Over the last years, research in text linguistics has yielded insights into different levels of methodological reflection and practice, resulting in new issues for investigation. On the one hand, the development of computerized corpora and "hypertextual" reading has reminded researchers that the text is a complex object, both linear and network-like, and largely shaped by its context: how can analysis grapple with such a complexity? On the other hand, the processing of computerized corpora raises new methodological questions about the textual units chosen for analysis or about the use of grammatical categories as tools for stylistic and generic characterization of texts.This volume hopes to offer some constructive reflection on these challenging issues. The selected papers either demonstrate the value of some innovative method of analysis through concrete applications, or develop strong and well-argued epistemological positions, illustrated with examples. Interdisciplinary contributions are also represented: when dealing with "regulating concepts" such as "corpus", "inter-/co-text", "speech genre", etc., various domains including stylistics, genetic criticism, contrastive research, didactic approaches, statistical linguistics and discourse analysis share a common interest with text linguistics.

Texture - the quality that makes a text 'hang together' as a text - is a key focus of investigation in discourse analysis. This volume provides a systematic overview of recent research on textual resources that are used to construct texture, and on the ways in which these resources are deployed differently in different text types. Theme is the major resource that is explored in the first part of the book. The opening papers set out the current understanding of Theme and explore aspects of the concept which remain controversial in the field. This is followed by an examination of thematic choices in a range of text types. Issues raised include the different kinds of meanings appearing in Theme which are particularly significant for each genre, the ways in which these relate to the broader socio-cultural context, and the ways in which thematic choices interact with other kinds of texturing. In the second part of the collection, the scope widens to include an examination of other resources, particularly the contribution to texture made by patterns of interpersonal choices, in Theme and more broadly across texts as a whole. The volume closes with an overview and illustration of a methodological approach by which our understanding of texturing can be further extended.

This is a collection of papers inspired by the work of Frantisek Danes and is published in honour of his 75th birthday. Danes' international contribution to the development of Prague School functionalism, the theory of functional sentence perspective, discourse studies and semantics is reflected in the 27 papers collected in four thematic sections of this volume.

The 35 papers in this volume provide a comprehensive picture of crucial aspects of connectedness. The papers are divided into three main groups: the papers in the first group deal with particular questions of the text-constituting role of anaphora, deixis, coreference, modality, conjunctions and particles, theme, topic, ellipsis, etc., the second group of papers discusses the connectedness in texts/discourses of different types (narrative texts, stories, horoscopes, anecdotes, poems, comics, etc.), and, finally, the papers in the third group discuss general theoretical/methodological questions concerning connectedness.

This work provides an overview of approaches to written text analysis, including both classic and commissioned papers which share a common linguistic framework. The examples used range from pure science, social science and periodicals to literary narratives.

"Text and Technology" focuses on three major areas of modern linguistics: discourse analysis, corpus-driven analysis of language, and computational linguistics. The volume starts off with a description of the various British traditions in text analysis by Michael Stubbs. The first section Spoken and Written Discourse contains contributions by Martin Warren, Mohd Dahan Hazadiah., Amy B.M. Tsui, Anna Mauranen and Susan Hunston. The next section on corpus-driven analysis Corpus Studies: Theory and Practice contains contributions by Gill Francis, Bill Louw, Allan Partington, Elena Tognini-Bonelli. The contributions in this section by Kirsten Malmkjaer and Mona Baker deal specifically with translated text. The final third section Text and Technology: Computational Tools has contributions by David Coniam, Jeremy Clear, Junsaku Nakamura, Geoff Barnbrook and Margaret Allen. In spite of the specialised nature of the topics discussed and the level of sophistication with which these topcis are handled, the papers are written in a clear and accessible style and will therefore be of interest to seasoned scholars and students alike. An extensive index further enhances the value of this collection as a reference point for many of the issues that currently lie at the heart of modern linguistics enquiry

If we consider how theoretical operations belonging to the methodological inventory of linguistics are carried out (i. e. the way linguistic theories are set up), three main criteria suggest themselves for classifying them: (1) Both, nature and type of the aims of the scientific knowledge applied which allow to specify the epistemological interests as well as the theoretical impact constituting the purpose of linguistic operations; (2) the nature of the intellectual procedures in connection with which a set of intersubjectively acceptable operations should guarantee that current postulates of the theory of science be maintained; (3) the set of data serving as an empirical basis for the theories to be estab lished on the one hand and as a correlate for the further development, the testing and the evaluation of theories on the other hand. It is to be considered a basic concept (as well as a motive) of current text linguistic research that due to the linguistic analysis of discourses a further development of linguistics has set in or is still to be achieved as regards the three criteria mentioned above. Therefore, if we want to estimate text-linguistic approaches (or concepts), works (methods), or knowledge (results) we should take the view allowing for the general valuation of the linguistic discipline or one of its sub-disciplines. This should be done with respect to the contributions gathered in this volume as well.

A practical, `user-friendly' guide to the issues and methods associated with text and discourse analysis. Text and Discourse Analysis: * examines a wide variety of authentic texts including news stories, adverts, novels, official forms, instruction manuals and textbooks * contains numerous practical activities * looks at a range of cohesive devices * concludes by looking at larger patterns in texts, a set of further exercises and a guide for further reading * provides a hands-on guide to an area of growing importance in language study.