BiblioVault - Books about Introduction

Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation

An Introduction to Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics for Nonspecialists

Salvatore Attardo and Steven Brown

University of Michigan Press, 2027

In the age of Artificial Intelligence hallucinations and slop, the need for a clear, accessible, uncluttered, and authoritative textbook is more important than ever. The fourth edition of Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation retains the informal and reader-friendly style of previous editions and has been substantively updated and rewritten to incorporate recent scholarship throughout. Language is important for a number of fields, including teaching, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The wide coverage of language structure, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, and grammar makes this book suitable for pre-service teachers, undergraduates, and graduate students who need some exposure to linguistics, but do not need highly technical training in formal linguistics.

This extensively classroom-tested book is organized for use in a semester or can be customized for shorter terms by omitting chapters after the foundational core provided by chapters 1–3. The encyclopedic nature of the book, which includes a glossary and an index, make it appropriate for self-study and any reader who is interested in the study of language.

Readers of the fourth edition of Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation will find:

Expanded coverage of Prosody, the phonetic alphabet, African American Language, neurodiversity and language, English as a world language, and English as a lingua franca;
New content on biolinguistics, translanguaging, enregisterment, indexicality, the semiotic turn in sociolinguistics, code-meshing, complex dynamic systems theory, and personality theory in SLA;
A thorough overview of the basics of English grammar.

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Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation, Third Ed.

An Introduction to Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics for Nonspecialists

Steven Brown, Salvatore Attardo, and Cynthia Vigliotti

University of Michigan Press, 2014

Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation is an introduction to the study of language and applied linguistics for students who have had a minimum of exposure to the discipline of linguistics. Using clear, easy-to-understand explanations and examples, this text avoids the in-depth theoretical coverage found in texts written for those who specialize in linguistics or SLA. As a result, this book is perfect for students whose chosen fields require them to be acquainted with the ways language works--such as future teachers, psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists--but who do not intend to become linguists. The text is also suitable for English or ESL/EFL teachers who need a reference volume about various aspects of language, particularly as it applies to teaching. Each chapter includes research projects and further readings.

The third edition of Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation features a new design and reorganization. All content has been significantly revised and updated. Each chapter also debunks a common language myth and now incorporates exercises that, for prior editions, appeared in a supplementary workbook. Extra practice for students is available online, as is additional materials for teachers. (There is no workbook for the third edition.)

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Understanding Our Being

Introduction to Speculative Philosophy in the Perennial Tradition

John W. Carlson

Catholic University of America Press, 2008

Written as an undergraduate textbook, Understanding Our Being treats central topics about our knowledge of being, the being of the natural world, and, via the latter, being as such

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