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Papers by John Flowerdew

This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical d... more This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical discourse analysis (Flowerdew 2012). It focusses on a critical moment in Hong Kong's socio-political development, the Occupy movement, and a specific language event, an interview on a local Hong Kong Englishlanguage television programme discussing the rationale for the movement. A micro-analysis of the interaction focusses on important features of the historical context, intertextual links, the backgrounds and the roles of the participants, and the argumentations strategies used by them. The article shows how a focus on a critical moment in discourse can shed light on the bigger socio-political picture and how arguments regarding particular topics may reflect larger ideological struggles, the political agendas of different groups, and the ways arguments are constructed dialogically in response not only to the words of interlocutors, but also in relation to prior (and future) discourses.

Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The g... more Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The greatest advances in language description in recent decades have been done with the help of electronic corpora. Such language description is the theme of this article. The article first introduces some basic concepts and principles in corpus research. It then reviews some recent corpus studies of relevance to the teaching of English for specific purposes (ESP) writing. The speech focuses on four different types of corpora: expert professional corpora, expert student corpora, L2 learner corpora, and lingua franca corpora. It also discusses application of the corpus approach, including indirect applications and direct applications. In a final section, it presents some caveats of the corpus approach for future language teaching research.

This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical d... more This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical discourse analysis (Flowerdew 2012). It focusses on a critical moment in Hong Kong’s socio-political development, the Occupy movement, and a specific language event, an interview on a local Hong Kong Englishlanguage television programme discussing the rationale for the movement. A micro-analysis of the interaction focusses on important features of the historical context, intertextual links, the backgrounds and the roles of the participants, and the argumentations strategies used by them. The article shows how a focus on a critical moment in discourse can shed light on the bigger socio-political picture and how arguments regarding particular topics may reflect larger ideological struggles, the political agendas of different groups, and the ways arguments are constructed dialogically in response not only to the words of interlocutors, but also in relation to prior (and future) discourses.

This introductory review article for this special issue sets out a range of issues in play as far... more This introductory review article for this special issue sets out a range of issues in play as far as English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing is concerned, but with a special emphasis on English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) (as opposed to English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP)). Following the introduction, the article begins by outlining the different types of EAP and presenting the pros and cons of ESAP and EGAP for writing. It then goes on to review work in a range of areas of relevance to ESAP writing. These areas are register and discourse analysis; genre analysis; corpus analysis; ethnography; contrastive rhetoric; classroom methodology; critical approaches; and assessment. The article concludes by arguing that whichever model of writing is chosen (EGAP or ESAP), or if a hybrid model is the choice, if at all possible, students need to be exposed to the understandings, language and communicative activities of their target disciplines, with students themselves also contributing to this enterprise.

This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It exam... more This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It examines recent journal articles and monographs in applied linguistics and considers various perspectives on the issue. After a brief introduction and review of the theoretical background relating to identity, followed by a characterization of academic discourse and howit relates to identity theory, the article explores the following
topics: linguistic resources for audience engagement; voice and academic identity; disciplinary identity; identity in peripheral academic genres; academic identity development over time; academic identity and English as a lingua franca; power, ideology, and critical language awareness in academic identity construction; language reuse, intertextuality, and academic identity; pedagogically oriented studies and academic identity construction; and methodological diversity and innovation in the study of academic identity. The article concludes with suggestions for future work in the field of academic identity research.

English as Additional Language (EAL) scholarly writers have to overcome numerous obstacles to mee... more English as Additional Language (EAL) scholarly writers have to overcome numerous obstacles to meet the expectations of editors and peer reviewers before they can publish their research articles in international journals published in English. A number of shapers (Burrough-Boenisch, 2003) are often involved in revising such articles before their eventual publication. This study focuses on the revision changes made by an author's editor to a corpus of such articles leading up to their eventual publication. Based on textual analysis of the early drafts and published manuscripts of 15 SCI-indexed journal articles by Chinese doctoral students, a double-entry coding scheme was developed to describe 5160 revision changes made to the manuscripts, in terms of five types of revision, i.e., substitution, correction, addition, deletion, and rearrangement, and four different lexico-grammatical levels, i.e., morpheme, word, group and clause/clause complex. With the exception of correction, a category which applies to surface-level errors (which do not affect meaning), and is the second most frequent category of changes, all of the other categories represent changes which often substantially alter the meanings of the texts and which involve negotiation between the editor and the writer. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed with reference to previous studies focusing on revision changes and to debates concerning English as a Lingua Franca franca and World Englishes.

