Anne McCabe [+–]

Saint Louis University

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Anne McCabe is a faculty member of the English Department at Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus, Spain, where she teaches linguistics, ESL and writing pedagogy to undergraduate and graduate students. She has published widely on application of Systemic Functional Linguistics to analysis of educational and media texts including An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies (Equinox).

This introductory textbook provides readers with a foundation in methods for analyzing and understanding language from various theoretical perspectives within linguistics and language studies. Its novel approach introduces systemic functional linguistics, text and discourse analysis, and formal approaches to linguistics. It demonstrates applications of these approaches to reveal how we use language in society, how our brains process language, and how we learn language. Topics include phonetics, phonology, conversation analysis, morphology, syntax, semantics, language change and variation, animals and language, the brain and language, and first and second language acquisition. The main language focused on is English, although other languages are also used to illustrate the linguistic principles. Exercises and questions for reflection are provided throughout, and a final chapter is included which gathers explanations of various fields of practice within linguistics, written by linguists from around the world, including David Crystal (Clinical Linguistics), Frances Christie (Educational Linguistics), and Malcolm Coulthard (Forensic Linguistics). The book offers an array of analytical tools for undergraduate students of language, communication, and education, and provides an overview of the field for those interested in further study in linguistics and applied language studies.

Series: Equinox Textbooks and Surveys in Linguistics

Prelims

Acknowledgments [+–] xi-xii

An introduction to linguistics and language studies [+–] 1-15

This chapter introduces the study of linguistics and the contributions of various linguists such as Ferdinand de Saussure, Noam Chomsky and Michael Halliday.

A focus on spoken interaction [+–] 16-81

This chapter focuses on ways of describing language which help us understand how we make sense of the world and communicate through language in spoken contexts. Thus, the chapter discusses pragmatics, or the study of meaning in use, with a focus on speech act theory, conversational implicature, politeness, and conversation analysis. Spoken discourse markers, vague language, ellipsis and intonation are further analyzed, as well as phonetics and phonology, two traditional areas of study within modern linguistics, which help us focus on the ways in which we make meaning based on the physical sounds which we produce and string together in significant ways.

Analyzing written language [+–] 82-168

This chapter focuses mainly on analyzing the written language through perspectives that allow us to understand why language is the way it is because of the context for which it has been produced. Therefore, in order to focus on language in written modes, the chapter analyzes methods of text and discourse analysis, which help explain language in its context of use.

Language and mind [+–] 169-231

This chapter discusses the structural makeup of language and the mental processes which underlie the production of its structures. It examines the linguistic theory which attempts to model the kind of mental knowledge held of how words are formed (morphology), of how sentences are formed (syntax), and how the meaning of words is understood (semantics).

Language change [+–] 232-270

This chapter presents several explanations which cover various aspects of language change, focusing on semantic change, sound change, morphological and syntactic change, as well as changes in text and discourse.

Language variation [+–] 271-312

This chapter discusses the variation of language, with reference to synchronic variation, sociolinguistics and speech communities. It further discusses ‘dialect’, as a variety of language, and ‘diglossia’. Moreover, the notion of ‘sociolect’ is described, as well as lexical, sound, and morphosyntactic variations.

Language, biology and learning [+–] 313-343

The chapter discusses the relationship between language and the brain, an area of major interest to many linguists. It begins by introducing the science of neurolinguistics, and further explains first and second language acquisition and development. Moreover, the chapter presents the debate about whether or not animals have ‘language’ or could learn language.

Fields of linguistics [+–] 344-374

In this chapter, different scholars, present various fields of linguistics such as: clinical linguistics,cognitive linguistics, computational linguistics, contrastive linguistics, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, educational linguistics, forensic linguistics, formal linguistics, functional linguistics, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics.

End Matter

Glossary [+–] 375-394

Index of Names [+–] 395-398

Subject Index [+–] 399-405

Reviews

This innovative blend of textbook, workbook, and anthology is a welcome addition to the introductory linguistics literature.
David Crystal, Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor

With An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies, Anne McCabe presents an enormously appealing, accessible, and up to date treatment of the field to those who always wanted to know what it was all about — but, perhaps, were afraid to ask! They will come to explore the major modalities of language use and their relation to mind, appreciate the exuberance of language change and variation in social context, and consider the complexities of language learning and development in relation to our biological make-up. Always, they will be involved on all levels: as inquirers interested in major theoretical questions and empirical approaches; as language users who are constantly invited to reflect on the nature of language through an unusually rich and engaging array of exercise that enliven each chapter of the book; as learners seeking assurances, through chapter summaries, a glossary, and exercise answers, that their own reading of the issues is accurate; and as students of the field desiring to place their new knowledge within other areas of linguistics and to receive suggestions for further reading. Applied linguistics and its students are the happy beneficiaries of McCabe’s most welcome contribution.
Heidi Byrnes, George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German, Georgetown University

McCabe provides novices to the linguistics community with a well-written and highly interactive text that allows readers with various levels of pre-existing knowledge to explore both the theoretical and practical applications of linguistics and language studies across many topics, and she provides a contemporary alternative to similar introductory publications in the field of linguistics. The text is one that clearly serves numerous purposes for both novices and experts in the fields of linguistics and language studies.
Robert A. Cote, Sharjah Women’s College, United Arab Emirates, in LINGUIST List 22.4990 (December 2011)

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