Language in Use: A Reader

by Patrick Griffiths (Editor), Andrew John Merrison (Editor), Aileen Bloomer (Editor)

Overview

Designed for introductory students, this collection of key readings in language and linguistics will take readers beyond their introductory textbook and introduce them to the thoughts and writings of many esteemed authorities. The reader includes seminal papers, new or controversial pieces to stimulate discussion and reports on applied work.

Language in Use:

• is split into four parts – ‘Language and Interaction’, ‘Language Systems’, ‘Language and Society’ and ‘Language and Mind’
• covers all the topics of language study including conversation analysis, pragmatics, power and politeness, semantics, grammar, phonetics, multilingualism, child language acquisition and psycholinguistics
• has readings from authorities including Pinker, Fairclough, Crystal, Le Page and Tabouret-Keller, Hughes, Trudgill and Watt, Halliday, Sacks, Mills, Obler and Gjerlow
• provides comprehensive editorial support for each reading with introductions, activities or discussion points to follow and further reading
• Is supported by a companion website, offering extra resources for students including additional activities, useful weblinks and advice from the authors

Designed for use as a companion to Introducing Language in Use (Routledge, 2005), but also highly usable as a stand-alone text, this Reader will introduce readers to the wide world of linguistics and applied linguistics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415442053
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/06/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Patrick Griffiths has taught linguistics, applied linguistics and English language courses at the University of York (UK), at York St John, at the multi-country University of the South Pacific and, over the past four years, as a professor of English at Beppu University, in Japan.

Andrew Merrison has taught at the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh, York and at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh. He is currently a senior lecturer in linguistics at York St John University.

Aileen Bloomer is a principal lecturer at York St John University, having previously worked in Warwick, Sweden, Germany , Vietnam and China.

Table of Contents

List of figures ix

List of tables xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Read me (before you read anything else in this Reader) xvii

Bookmaps xxiii

Transcription conventions xxvii

Prologue xxxi

Part 1 Language and Interaction 1

Partmaps 2

Introduction to Part 1 Language and Interaction 4

1.1 On the Preferences for Agreement and Contiguity in Sequences in Conversation Harvey Sacks 8

1.2 Grice's Cooperative Principle: Meaning and Rationality Bethan L. Davies 23

1.3 Language-in-Use: a Clarkian Perspective Rebecca Barry Andrew John Merrison 37

1.4 How Not to Strike it Rich: Semantics, Pragmatics, and Semiotics of a Massachusetts Lottery Game Card Ronald R. Butters 47

1.5 Impoliteness Sara Mills 59

1.6 Reality Orientation in Institutions for the Elderly: the Perspective from Interactional Sociolinguistics Karen Grainger 69

1.7 University Students Resisting Academic Identity Bethan Benwell Elizabeth H. Stokoe 82

Part 2 Language Systems 99

Partmaps 100

Introduction to Part 2 Language Systems 102

2.1 Productivity and the Mental Lexicon Ingo Plag 106

2.2 Dominic Watt Regional Accent Variation Arthur Hughes Peter Trudgill 115

2.3 Language in a Social Perspective Michael A.K. Halliday 128

2.4 Constructing Sign Sentences Rachel Sutton-Spence Bencie Woll 140

2.5 Giving a History to English James Milroy 147

2.6 Metaphor and Relevance Andrew Goatly 157

2.7 Travels with Auntie Jill Hadfield Charles Hadfield Anthea Gupta 168

Part 3 Language and Society 177

Partmaps 178

Introduction to Part 3 Language and Society 180

3.1 Acts of Identity Robert B. Le Page Andrée Tabouret-Keller 183

3.2 Bilingualism at School: Effect on the Acquisition of Literacy Ellen Bialystok 190

3.3 An English Family of Languages? David Crystal 200

3.4 Language Education and Foreign Relations in Vietnam Sue Wright 211

3.5 Why Protect Heritage Sign Languages? Graham H. Turner 227

3.6 Language and Discourse Norman Fairclough 234

3.7 How British Men and Women Swear Tony McEnery 242

Part 4 Language and Mind 257

Partmaps 258

Introduction to Part 4 Language and Mind 260

4.1 How We Know What We Know about Brain Organization for Language Loraine K. Obler Kris Gjerlow 263

4.2 Producing Sense with Nonsense Syllables: Turn and Sequence in Conversations with a Man with Severe Aphasia Charles Goodwin Marjorie H. Goodwin David Olsher 272

