Insights into English Discourse

The book provides an overview of the linguistic tools for the analysis of English texts. The first two chapters, written by Monica Pedrola, deal with textuality. Chapter 1, “Cohesion and Coherence”, explores some key linguistic devices which enable speakers of English to identify what makes a stretch of discourse or text a meaningful whole rather than just a collection of unrelated sentences. Chapter 2, “Information Structure and Thematisation”, focuses on the tendency in a text to arrange sentences in such a way as to draw attention to what is communicatively more important. Chapters 3, 4, and 5, written by Costanza Cucchi, explore how the context in which texts are set affects their form. Chapter 3, “The Context of Situation”, deals with the interrelatedness between a text and the environment in which it is produced and provides tools to describe it, relying on the concept of register. Chapter 4, “Speech and Writing”, illustrates the specific features of the spoken mode, which make it different from writing. An awareness of these features is important to be able to engage effectively in everyday spontaneous conversations. In addition, features of the spoken mode are widespread in genres which are typical of workplace settings, such as e-mails, formal speeches and advertisements. Chapter 5, “Language and Culture” illustrates how culture affects language use. Nowadays, English is used all over the world by people whose cultures differ widely. Their culture inevitably affects the way they behave and use other languages. In order to avoid misunderstandings, speakers of English need to be able to appreciate cultural differences. To this end the chapter presents the concept of culture and tools for the analysis of cultural differences, highlighting their relevance for workplace situations.