This paper reports on one aspect of the findings of a three-year ethnographic study into academic... more This paper reports on one aspect of the findings of a three-year ethnographic study into academic lecturing conducted at a university in Hong Kong, where native-speakers of English lecture to English as a Second Language ethnic Chinese students. Developed from a " thick " description of a rich body of ethnographic data, the paper develops a framework for the analysis of second language lectures, which may be applied, it is proposed, in the analysis of cross-cultural lectures in any geographical context. The framework has four dimensions: ethnic culture, local culture, academic culture and disciplinary culture. Each of the dimensions is illustrated by means of data from the ethnographic research. The paper concludes with the claim that application of the model, because of its potential for developing cultural synergy, is likely to be of value in the preparation of both lecturers and students for lectures in a second language.

This article describes and analyses the role of presumed knowledge in constructing a model socio-... more This article describes and analyses the role of presumed knowledge in constructing a model socio-political and cultural identity for Hong Kong in one newspaper in post- handover Hong Kong politics.
Drawing on aspects of discourse analysis and cultural studies, it looks at how socio- political and cultural identity is presumed by the discourse of one Hong Kong newspaper, Ta Kung Pao.
The paper asks the following questions:
1. What kind of knowledge about socio-political and cultural identity is presumed by the
discourse of Ta Kung Pao?
2. What sort of discursive strategies are used in presuming such identities?
3. To what extent do these strategies promote the discursive hegemony to which the
discourse of Ta Kung Pao is directed?
The findings and implications of these inquiries will not only provide a better perspective of the role of language and, in particular presumed knowledge, in the construction of the political and cultural identity of Hong Kong Chinese, but also the disjunctures and tensions between the local and the national under the postcolonial cultural climate of Hong Kong. More generally, the findings will further illuminate our understanding of the role presumed knowledge in discourse and in political and cultural identity construction.

The concept of metadiscourse – the ways in which writers and speakers interact through their use ... more The concept of metadiscourse – the ways in which writers and speakers interact through their use of language with readers and listeners (also referred to as metalanguage and metapragmatics) – has received considerable attention in applied linguistics in recent years, particularly in the study of academic discourse. Conceptualised within the applied linguistics context of developing optimal descriptions of genres as a basis for a genre-based pedagogy, this article first reviews some of the different approaches to metadiscourse, highlighting how the concept is construed in different ways by different researchers. The article then discusses a number of problematic issues in metadiscourse research: metadiscourse as textual or interpersonal; the size of the linguistic unit in metadiscourse research; the multi-functionality of metadiscourse items; and the issue of representativeness in corpus research on metadiscourse. The second part of the article focuses on the concept of signalling nouns (SNs) (abstract nouns which carry particular pragmatic meanings in discourse), a feature of discourse not usually included under the rubric of metadiscourse. It is argued, however, that SNs represent an important resource for making writers’ (or speakers’) intended meanings clear. In this second part of the article, a first section introduces the notion of SN and a second section discusses how SNs might be incorporated into a model of metadiscourse. A final section of the paper concludes with a summary and some comments on pedagogic application.

By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective ro... more By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective roles of linguistic and con- textual analysis in genre analysis, if the results are to be of maximum use in ESP course design. On the one hand, based on a corpus of current and authentic written auditors’ reports produced in a large international Hong Kong accounting firm, the study explores how communicative purposes are achieved through the systematic schematic structuring and linguistic realisation patterning of the genre. On the other hand, through a more ethnographic analysis of the context of production, the study investigates the respective roles of templates and original writing in the production of such reports. The texts analysed and the auditors observed and questioned show that, although the use of templates is widespread, there is, in fact, some original writing involved in drafting the reports, especially in reports which draw attention to irregularities in the accounts reviewed (qualified reports). The study also finds that although the reports are written in English, a mix of lan- guages (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) is used by the members of the audit team in their production. The implications of the findings are highlighted, with suggestions on how language trainers can focus on particular sections of the audit report in order to help auditors write better. The overarching conclusion of the paper is that the linguistic and contextual approaches to genre analysis can complement each other effectively.

