Exploring language in use

The study of language and linguistics often conjures up images that make people shudder. However, Introducing Language in Use (2 edn.) shows us that studying language and linguistics, although amazingly complex and intellectually demanding, can be fascinating and fun. Written by a highly experienced team of academics, this new edition of the course book provides an up-to-date andpractical introduction to thestudyof languageandcommunication. It is essential for introductory courses in English language, linguistics and communication studies. The book comprises 18 chapters plus a virtual Chapter 19 available on the companion website. After a brief discussion of the term language and the value of studying language, Chapter 1 sets the scene for the whole book, addressing the relationships between language, communication and semiotics. The issue of the links between different languages, including ancient and modern languages is also dealt with. Chapter 2 concerns the analysis of spoken interaction, introducing some of the techniques and insights provided by conversation analysis (CA). Fundamental aspects of CA related to turn-taking are described which include TCUs (turn constructional units), TRPs (transition relevance places), overlap, interruption, speaker selection, types of silence, adjacency pairs, insertion sequences and chaining. Data are extracted to uncover the highly organized nature of talk-in-interaction. Following this are Chapters 3 and 4, which cover topics in pragmatics, and power and politeness. After introducing technical terms such as reference, speech acts, context, and Grice’s maxims of conversation, Chapter 3 examines language in context. Interesting examples are given to illustrate Cooperative Principles (CP) that state: ‘Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged’ (Grice, 1975: 45). Chapter 4 explores positive and negative politeness in the terms used by Brown and Levinson in social context (Brown & Levinson, 1987). In order to achieve one’s communicative goals, linguistic politeness beyond saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ should be employed. From Chapter 5 to Chapter 11, core areas of linguistics are presented. Chapter 5 focuses on vocabulary with an interesting and informative discussion of the study of words in corpora. In Chapter 6, the focus is shifted to the nature of word meanings and how they can be described. The approach to semantics taken here covers the major semantic relationships involving synonymy, antonymy, converseness, metonymy and meronymy. The chapter on syntax and grammar in the first edition has now been expanded into two chapters on syntax and on grammar respectively. Chapter 7 looks at syntax that deals with the structure of phrases and clauses, whereas Chapter 8 examines grammar that is concerned with larger chunks of text. Chapters 9 and 10 are devoted to the phonetic system of language with the former on voiceless sounds and the latter voiced sounds. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that provides symbols for a huge range of speech sounds is also displayed and discussed here. With the foundation from the above two chapters, Chapter 11 is on phonology that centers on the sound system of language. Extended examples, drawn principally from English, are used here to explain phoneme principles, the sequential arrangement of phonemes and the orderliness of consonant and vowel inventories. Building on the above three chapters on phonetics and phonology, Chapters 12 and 13 turn to the topic of accent and dialect and other individual and group variations in use of language. Besides an introduction to terms and concepts in the study of regional and social varieties of language, Chapter 12 discusses the systematic nature of the diversity of language in use. After presenting several key concepts in sociolinguistics such as communicative competence, social networks, diglossia and language choice, Chapter 13 addresses several