English Linguistics : A Coursebook for Students of English

This book provides an introduction to central areas of English linguistics. The book consists of six large sections: language and linguistics - sounds - words - sentences - utterances - applied linguistics. Each of these sections is subdivided into a number of chapters, some of which address beginners, some of which are intended for more advanced students. The book is written from a foreign student's perspective of the English language, i.e. aspects relevant to foreign language teaching and didactics are especially focussed on. The book also provides basic facts concerning the history of the language and differences between British and American English. The main idea is to demonstrate that usually in linguistics there is not just one way of describing certain facts. This is why each section contains a chapter written for beginners providing a broad outline of the area and introducing the basic terminology for each field. The other chapters in each section highlight certain linguistic facts in more detail and give an idea of how particular theories account for them. The book can thus be used from the first semester onwards but is also intended to serve as an importantstudy aidfor final B.A.-examinations. Key features comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of English linguistics highly accessible through a strongly didactic, reader-friendly orientation