Statistical criteria
Methodical criteria
Linguistic criteria
According to the
frequency and
widespread usage of
terms
The combination of terms
with other words, their
morphological formation,
semantic unambiguity,
restriction of synonyms,
stylistic neutrality, and
participation in sentence
structure.
Figure 1.
Criteria of choosing terminological minimum
According to the statistical criteria, the indicators of the frequent application of words in the
compilation of the terminological minimum are taken into account. This criteria was developed
for the first time.
In the methodical criteria the aim of teaching and the idea of the speech topics is taken into
account. Hence, the main purpose of compiling terminological minimum is the formation of
professional competence in students of a certain specialty and the topics, texts on which to study
are selected within the framework of the specialty.
In compilation of terminological minimum, we sorted out such criteria as the combination of
terms with other words, word-building structures, one meaningfulness, the limitation of
synonyms, the method of cognition to be neutral and its participation in sentence-building which
belong to the linguistic criteria. The terminology according to the combination criterion should
give the feature of getting more unity with other words. For example,
manipulators used in
industry.
According to the word formation criterion, for example, it is envisaged to forge several
lexical units from one term. It should be noted that in the terminology minimum compilation,
only one of the words belonging to the synonym series is obtained. The selection unit of
terminological minimum is considered to be by dividing terminological combinations equal to
one meaning of the terms, as a unit of selection.
Compiled terminological minimum goes through the stages as methodical classification,
distribution and statistical presentation, in the dynamic stage it serves for the formation of the
student's skills.
Conclusion
To sum up, terminological minimum performs different roles as prescriptive and descriptive
ones. In teaching ESP we need the descriptive type, as it is important in the formation of
professional competence of students and as a glottodidactic tool it is used in compiling text
books, dictionaries, e-learning courses, testing tools, glossaries.
We can conclude from the mentioned above that some problems are observed in selection
terminological minimum and they are as follows:
1. Some terms have special linguistic features like multi-semantic meaning of terms make it
difficult to compile a terminological minimum.
2. Some terms related to the culture bring problems in the compilation of the multi-lingual
terminological minimum.
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3. Different meaning of terms in different language complicate the interpretation process, as well
as working out the minimum.
4. Taking into account the feedback of users is also considered to be an obstacle in composing
the terminological minimum.
The minimum selection criteria as statistical, methodical and linguistic criteria should be studied
carefully and perfectly before composing terminological minimum.
References:
1.
Grucza, S. (2004), Didactics of translation. Terminological preparation of specialized
teaching texts. In: J. Lewandowski (ed.), Specialist languages 4.
2.
Hartmann, R.R.K./ G. James (2002), Dictionary of Lexicography. London/ New
terminological lexicography theory and practice. Warsaw, 243-267.
3.
Jalalov J. Methods of teaching foreign languages: textbook for students of higher
educational institutions (faculties) of foreign languages. - Tashkent: Teacher, 2012.- The 432s.;
4.
Łukasik, Marek. (2017). Lexical Minimum (Re)Defined. Applied Linguistics. 23. 47-63.
10.32612/uw.20804814.2017.3.pp.47-63.
5.
Marek Lukasek (2018) New pathsways to terminological minimum/ Unversity of
Warsaw-Applied Linguistics Papers 25/ 2, 2018, 133-168
6.
Simonsen, H.K. (2000). Design, Development and Compilation of a bilingual
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Tarp, S. (2008), Lexicography in the Borderland between Knowledge and Non-
Knowledge. General Lexicographical Theory with Particular Focus on Learner!s Lexicography.
Tübingen
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Yaroshenko, O.L. (2014), Principles of lexical minimum selection for teaching general
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