Chapter Two
24
former use a descriptive specialized discourse, whereas the latter adopt a
much more general discourse style, the focus being on instructing patients
by means of general language. We have reason to assume that the various
discourse types (specialized vs. popularized) reflect quite well the
cognitive structures associated with the mental representations of expert
vs. general knowledge. In other words, there seems to be a tight
connection between the type of knowledge on the one hand (in the given
case: scientific medico-pharmaceutical vs. general knowledge), and
linguistic expressions on the other (in the given case: specialized vs.
everyday discourse). This raises first of all the question how the kind of
knowledge contained in SmPCs and PILs can be further specified.
As described in greater detail in van Dijk (2003: 23ff.) there are
different types of knowledge: general knowledge, which is social-
culturally shared, individual knowledge, which is not necessarily shared,
and group knowledge, which is shared by a community, but not generally
presupposed in discourse directed at members of other groups. General
knowledge constitutes the basis of all social representations, and therefore
forms Common Ground knowledge. For the purpose of the present
investigation we will not go into detail about the specific features of these
different types of knowledge. Relevant to our analysis is how group
knowledge^7 (which is paradigmatic for specialized, i.e. scientific
discourse) relates to scientific knowledge. Following van Dijk (2003: 25)
we may assume that scientific knowledge represents a specific type of
group knowledge: it is acquired, shared and used among domain
specialists who form together a specialized community (also called
‘epistemic community’; see van Dijk 2003: 26). This community is
defined by various characteristics such as specialized knowledge, specific
social practices, and a specialized discourse used by all group members.
Applied to the medico-pharmaceutical domain (the specialized
knowledge structures of which are expressed by the discourse of SmPCs),
this means that medical doctors and pharmacists form a community that
shares specialized scientific knowledge (about objects, events, procedures,
etc. related to the medico-pharmaceutical domain), specific social
practices (medico-pharmaceutical thinking and practice in the broadest
sense), and a specific ergolect (Pickett 1989: 5; see Introduction) or
specialized discourse. As noted by van Dijk (2003: 22ff.), the production
and comprehension of the latter depend on various kinds of specialized
knowledge. This is most obvious in the use of technical terminology, but
(^7) According to van Dijk (2003: 26), group knowledge is based on, and derived
from Common Ground knowledge.