There is no doubt that Cognitive Linguistics is nowadays one of the latest, most
versatile, and interdisciplinary trends in Linguistic theory. In general terms, Cognitive
Linguistics deals with different issues involved in the interaction of language, experience,
and cognition. Moreover, the influence of Cognitive Theory on Applied Linguistics and,
more specifically, on the research currently carried out in academic language and in the
field of LSP has also become a source of innovation. Thus, the range of investigation
interests may cover from more classical aspects related to metaphor and categorization,
to more recent studies of the interrelation between discourse and cognition. In this
respect, it is worthwhile mentioning, for instance, the studies on metaphor and
metonymy phenomena at the level of discourse, including text coherence and text
development as well as their role in scientific and technical communication. Likewise, it
is not surprising that since Cognitive Linguistics focuses on language as an instrument
for organizing, processing and conveying information, recent contributions to Cognitive
Linguistics arrive from the area of Sociolinguistics and social cognition, as shown in the
main subjects proposed in the latest international cognitive conference.

As previously mentioned, the applications of Cognitive Linguistics to LSP teaching is an
emergent field of study, very recently opened and being currently developed in an
interdisciplinary way. Therefore, it is worthwhile to make some considerations about the
state of the art of cognitive research applied to the classroom. Despite the novelty of this
approach, three major directions can already be distinguished in the general application of
cognitive contributions to foreign language learning. The first one to be mentioned is the
approach known as "cognitive learning strategies". This area has been receiving more and
more attention in second language acquisition for several decades. Its origins come from
cognitive psychology, which was one of the dominant modes of strategy analysis in the late
1970s and was still influential well into the 1980s. The focus of interest of learning
strategies lies mainly in the learner's psychology, its objective being to identify the type of
strategies that are more relevant in the learning process. According to this theory, the way
learners manipulate metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective strategies has to be taken
into account. Therefore, the role of teachers is twofold, on the one hand, to find out the
strategies that students prefer to use and, on the other, to determine the type of tasks that
can influence the cognitive strategies in the learning process in an adequate way.

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Editorial

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The second main direction concerns the way that concepts are categorised to some extent
in accordance with central examples of categories, as stated in the prototypicality theory
first formulated by the psychologist Eleanor Rosch. Since then the theory has been applied
to other fields by other specialists, such as Michio Sugeno, professor of Artificial
Intelligence in Tokyo University, and his work in the theory known as fuzzy set. A third
line of investigation concerns the study of conceptual and linguistic metaphor, which
argues for the exploitation of contextualised metaphor as a separate and fundamental
learning item. On the other hand, in grammar teaching, Cognitive Linguistics works by
making students aware of the importance of conveying meaning through the function of
formal linguistic items and of the conceptual interface between syntax and semantics.
And, finally, in the study of discourse, a top-down approach to texts is applied, helping
students understand the codes and formalities associated not only with their community
linguistic group but also with genre studies. The students should also be aware of the
experiential background of language-in-use, including the cultural background, the
discourse context, and the psychological environment of linguistic performance.

Under "Cognitive Studies in LSP", this special volume of Ibérica includes some articles that
have been selected taking into account the different contributions they could offer in the
LSP aspects that have been mentioned above. The idea came about after the celebration of
the "Developing Cognitive Linguistics in Languages for Specific Purposes Seminar"
preceding the Ist International AELFE Conference held in Madrid in September 2002.
Thus, M. White, G. Cuadrado, and J. Herráez highlight the metaphorical aspects of various
LSP conceptual and linguistic fields; J. Littlemore's article is concerned with the study of
learning strategies applied to metaphor use. A. Roldán is interested in looking at
communication and its strategies from a cognitive viewpoint, and P. Durán analyses the
mental mechanisms related to the processing of second language new vocabulary.

This volume also contains two book reviews of very recent publications on Cognitive
Theory from different perspectives: P. Robinson's (2001), reviewed by M. Millán and
R. Jackendoff's (2002) by P. Úbeda.

We would like to acknowledge the excellent job carried out by the members of
Ibérica's editorial board for their review work, and also Hanna Skorczynska's reading
of the final draft of the papers.

Pilar Durán Escribano & Ana Roldán Riejos
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

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