Innovation in Language Learning

 In today's ever evolving and complex world, the development of scientific literacy has become an essential skill, enabling individuals to critically assess scientific information and make informed decisions. Laypeople increasingly seek online information on public health topics like Covid-19 transmission and healthy diet. They engage across various media, bridging the gap between experts and the public. Linguists agree on describing the phenomenon of Languages for Special Purposes (LSP) by integrating its components into extended horizontal and vertical models (e.g. Hoffmann [1], Roelcke, [2]. The vertical structure of medical discourse in LSP distinguishes between internal communication among professionals and external discourse aimed at a broader audience, including patients [3]. The aim of discourse popularization is to ensure that scientific information is accessible to the general public, which necessitates adapting the language to accommodate different levels of understanding. Our research adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative exploratory analysis. Utilizing Sketch Engine, a widely used corpus analysis tool, we compiled two comparable corpora in Portuguese and Chinese scientific popularization texts, focusing on health sciences, well-being, and diet. The texts, sourced from electronic magazines published post-January 2019, were selected based on scientific content, relevance to public health, and suitability for corpus analysis. Quantitative analysis will identify and determine the frequency of paraphrastic reformulation markers, while qualitative analysis will explore their contextual functions, including recontextualization, metaphor, exemplification, and naming. This comparative study aims to enhance scientific literacy by identifying effective discourse strategies for popularizing scientific information in Portuguese and Chinese-speaking communities.