Co-author: Alina Wan

By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective ro... more By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective roles of linguistic and con-textual analysis in genre analysis, if the results are to be of maximum use in ESP course design. On the one hand, based on a corpus of current and authentic written auditors' reports produced in a large international Hong Kong accounting firm, the study explores how communicative purposes are achieved through the systematic schematic structuring and linguistic realisation patterning of the genre. On the other hand, through a more ethnographic analysis of the context of production, the study investigates the respective roles of templates and original writing in the production of such reports. The texts analysed and the auditors observed and questioned show that, although the use of templates is widespread, there is, in fact, some original writing involved in drafting the reports, especially in reports which draw attention to irregularities in the accounts reviewed (qualified reports). The study also finds that although the reports are written in English, a mix of languages (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) is used by the members of the audit team in their production. The implications of the findings are highlighted, with suggestions on how language trainers can focus on particular sections of the audit report in order to help auditors write better. The overarching conclusion of the paper is that the linguistic and contextual approaches to genre analysis can complement each other effectively.

Co-author: Alina Wan

Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The g... more Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The greatest advances in language description in recent decades have been done with the help of electronic corpora. Such language description is the theme of this article. The article first introduces some basic concepts and principles in corpus research. It then reviews some recent corpus studies of relevance to the teaching of English for specific purposes (ESP) writing.
The speech focuses on four different types of corpora: expert professional corpora, expert student corpora, L2 learner corpora, and lingua franca corpora. It also discusses application of the corpus approach, including indirect applications and direct applications. In a final section, it presents some caveats of the corpus approach for future language teaching research.

This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It exam... more This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It examines recent journal articles and monographs in applied linguistics and considers various perspectives on the issue. After a brief introduction and review of the theoretical background relating to identity, followed by a characterization of academic discourse and how it relates to identity theory, the article explores the following topics: linguistic resources for audience engagement; voice and academic identity; disciplinary identity; identity in peripheral academic genres; academic identity development over time; academic identity and English as a lingua franca; power, ideology, and critical language awareness in academic identity construction; language reuse, intertextuality, and academic identity; pedagogically oriented studies and academic identity construction; and methodological diversity and innovation in the study of academic identity. The article concludes with suggestions for future work in the field of academic identity research.

It is now 25 years since the publication of John Swales's seminal book, Genre Analysis: English i... more It is now 25 years since the publication of John Swales's seminal book, Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings and it is a good time to take stock of the influence of this book on language teaching. In this article, I review Swales's approach to the ped-agogic application of genre theory for language teaching and consider how some of his major ideas might be developed in the light of present day theory. In the course of the discussion I also refer to Swales's own writing since Genre Analysis, where relevant. The strands of pedagogic theory I consider are: Vygotskyan theory; genre relations; corpus-informed pedagogy; and English as a Lingua Franca.

Applied Linguistics, 1992

This paper is an empirical study of the speech act of definition in science lectures. Definitions... more This paper is an empirical study of the speech act of definition in science lectures. Definitions occurring in sixteen lectures by native speaker biology and chemistry lecturers to non-native speaker students were transcribed and coded onto a computer data base, according to twenty-eight linguistic and paralinguistic features. Data were obtained regarding frequency, distribution, function, and form of definitions. A total of 315 terms were defined, indicating an average frequency of occurrence of one definition per 1 minute 55 seconds. Definitions were found to fulfil one of two main functions: signposting the logical/discourse structure of the subject/lecture, or helping to maintain comprehension as the discourse progresses. Definitions were found to often cluster together in discourse, but there was no evidence of them being more frequent at the beginning of lectures. Definitions were classified into three major types and one minor type, each of the major types being further subclassified. Findings are reported for ordering of the semantic elements of definitions, syntactic and lexical signalling devices, and various rhetorical and paralinguistic features which accompany definitions. A final section discusses implications for pedagogy.

