On the subject of English : the linguistics of language use and learning

The globalized use of language calls into question conventional ways of thinking in linguistics,applied linguistics and language pedagogy. This book critically examines this thinking from an historical, at times satirical, perspective and proposes an alternative conceptualization. The first section defines a number of key concepts about communication which are taken up in subsequent sections and shown to be relevant to the different but related areas of language study. Issues about the relationship between linguistics and applied linguistics set the scene for a discussion of the nature of discourse, and then how this bears on the understanding of the globalised use of English as a lingua franca.The final section considers the implications of this perspective on communication for how the subject of English language teaching might be redefined. The book is relevant for anyone who sees the need for a critical consideration of established concepts in linguistics and language pedagogy. Acknowledgements 7 Contents 9 Introduction: Only connect! 11 Section 1: Theoretical bearings 16 Preamble 16 Section 2: Linguistics and applied linguistics 28 Preamble 28 1. Contextual meaning and the legacy of J. R. Firth 29 2. Linguistic creativity and Jakobson’s poetic function 41 3. Applied linguistics, interdisciplinarity and disparate realities 47 4. On the applicability of empirical findings 61 Section 3: The analysis and interpretation of language use 76 Preamble 76 5. The pretext of interpretation 77 6. Interpersonal positioning and genre conventions 92 7. “So the meaning escapes”. On literature and the representation of linguistic realities 106 8. Critical practices: On representation and the interpretation of text 113 9. The novel features of text. Corpus analysis and stylistics 128 10. The unrecoverable context 139 11. Macbeth and the third murderer. An exercise in forensic stylistics 149 Section 4: English as a lingua franca 160 Preamble 160 12. ELF and the inconvenience of established concepts 162 13. ELF and the pragmatics of language variation 181 14. ELF, adaptive variability and virtual language 193 15. The cultural and creative use of English as a lingua franca 199 16. Creative incompetence 206 Section 5: Linguistics in language learning and teaching 216 Preamble 216 17. The role of translation in language learning and teaching 217 18. Bilingual competence and lingual capability 232 19. Competence and capability: rethinking the subject English 243 20. Reversions 254 References 266 Name Index 277 Subject Index 279 The globalized use of language calls into question conventional ways of thinking in linguistics, applied linguistics and language pedagogy. This book critically examines this thinking from an historical, at times satirical, perspective and proposes an alternative conceptualization. The first section defines a number of key concepts about communication which are taken up in subsequent sections and shown to be relevant to the different but related areas of language study. Issues about the relationship between linguistics and applied linguistics set the scene for a discussion of the nature of discourse, and then how this bears on the understanding of the globalised use of English as a lingua franca. The final section considers the implications of this perspective on communication for how the subject of English language teaching might be redefined. The book is relevant for anyone who sees the need for a critical consideration of established concepts in linguistics and language pedagogy These thematically related papers present an integrated reconceptualization of critical issues for the understanding of language and communication in general, and English in particular, as central to both linguistic enquiry and the design of English as a pedagogic subject. -- Back cover