Linking Discourse Studies to Professional Practice

This book examines how discourse analysts could best disseminate their research findings in real world settings. Each chapter presents a study of spoken or written discourse with authors putting forward a plan for how to engage professional practice in their work, using this volume’s Framework for Application.

Lubie Grujicic-Alatriste is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the New York City College of Technology, CUNY (City University of New York). Her research interests include discourse analysis, genre analysis, genre transfer, genre-based teaching, second language writing acquisition, critical discourse, professional discourse and praxis.

Lubie Grujicic-Alatriste is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the New York City College of Technology, CUNY (City University of New York). She has taught, presented and published on the topics of discourse analysis, critical discourse, genre analysis, genre transfer and genre-based teaching, acquisition of second language writing and second language teaching.

The present book is a most welcome contribution to the development of applied linguistics. The editor and authors who have worked to assemble this volume merit the attention, appreciation and emulation of the wider world of applied linguistics, so that…applied linguistics programmes and research are genuinely fit for purpose.

Charles Antaki, Loughborough University, UK:

This thoughtful and thought-provoking book is, unusually, about academic research on language making a difference in non-academics’ lives. The editor has done us all a great service in gathering together a lively, at times fascinating and inspiring, set of reports. The variety is wide, and the commitment is deep.

Roger W. Shuy, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University, USA:

This book is a wake-up call to applied linguists everywhere. It illustrates what many linguists have tacitly understood but have been unfortunately slow to act upon. It convincingly demonstrates that education is not the only area in which linguistic expertise has important insights to offer. Like no other book, it provides a stimulating menu of models in which linguists can (and should) apply their theory and research to a wide range of other areas, including business, mediation, negotiation, politics, family communication, and the media.

Ya Sun, University of International Business and Economics, P.R. China:

As an innovative attempt in the fields of discourse studies and applied linguistics, Linking Discourse Studies to Professional Practice explores how the research findings of discourse studies could be best put into professional practice. It will serve as an inspiring reference work and practical guide for researchers in applied linguistics.

Yuping Chen, China Agricultural University, China:

Overall, Linking Discourse Studies to Professional Practice is an excellent resource for its target readers of students, professionals and career scholars. This collection is comprehensive in its coverage of the multifaceted analysis of discourse in different professional contexts. The book succeeds in viably linking academic research findings to actual practices in the real-world community by focusing on real world problems rather than ‘pure’ academic problems.

Carol Hoi Yee Lo, Columbia University, USA:

As Grujicic points out right from the start, citing Sarangi and others, it is an uphill path in the world of academia as academics who are content with pure scholarship might not be easily convinced of the need to go the extra mile, but as the editor painstakingly argues, the continual lack of reflexivity might not help the field advance. To this end, the book under review is a very much-needed and truly timely reminder for our field that in order to put our discourse research findings into meaningful use, we should seek to engage an audience to whom the findings are most relevant.