This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical d... more This article is conceptualised within the framework of a historiographical approach to critical discourse analysis (Flowerdew 2012). It focusses on a critical moment in Hong Kong’s socio-political development, the Occupy movement, and a specific language event, an interview on a local Hong Kong Englishlanguage television programme discussing the rationale for the movement. A micro-analysis of the interaction focusses on important features of the historical context, intertextual links, the backgrounds and the roles of the participants, and the argumentations strategies used by them. The article shows how a focus on a critical moment in discourse can shed light on the bigger socio-political picture and how arguments regarding particular topics may reflect larger ideological struggles, the political agendas of different groups, and the ways arguments are constructed dialogically in response not only to the words of interlocutors, but also in relation to prior (and future) discourses.

Co-author: Alina Wan

By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective ro... more By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective roles of linguistic and con-textual analysis in genre analysis, if the results are to be of maximum use in ESP course design. On the one hand, based on a corpus of current and authentic written auditors' reports produced in a large international Hong Kong accounting firm, the study explores how communicative purposes are achieved through the systematic schematic structuring and linguistic realisation patterning of the genre. On the other hand, through a more ethnographic analysis of the context of production, the study investigates the respective roles of templates and original writing in the production of such reports. The texts analysed and the auditors observed and questioned show that, although the use of templates is widespread, there is, in fact, some original writing involved in drafting the reports, especially in reports which draw attention to irregularities in the accounts reviewed (qualified reports). The study also finds that although the reports are written in English, a mix of languages (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) is used by the members of the audit team in their production. The implications of the findings are highlighted, with suggestions on how language trainers can focus on particular sections of the audit report in order to help auditors write better. The overarching conclusion of the paper is that the linguistic and contextual approaches to genre analysis can complement each other effectively.

Co-author: Alina Wan

Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The g... more Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The greatest advances in language description in recent decades have been done with the help of electronic corpora. Such language description is the theme of this article. The article first introduces some basic concepts and principles in corpus research. It then reviews some recent corpus studies of relevance to the teaching of English for specific purposes (ESP) writing.
The speech focuses on four different types of corpora: expert professional corpora, expert student corpora, L2 learner corpora, and lingua franca corpora. It also discusses application of the corpus approach, including indirect applications and direct applications. In a final section, it presents some caveats of the corpus approach for future language teaching research.

This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It exam... more This review article is concerned with the construction of identity in academic discourse. It examines recent journal articles and monographs in applied linguistics and considers various perspectives on the issue. After a brief introduction and review of the theoretical background relating to identity, followed by a characterization of academic discourse and how it relates to identity theory, the article explores the following topics: linguistic resources for audience engagement; voice and academic identity; disciplinary identity; identity in peripheral academic genres; academic identity development over time; academic identity and English as a lingua franca; power, ideology, and critical language awareness in academic identity construction; language reuse, intertextuality, and academic identity; pedagogically oriented studies and academic identity construction; and methodological diversity and innovation in the study of academic identity. The article concludes with suggestions for future work in the field of academic identity research.

Applied Linguistics, 1992

Lexical cohesion is about meaning in text. It concerns the ways in which lexical items relate to ... more Lexical cohesion is about meaning in text. It concerns the ways in which lexical items relate to each other and to other cohesive devices so that textual continuity is created. Traditionally, lexical cohesion (along with other types of cohesion) has been investigated in individual texts. With the advent of corpus techniques, however, there is potential to investigate lexical cohesion with reference to large corpora. This collection of papers illustrates a variety of corpus approaches to lexical cohesion. Contributions deal with lexical cohesion in relation to rhetorical structure, lexical bundles and discourse signalling, discourse intonation, semantic prosody, use of signalling nouns, and corpus linguistic theory. The volume also considers implications that innovative approaches to lexical cohesion can have for language teaching.

