Article,
An Approach to Interface Terminology: the Example of Environmental Economics in English as a Foreign Language
Meta, (2000)
Abstract
Interface terminology will increasingly become a challenge for anyone working in disciplines that he at the crossroads of several fields. Indeed, sciences continue to evolve, broaden their scope and, hence, borrow from one another. This study raises the problem of deflning the boundaries ofwhat constitutes an interface, and then studies the conditions for the selection of relevant terms. After reviewing sorne theoretical aspects of terminology science and calling for a more flexible approach, it examines sorne practical questions through the case of environmental economics. The target public-consisting of second-year French university students of economics-provides the opportunity to stress the need for the teacher to adapt the selection of interface terms to the situation. The conclusion, i.e. that there is no such thing as a ready-made stock of interface terms, could also be applied to translators, interpreters, terminologists and other potential users of such terminology.
