Knowledge and Discourse Towards an Ecology of Language

General Editor: Christopher N. Candlin, Chair Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of English, Centre for English Language Education and Communication Research, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Language in Social Lifeis a major series which highlights the importance of language to an understanding of issues of social and professional concern. It will be of practical relevance to all those wanting to understand how the ways we communicate both influence and are influenced by the structures and forces of contemporary social institutions. Knowledge and Discourse presents an ecological approach to the study of discourse in social, academic and professional practices. It brings together distinguished scholars from diverse cultures - India, China, Australia, Canada among others - and discipines - linguistics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy. The chapters collectively illustrate the ecological approach by exploring how language makes connections between subjective experiences as people construct meaning and action. The book offers the reader a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the study of language as discourse, questioning traditional views of disciplinary knowledge and the role of discouse in the pursuit, construction and compartmentalisation of such knowledge. Through the variety of disciplines, experiences and approaches, the contributors show how the world and word are contingent on each other. The notions of connectivity, contingency and change are themes that run through the book, and in the interweaving of these themes readers will find persuasive illustrations of an ecological approach to applied linguistics. Colin Barron, Nigel Bruce and David Nunan are all based at the English Centre, Hong Kong University.Barron, Colin is the author of 'Knowledge and Discourse Towards an Ecology of Language' with ISBN 9780582328808 and ISBN 0582328802.