Publisher: John Benjamins
Publication Date: 2009

Title: Perspectives on Second Language Teacher Education Editors: John L. Flowerdew, Mark Newell ... more Title: Perspectives on Second Language Teacher Education
Editors: John L. Flowerdew, Mark Newell Brock, Sophie Hsia
Publisher: City Polytechnic
Publication Date: 1992

A collection of original papers by researchers working in the field which comprehensively address... more A collection of original papers by researchers working in the field which comprehensively addresses the area of second language academic listening. This collection of original papers comprehensively addresses the area of second language academic listening. The papers are grouped under five broad headings. The first section provides an overview of research relevant to second language lecture comprehension. The second analyses aspects of the cognitive processes involved in listening comprehension. In the third section, the object of the comprehension process is examined, and in the fourth, ethnographic approaches are explored by extending the concept of listening comprehension to place it in the wider context of 'the culture of learning'. In the final section, the theory of second language listening comprehension is related to practical pedagogic concerns. Each section is preceded by an accessible introduction and the book as a whole provides detailed coverage of important aspects of academic listening phenomena.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 1995

This book critically reviews the British experience in Hong Kong with special emphasis on the ten... more This book critically reviews the British experience in Hong Kong with special emphasis on the tenure of the last governor, Chris Patten, and the discourse he used in guiding the transfer of sovereignty to China. While the People's Republic of China proclaimed the recovery of Hong Kong to be just retribution for a century and a half of national shame under British rule, Patten, as the spokesperson for the British, was concerned that Britain's exit from its last significant colony should be an honorable one.

Publisher: Macmillan and St Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 1998

The number of non-native students studying in English-medium universities has increased over the ... more The number of non-native students studying in English-medium universities has increased over the past decade. Paralleling this growth is the interest in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). No one research-based volume has yet investigated the theoretical issues and pedagogical concerns of the area. This wide-ranging volume of specially commissioned articles from leading scholars in the field aims to bring to the wider community current research in the field and its implications for pedagogy. It offers a state-of-the-art representation of research in EAP and will help define the field in the coming years.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 2001

Academic Discourse presents a collection of specially commissioned articles on the theme of acade... more Academic Discourse presents a collection of specially commissioned articles on the theme of academic discourse. Divided into sections covering the main approaches, each begins with a state of the art overview of the approach and continues with exemplificatory empirical studies. Genre analysis, corpus linguistics, contrastive rhetoric and ethnography are comprehensively covered through the analysis of various academic genres: research articles, PhD these, textbooks, argumentative essays, and business cases. Academic Discourse brings together state-of-the art analysis and theory in a single volume. It also features: - an introduction which provides a survey and rationale for the material - implications for pedagogy at the end of each chapter- topical review articles with example studies- a glossary The breadth of critical writing, and from a wide geographical spread, makes Academic Discourse a fresh and insightful addition to the field of discourse analysis.

Publisher: Longman
Publication date: 2002

Listening, an essential aspect of communicative competence, merits equal treatment with the skill... more Listening, an essential aspect of communicative competence, merits equal treatment with the skills of speaking, reading, and writing. Second Language Listening combines current theory in listening, a pedagogical model developed by the authors, and case studies presenting actual practice. Listening theory is exemplified throughout the book with a variety of tasks and activities. The authors also address testing and the role of technology in teaching listening. Teachers will benefit from the insights provided in this book, as will teacher educators and researchers. Second Language Listening will be of key interest for pre-service and in-service teachers who are involved in the teaching or the design of materials for listening.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 2005

This volume brings together a selection of papers originally presented at the Language for Specif... more This volume brings together a selection of papers originally presented at the Language for Specific Purposes Symposium which took place in Bergamo, Italy from 29 August to 2 September, 2005. In selecting from papers on specialized discourse presented at this conference, the editors have tried to create a thematic unity by grouping the papers according to four disciplinary areas: academic and scientific discourse, business discourse, institutional discourse, and legal discourse. Within these fields, a diversity of approaches has been maintained in order to represent the eclectic nature of studies in specialized discourse as they are carried out today.

It is no coincidence that the papers fall into these four areas, as these are fields with a very international dimension and hence the use of English, as the increasingly global language, is naturally very important. Indeed, all the papers included in this publication are in English and mainly focus on English. On the other hand, the contributors to this volume come from a range of different countries and mother tongues. This diversity represents the international interest in English as a language of specialized discourse and communication.

