The Construction of Professional Discourse (Language in Social Life Series)

By Megan Miranda

Book Overview

Internationally, there is increasing research and interest in the processes of the production and reception of texts for specific purposes and in the historical development of genres and registers within Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP), psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology and the sociology of science. Studies of professional communication have traditionally been biased towards the written medium and have been carried out with little, if any, connection to LSP. Disciplinary boundaries and interest groupings have thus kept these different approaches to the study of professional communication and interaction separate. The editors of this volume unite these different perspectives and approaches and bring together recent research from linguistics, sociolinguistics, ethnography of communication, anthropology and sociology to provide an up-to-date analysis of different varieties of professional discourse and their historical development. Chapters written by leading exponents in the field deal with the core theoretical issue of how language, written genres and spoken discourse are constructed as a successive and continuous interplay between language and social realities. The volume includes chapters on the moral construction of discourse in the social care profession, the discourse of dispute negotiation, narrative accounts in clinical research, doctor-patient interaction, legal and other kinds of institutional discourse. A key text for students of applied linguistics and sociolinguistics at both advanced, undergraduate and MA levels.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 058225941X
• ISBN13: 9780582259416
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Untangling the web

"Culture and Value" is a fascinating compilation of tidbits on art, religion and culture by the great 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein grew up in the culture milieu of Vienna. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had self-destructed in WWI, but Vienna was still a center of culture and philosophy. Wittgenstein absorbed culture readily- Brahms had played for his family, Freud and Jung debated psychoanalysis...

Smarter Than Einstein

I read Wittgenstein's commentary found in this Culture & Value shortly after reading Einstein's The World As I see It, and there were obvious similarities to be found-- but what else could one expect from such creative intellects? The commentaries of both are priceless, and truly help the reader in [i]seeing[/i] the world as these mammoth intellects did in the time on earth they shared. For there was much to be found akin...

Just A Tip

Pay close attention to Witt's writings on religion. Not systematic or consistent, but some of what he says is really informative.

Brilliant overview of the man's concerns...

This collection of Wittgenstein's "remarks" written over a time period of forty years was first published as "Vermischte Bemerkungen" in the original German in 1977. These remarks are taken from his private manuscripts and diaries, which were finally translated into English in 1980. As a vast majority of Wittgenstein's manuscripts or notebooks were written with no intent by the author for publication, it makes one wonder...

Great little bag of thoughts and quotations

I read this book because I heard that it was the most accessible of his books: I was not dissapointed. Accessible, wise, insightful, could all be used to describe this book. There are plenty of banal remarks not worthy of Wittgenstein's genius, but overall I enjoyed his comments on Shakespeare, Mendolsohn, Judaism, and anything else he felt like writing about. I particularly liked his comments on his personal torments...