In the present study the use of thanking formulae is examined across different genres and varieties of English. Data is taken from the British National Corpus and the Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English. Employing a form-to-function mapping, thanking formulae are not only analysed quantitatively, but also qualitatively accounting for local contexts and genre. Additionally, the status of thanking formulae is examined in the most prominent models of politeness, and the interpersonal relation amongst the interlocutors is investigated. The first part is devoted to a variational analysis, which is supplemented by a genre perspective in the second part. The findings of the study contribute new insights to research on thanking (formulae), politeness, variational pragmatics and media discourse.

Corpus linguistic methods provide new avenues for (im)politeness scholarship to reflexively evaluate its understanding of communication and language use on the theoretical contributions of corpus linguistics to the linguistic sciences. In this sense, this volume is a unique contribution to (im)politeness scholarship. It showcases studies in the field which employ specialized and general corpora, with methodologies that range from the speech act to the discourse-analytic and conversation-analytic traditions. The book brings into closer contact scholarship that has hitherto remained in relatively different streams of the scientific investigation of (im)politeness. A unifying theme of the chapters here is that (im)politeness phenomena are situated within the institutional and genre-specific expectations of participants in an interaction. Each of the chapters identifies the situatedness of (im)politeness from varying perspectives. The chapters in the volume are sequenced from specialized to general corpora, and simultaneously move from conversation – and discourse – analytic perspectives to contributions that address issues surrounding the identification and extraction of (im)politeness in general corpora. In collating the chapters of the volume, care was taken to focus attention on languages that have been studied extensively in (im)politeness scholarship (varieties of English – British English and Englishes in Hong Kong – and Greek), and languages that are only recently gaining more visibility in the field (Slovenian and Turkish).

This book synthesizes previous work on thanking, politeness and Japanese pragmatics and crystallises the theoretical underpinnings of thanking, how it is realized linguistically and the social meaning and significance of this aspect of Japanese communication.

The English language as spoken in Namibia has virtually been overlooked in most textbooks, handbooks, and surveys of varieties of English around the world, or else has only been mentioned in passing. However, this variety of English has recently attracted the attention of several researchers and the present volume brings together most scholars actively involved in the research on English in Namibia from various linguistic fields to present their current research. It covers a wide range of linguistic issues, such as empirical analyses on various levels of linguistic description and use, as well as the application of diverse methodologies, from questionnaire surveys, sociolinguistic interviews and focus group discussions, to corpus linguistics, linguistic landscaping, and digital ethnography. This book represents the first comprehensive collection of articles and in-depth discussions of this emerging variety of World Englishes.

This collection sheds light on the ways in which corpus linguistics and the use of learner corpora might be applied to the study of academic discourse, revealing linguistic and rhetorical patterns and insights into variation across a range of disciplinary genres. Organized into three sections, the book highlights key tools and methodologies in corpus analysis to study such features as discourse markers, lexical bundles, linguistic complexity, lexico-grammatical conventions, and modality in case studies in studies of academic discourse, both in a second language and in English for specific purposes. The volume features examples from disciplinary genres not often covered in the existing literature, including MA theses, academic book reviews, and online student forums. Taken together with the study of learner corpora, the book demonstrates the impact of corpus linguistic tools in better understanding linguistic patterns of specific languages and language use and in turn, their role in helping to identify the needs of language learners. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, and English for Specific Purposes.

The Routledge Handbook of English Language and Digital Humanities serves as a reference point for key developments related to the ways in which the digital turn has shaped the study of the English language and of how the resulting methodological approaches have permeated other disciplines. It draws on modern linguistics and discourse analysis for its analytical methods and applies these approaches to the exploration and theorisation of issues within the humanities. Divided into three sections, this handbook covers: sources and corpora; analytical approaches; English language at the interface with other areas of research in the digital humanities. In covering these areas, more traditional approaches and methodologies in the humanities are recast and research challenges are re-framed through the lens of the digital. The essays in this volume highlight the opportunities for new questions to be asked and long-standing questions to be reconsidered when drawing on the digital in humanities research. This is a ground-breaking collection of essays offering incisive and essential reading for anyone with an interest in the English language and digital humanities.

This volume presents a collection of research papers investigating how to foster the learning and teaching of pragmatic phenomena, as well as how to administer tests that assess pragmatic competence in second/foreign language education with regards to several target languages. The topics investigated include: speech acts; computer-mediated communication; conversation analysis; pragmatic, intercultural, and emotional competence; native and non-native performance; data collection and instructional methods; needs analysis; and syllabus design and materials development. The contributions will be of particular interest to linguists, language learners and teachers, teacher trainers, and communication experts.

The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics provides a state-of-the-art overview of the wide breadth of research in pragmatics. An introductory section outlines a brief history, the main issues and key approaches and perspectives in the field, followed by a thought-provoking introductory chapter on interdisciplinarity by Jacob L. Mey. A further thirty-eight chapters cover both traditional and newer areas of pragmatic research, divided into four sections: Methods and modalities Established fields Pragmatics across disciplines Applications of pragmatic research in today’s world. With accessible, refreshing descriptions and discussions, and with a look towards future directions, this Handbook is an essential resource for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in pragmatics within English language and linguistics and communication studies.

Threatening is among the less pleasant “things we do with words”, but, together with other conflictive speech acts, it seems to play a central role in communication. Yet, little is still known about how and when exactly speakers threaten. The present volume addresses this void by giving an in-depth analysis of the form and function of this speech act. A set of authentic threat utterances is used to probe questions on the linguistic repertoire employed and the different objectives speakers pursue with their threats. Based on the central findings, a classification of two types of threats is proposed, each with distinctive formal and functional properties. The analysis employs a mixed method approach with a two-fold aim; by combining a qualitative discussion of examples with the application of innovative statistical methodology, the findings allow new insights into research on threats and, simultaneously, offer new perspectives on general research methodology.

This book is the first comprehensive investigation of interlanguage pragmatic issues in a primary school context that is based on both primary school teachers’ statements on their own teaching realities, views and preferences, and a thorough investigation of materials used by teachers and recommended by teacher educators in the state the primary schools are located in. It offers a contrastive analysis of primary school learners acquiring English in a typical English as a foreign language school context and their age peers in the same state that are exposed to English in a school immersion context. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, educators in higher education that focus on English language teaching, second language acquisition and applied linguistics. It is also intended for students who are planning to become primary school teachers of English as a foreign language.