Publisher: Peter Lang
Publication Date: 2006

Featuring internationally renowned academics, this volume provides a snapshot of the field of app... more Featuring internationally renowned academics, this volume provides a snapshot of the field of applied linguistics, and illustrates how linguistics is engaging with the idea of 'context'. The book treats discourse as language in the contexts of its use in and above the level of the sentence and as systems of knowledge and beliefs.

In using the term context(s), the book understands this as different situations in which discourse is produced and, on the other, how analysts construe context in their work. The volume is thus concerned with language in its context of use (little d discourse), but at the same time, more specifically, in individual chapters, with particular discourses as they are manifested in particular contexts (big D discourses).

Well known discourse analysts contribute chapters focussing on different contexts with which they are familiar, viz. business, education, ethnicity and race, gender and sexuality, history, intercultural contexts, lingua franca contexts, media, place, politics, race, and the virtual world. It brings together researchers from different approaches, but all with a commitment to the study of language in context. The contributors themselves represent different approaches to discourse analysis: conversation analysis, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, ethnographic discourse analysis, mediated discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, systemic functional linguistics. Readers are invited to compare and contrast these different contexts and approaches.

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: 2014

Signalling nouns (SNs) are abstract nouns like fact, idea, problem, and result which are non-spec... more Signalling nouns (SNs) are abstract nouns like fact, idea, problem, and result which are non-specific in their meaning when considered in isolation and specific in their meaning by reference to their linguistic context. SNs contribute to cohesion and evaluation in discourse. This work offers the first book-length study of the SN phenomenon to treat the functional and discourse features of the category as primary.

Using a balanced corpus of authentic data, the book explores the lexicogrammatical and discourse features of SNs in academic journal articles, textbooks, and lectures across a range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. The book will be essential reading for researchers and advanced students of semantics, syntax, corpus lin-guistics, and discourse analysis, in addition to scholars and teachers in the field of English for Academic Purposes.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 2015

"Discourse in English Language Education introduces students to the major concepts and questions ... more "Discourse in English Language Education introduces students to the major concepts and questions in Discourse Studies and their applications to language education. Each chapter draws on key research to examine critically a particular approach in the field, providing a review of important literature, examples to illustrate the principal issues concerned and an outline of the implications for their application to pedagogy.

Features include:
•coverage of a broad range of approaches in the field, including Systemic Functional Linguistics and Register, Speech Acts, the Cooperative Principle and Politeness, Conversation Analysis, Genre Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics
•analysis of a wide range of discourse examples that include casual conversation, newspapers, fiction, radio, classrooms, blogs and real-life learner texts
•a selection of illustrations and tables carefully chosen to enhance students' understanding of different concepts and approaches
•stimulating discussion questions at the end of each chapter, specially designed to foster critical thinking, reflection and engagement with the topics covered.

Engaging, accessible and comprehensive, Discourse in English Language Education richly demonstrates how Discourse Studies can inform the teaching of English and other languages, both as a foreign language and in the mother tongue.

It will be essential reading for upper undergraduates and postgraduates with interests in Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Language Education."

Methods of approaching the study of discourse have developed rapidly in the last ten years, influ... more Methods of approaching the study of discourse have developed rapidly in the last ten years, influenced by a growing interdisciplinary spirit among linguistics and anthropology, sociology, cognitive and cultural psychology and cultural studies, as well as among established sub-fields within linguistics itself. Among the more recent developments are an increasing ‘critical’ turn in discourse analysis, a growing interest in historical, ethnographic and corpus-based approaches to discourse, more concern with the social contexts in which discourse occurs, the social actions that it is used to take and the identities that are constructed through it, as well as a revaluation of what counts as ‘discourse’ to include multi-modal texts and interaction.

Advances in Discourse Studies brings together contributions from leading scholars in the field, investigating the historical and theoretical relationships between new advances in discourse studies and pointing towards new directions for the future of the discipline. Featuring discussion questions, classroom projects and recommended readings at the end of each section, as well as case studies illustrating each approach discussed, this is an invaluable resource for students of interdisciplinary discourse analysis.