The Frequency and Function of Just in British and New Zealand Engineering Lectures

Research problem: This corpus comparison study examines the occurrences of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
as used in British and New Zealand engineering lectures in order to discover its frequency and functions and to consider its role in professional communication. Research questions: Is
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
as frequent in the academic genre of university lectures as in other genres of spoken English? (1) Does
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
have the same functions in British and New Zealand engineering lectures as found in a previous study at an American university? (2) Does a better understanding of the different ways that
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
is used in lectures have pedagogical implications for professional communication, especially for English as an additional language learners? Literature review: Previous studies show
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
mainly functions as a ‘”minimizer’” (merely, only, simply) in university lectures in America, and functions the same in British and New Zealand university lectures on engineering.
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog Just}$
also functions as part of a metadiscursive frame (let me
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
explain), and stance (the speaker's attitude toward the content communicated: don't
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
copy down what I've done). In response, English as an additional language learners can learn to recognize and distinguish the different functions of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
and use them appropriately. Methodology: The researcher used a corpus linguistics methodology to determine the frequency of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
and a discourse analysis method to see if the functions of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
identified in a previous study of the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English applied to the corpus of British and New Zealand engineering lectures. These lectures are all part of the Engineering Lecture Corpus, which was started at Coventry University and includes AUT University in New Zealand. Results and discussion: The frequency of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
in British and New Zealand engineering lectures was high: it occurred in the top 50 words in the wordlists of both sets of lectures.
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog Just}$
was used in British and New Zealand engineering lectures the same way as in the American university, functioning mostly as a “minimizer,” often to reduce the imposition of what was being said or asked. It occurred much more frequently in the British engineering lectures than the New Zealand ones, often in short stretches of discourse. Its “locative” meaning, used when indicating a precise location, occurred more often in the New Zealand Electrical Engineering lectures and in the British Civil Engineering lectures. A study of the different ways that
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
functions, and the frequency with which it is used in spoken academic English should lead to a better understanding of its function in professional communication. The limitation of the study was the sample size, and the fact that it was an opportunistic sample taken from a limited number of lecturers in a limited number of universities. While adopting the functions used in the American study was a limitation, the additional category of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
used in multiword units was uncovered. Limitations of the unavailablilty of recordings to determine pronunciation differences was also noted, with examples provided to show possible misunderstandings. Future research would examine an expanded data sample, providing better representation of the language of lectures in the UK and New Zealand within and outside the subdisciplines of engineering, and investigating the ways that the pronunciation of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
affects its meaning. Other spoken academic and general corpora, such as the British Academic Spoken English corpus and the spoken components of the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English could be studied for comparison purposes of the frequency and functions of
$\,\font \frog = w52tim\hbox{\frog just}$
.