This paper delves into the popularization of scientific topics related to mental and physical health from an interdisciplinary perspective, crossing the paths of science, journalism, language and communication studies. To this aim, we will address the interview section of the "SciencePop Corpus", a corpus of science popularization developed at the University of Verona, Italy. The subcorpus includes 52 transcribed audio/video interviews to science professionals/practitioners on health and well-being related topics; specifically, 26 broadcast interviews and 26 podcast/audiovisual interviews published on YouTube. The study analyzes the questions posed by interviewers, bearing in mind the rules of conduct generally agreed on news interviews (Clayman and Heritage 2002, Sedorkin and Forbes 2023) and checking how far such rules are applied in science popularization in the two different interview contexts. Interesting results emerge on similarities and differences between traditional televised vs. digital media interviews, with reference to techniques of audience involvement – direct address, interactive questioning, use of colloquial language, and non-verbal posture – to build and maintain engagement. The present research allows us to better understand different styles of interviews in science popularization and how the ‘posture’ of interviewers may facilitate content sharing in an accessible way, so as to achieve clarity and audience engagement.

Authors:
Roberta Facchinetti, University of Verona, Italy
Sara Corrizzato, University of Verona, Italy
Valeria Franceschi, University of Verona, Italy

About the Presenter(s)
Valeria Franceschi is Associate Professor in EnglishLinguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Verona. Her research areas are English as a Lingua Franca, tourism discourse, and science popularization.

Roberta FACCHINETTI is Full Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Verona (Italy). Her research interests and projects are corpus-based and focus on the language of journalism and on English for Specific Purposes.

SARA CORRIZZATO is Temporary Assistant Professor in English Language and Translation at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Verona. Her areas of research focus on corpus linguistics and Digital Humanities and ESP.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-franceschi-157a5374/

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