This book describes the most important kinds of texts in English and introduces the methodological techniques used to analyse them. Three analytical approaches are introduced and compared, describing a wide range of texts from the perspectives of register, genre and style. The primary focus of the book is on the analysis of registers. Part 1 introduces an analytical framework for studying registers, genre conventions, and styles. Part 2 provides detailed descriptions of particular text varieties in English, including spoken interpersonal varieties (conversation, university office hours, service encounters), written varieties (newspapers, academic prose, fiction), and emerging electronic varieties (e-mail, internet forums, text messages). Finally, Part 3 introduces advanced analytical approaches using corpora, and discusses theoretical concerns, such as the place of register studies in linguistics, and practical applications of register analysis. Each chapter ends with three types of activities: reflection and review activities, analysis activities, and larger project ideas.

Author Biography

Douglas Biber is Regents' Professor of Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. He has worked in Kenya and Somalia, and has been a visiting professor at several universities, including the University of Uppsala, University of Helsinki, University of Zurich, the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies, and the Norwegian Academy of Arts and Sciences. His previous books include Variation across Speech and Writing, Dimensions of Register Variation, Corpus Linguistics, The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, and Discourse on the Move. Susan Conrad is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. She has worked in Southern Africa and Korea, and conducted workshops on discourse analysis and corpus linguistics in Europe, South America, and Thailand. Her previous books include Corpus Linguistics, The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, and The Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.