Pragmatics and the English Language

Reviews / Votes

'In many ways, this book represents a unique yet highly accessible introduction to the fundamentals of and new advances in the domain of pragmatics. As a teacher and researcher of English, I particularly appreciate the exceptional effort that the authors have made in presenting the pragmatics of this global language, an accomplishment that no one else in the field has made in a more systematic way.' Xinren Chen, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University, China 'This is an eminently useful textbook written by two of the most prominent figures in the field of pragmatics. It successfully combines an Anglo-American approach to pragmatics with a Continental European one, and it is a vigorous demonstration of how pragmatics can contribute to a study of the English language.' Andreas H. Jucker, University of Zurich, Switzerland 'This is a lively and engaging account of pragmatics, which introduces the basic premises and historical origins of the discipline, but also considers some of the most recent and conceptually demanding developments in the field. It is packed with relevant examples from a variety of different sources and, while covering a wide range of topics in pragmatics, maintains throughout its focus on the English Language'. Siobhan Chapman, University of Liverpool, UK 'Offers a new, integrative perspective on pragmatics. There are three unique features of the book that distinguish it from other books on the subject. First, the authors emphasize that this book is oriented toward Englishes. They demonstrate and discuss how pragmatic phenomena and concepts can be related to various Englishes. Second, the book uses an integrative stance in the sense that it attempts to bridge the gap between user and observer perspective. Third, the authors use a data-driven approach to introduce, illustrate and support their claims and arguments. The blend of these features results in a book that, as the authors say, 'call a spade a spade' meaning that what their book discusses is applicable to the English language and not necessarily to other languages. This is a statement that should very much be appreciated, just as much as the effort of the authors to produce an excellent, informative and reader-friendly book that can be recommended not only to graduate students but also to all scholars and researchers who are interested in the fastest growing subfield of linguistics.' Istvan Kecskes, University at Albany, State University of New York, USA 'This is the first book explicitly focused on the pragmatics of the English language, including aspects of its history and variety-specific features. More importantly, this book goes well beyond the scope of other textbooks on pragmatics, offering chapters not only on standard topics such as deixis, presuppositions and speech acts, but also on interpersonal pragmatics and metapragmatics. By combining a wide range of perspectives in innovative ways, the authors convincingly manage to give coherence to a heterogeneous field. The unusually broad approach they develop fully deserves to be called "integrative pragmatics".' Klaus P. Schneider, University of Bonn, Germany 'There is an abundance of pragmatics textbooks available today. But if you're teaching a pragmatics course in an English linguistics program, Culpeper & Haugh's Pragmatics and the English Language is the only fitting option. Unicity, however, is not the sole reason why this book is exceptionally commendable - and therefore equally usable for general linguistics programs. While completely up-to-date, comprehensive, and sophisticated, the text is highly accessible and fun to read. And it consigns the old distinction between so-called Anglo-American and Continental European approaches to language use, finally, to the past.' Jef Verschueren, University of Antwerp, Belgium 'Pragmatics and the English Language is an excellent addition to the Perspectives on the English Language series. It will appeal to both undergraduates and students and scholars at higher levels. The approach is research led and rigorous in its treatment of the comprehensive range of topics featured. At the same time, the book is written in an accessible and appealing style. I thoroughly recommend this text.' John Flowerdew, City University of Hong Kong 'Pragmatics and the English Language is an important achievement. The authors succeed in making a fresh synthesis of current approaches and illustrate their claims with excellent examples, adapting the pragmatics toolkit to various research tasks. The book opens up a novel perspective on language study and invites the reader to make further explorations.' Irma Taavitsainen, University of Helsinki, Finland "Meaning can kill you' - the first sentence of the book warns. As a privileged reader of having access to the proof-reading copy, I have to admit that I kept being 'killed' - a very enjoyable experience indeed - from cover to cover, nonstop! It's charmingly composed, and saturated with analyses of those intriguing meanings that have escaped our awareness. It's great fun to see the authors' eagle eye in action!' Yueguo Gu, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China