Spoken Discourse - (Bloomsbury Discourse) by Rodney Jones (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book introduces a framework based on principles from mediated discourse analysis in which different approaches to spoken discourse are seen as complementing and informing one another. Spoken discourse is seen as mediated through a complex collection of technological, semiotic and cultural tools which enable and constrain people's ability to engage in different kinds of social actions, enact different kinds of social identities and form different kinds of social relationships. A major focus of the volume is on the way technological tools like telephones, broadcast media, digital technologies are changing the way people communicate with spoken language."

Book Synopsis

This book provides an overview of current theories of and methods for analysing spoken discourse. It includes discussions of both the more traditional approaches of pragmatics, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and critical discourse analysis, and more recently developed approaches such as multimodal discourse analysis and critical sociolinguistics.

Rather than treating these perspectives as mutually exclusive, the book introduces a framework based on principles from mediated discourse analysis in which different approaches to spoken discourse are seen as complementing and informing one another. In this framework, spoken discourse is seen as mediated through a complex collection of technological, semiotic and cultural tools which enable and constrain people's ability to engage in different kinds of social actions, enact different kinds of social identities and form different kinds of social relationships. A major focus of the volume is on the way technological tools like telephones, broadcast media, digital technologies are changing the way people communicate with spoken language.

The book is suitable for use as a textbook in advanced courses in discourse analysis and language in social interaction, and will also be of interest to scholars in a variety of fields including linguistics, sociology, media studies and anthropology.

Review Quotes

Spoken Discourse has many strengths. Its strongest voice speaks to the comprehensive reviews of the large literature that the author collectively assembles into his broad and deep approach ... The book offers students and researchers a reference review of seminal and significant texts and approaches.
Pragmatics and Society

I strongly recommend this book as an example of how we can rethink the way we teach spoken discourse especially when mediated through a complex of technology. The engaging examples shed light on spoken language which without the context would be simply empty 'talking heads'.
Asian Journal of Literature, Culture and Society

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in spoken discourse: it provides new insights and innovative analytical tools to students and scholars working with authentic discourse, as well as a comprehensive introduction to those new to the field.
Language in Society

About the Author

Rodney H. Jones is Professor of Sociolinguistics and New Media at the University of Reading, UK.