Professor Henry Widdowson is a theorist of language and its teaching, whose extensive writings have addressed the most significant areas in the field. He consistently defends clear-thinking and clear presentation of ideas. His work has been seminal in establishing applied linguistics and its mode of enquiry. For international English language teaching, he has likely been the most influential thinker of the late twentieth century.
Discourse analysis is the study of spoken and written language in its social and psychological context. This book explains the relevant theory, and applies it to classroom activities designed to improve students' discourse skills. The teacher is then shown how these activities may be further developed in specific teaching situations.
This is an introduction to linguistics, the study of human language. The author provides a succinct but lucid outline of the ways in which language has been defined, described, and explored, and guides readers towards further exploration of their own.