4.3 Language Acquisition: How Do They Do It? Steven Pinker 286

4.4 Farrar Negative Evidence and Grammatical Morpheme Acquisition Michael Jeffrey 295

4.5 Learning versus Growth Holger Diessel 313

4.6 Language Learning and Innateness: Some Implications of Compounds Research Todd R. Haskell Maryellen C. MacDonald Mark S. Seidenberg 323

4.7 The Semiotic Landscape Gunther Kress Theo van Leeuwen 344

4.8 Read My Lips: Asymmetries in the Visual Expression and Perception of Speech Revealed through the McGurk Effect Michael E.R. Nicholls Dara A. Searle John L. Bradshaw 350

Epilogue 359

Index 361

Useful websites 382

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Chart 384

Editorial Reviews

'From pragmatics and politeness, through Singlish and swearing to sign languages, and from ethnographic through systemic to experimental approaches, this appealing selection of readings provokes and promotes a critical approach to the study of language in use in a wide range of social contexts. With stimulating suggestions for follow-up activities and further reading, this is an ideal text for those embarking on the adventure of learning how to study language.' Janet Holmes, Head of School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

'Anybody who enjoyed reading "Introducing Language in Use” will find this reader an invaluable addition to be used in combination with it or indeed as an independent resource for students in self-study.' Miriam Locher, Professor of English Linguistics, Universität Basel, Switzerland

'I can safely anticipate that students will pick this up and end up reading more than they intended to. Language in Use: A Reader looks to be useful for all three undergraduate levels in English Language. Not so much a resource book, more the horse’s mouth.' Tim Parke, Principal Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Hertfordshire, UK

'This exciting new textbook covers a wide range of key reading material brought together in a single volume. It will enhance many study programmes in the fields of English Language and Linguistics, allowing students to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ and explore the backgrounds to their studies at a number of levels. A wonderful resource indeed!' Catherine Watts, Principal Lecturer, School of Language, Linguistics and Communication, University of Brighton, UK

'...brilliantly geared towards students.' - LINGUIST List

'From pragmatics and politeness, through Singlish and swearing to sign languages, and from ethnographic through systemic to experimental approaches, this appealing selection of readings provokes and promotes a critical approach to the study of language in use in a wide range of social contexts. With stimulating suggestions for follow-up activities and further reading, this is an ideal text for those embarking on the adventure of learning how to study language.' Janet Holmes, Head of School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

'Anybody who enjoyed reading "Introducing Language in Use” will find this reader an invaluable addition to be used in combination with it or indeed as an independent resource for students in self-study.' Miriam Locher, Professor of English Linguistics, Universität Basel, Switzerland

'I can safely anticipate that students will pick this up and end up reading more than they intended to. Language in Use: A Reader looks to be useful for all three undergraduate levels in English Language. Not so much a resource book, more the horse’s mouth.' Tim Parke, Principal Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Hertfordshire, UK

'This exciting new textbook covers a wide range of key reading material brought together in a single volume. It will enhance many study programmes in the fields of English Language and Linguistics, allowing students to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ and explore the backgrounds to their studies at a number of levels. A wonderful resource indeed!' Catherine Watts, Principal Lecturer, School of Language, Linguistics and Communication, University of Brighton, UK

'... brilliantly geared toward students, and its didactic component is easily appreciated, not only in organization and presentation but also in the vocabulary and language used, in both a practical and a motivational sense. This is an important volume for students of linguistics.' - Linguist List

From the Publisher