"Studying the speech is important because this is the way we use language in society. We hear about important issues such as values, political issues and questions about relevant topics through speech". This is what Johannes Angermüller, professor of speech at the University of Warwick, said at the University of Navarra. 

The specialist was one of the speakers at DiscourseNet17an international congress organized by the University of Navarra's project 'Public discourse' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra together with the international network DiscourseNet. It was attended by researchers from about 20 countries interested in both the role of reflexivity and critique in the study of speech and the role they play in various social realities.

Regarding the topic addressed at meeting, Professor Angermüller stated that he was not entirely in agreement with agreement with the meaning usually attributed to the critical attitude: "Being critical does not mean being against, but understanding a social problem".

He also specified that being critical implies "providing a financial aid to change a status" , but warned that sometimes the impact of that change is not what was planned. 

Increased interest in local and everyday discursive practices

Regarding the future of the research on reflexivity and critique on the speech, he stressed that apart from the more pragmatic work there is an increased interest in the local and in everyday discursive practices and communication.

Finally, he added that, although linguistics is one of the most important disciplines within the analysis of speech, it is not the only one; in recent years, research has also focused on the fields of medicine or biology.

In this sense, the specialist pointed out that people's behaviors and perceptions about what is good or bad for their health are the result of a discursive phenomenon and the doctor's or scientist's own training is not enough to communicate this information.