Overview

This book presents a unique range of interdisciplinary work on questions of language development and evolution. It makes visible the significant contribution which meaning-oriented linguistics is making to debates about the origins of language - from the perspective of language evolution in the species as well as language development in the child. As well as linguistics in the systemic functional, or Hallidayan, tradition, the book offers contributions from primatology, psychiatry, sociology and education.

Full Product Details

Author:   Geoff Williams ,  Annabelle Lukin
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.438kg
ISBN:  

9780826488787

ISBN 10:   0826488781
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   22 March 2006
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

1. Emerging language - Annabelle Lukin and Geoff Williams 2. On grammar as the driving force from primary to higher-order consciousness - M. A. K. Halliday 3. The evolution of language: a systemic functional exploration of phylogenetic phases - Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen 4. Language, apes, and meaning-making - Jared P. Taglialatela, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Duane M. Rumbaugh, James Benson, William Greaves 5. Agency, individuation, and meaning-making: reflections on an episode of bonobo-human interaction - Paul J. Thibault 6. The 'interpersonal first' principle in child language development 7. The world in words: semiotic mediation, tenor, and ideology - Ruqaiya Hasan 8. Two forms of human language - Russell Meares and Gavin Sullivan 9. Changing the rules, changing the game: a sociocultural perspective on second language learning in the classroom - Pauline Gibbons 10. How our meanings change: school contexts and semcantic evolution - David G. Butt 11. Ontogenesis and grammatics: functions of metalanguage in pedagogical discourse - Geoff Williams

Reviews

This book's major themes are highly integrated across the various contributions, reflecting faithfully the rich complexity of such a holistic model of language as SFL. The methods of study (naturalistic and contextualized), the major concepts - system and semiosis, function as metafunction, dimensionalism, and the role of context in relation to meaning and the individual - and the applications of these notions to domains like education, primate studies and psychology, are all woven together into a satisfying and challenging whole. The book is stimulating without being over reliant on arcane terminology, and it also keeps open the possibilities for further development and modification of this approach to language.' W. N. Winser, Research Fellow, University of Adelaide, Australia--Sanford Lakoff

This book's major themes are highly integrated across the various contributions, reflecting faithfully the rich complexity of such a holistic model of language as SFL. The methods of study (naturalistic and contextualized), the major concepts - system and semiosis, function as metafunction, dimensionalism, and the role of context in relation to meaning and the individual - and the applications of these notions to domains like education, primate studies and psychology, are all woven together into a satisfying and challenging whole. The book is stimulating without being over reliant on arcane terminology, and it also keeps open the possibilities for further development and modification of this approach to language.' W. N. Winser, Research Fellow, University of Adelaide, Australia--W.N. Winser

Author Information

Geoff Williams is Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada, as well as Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, Australia. Annabelle Lukin is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Language in Social Life, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia.

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