Language As Social Action: Social Psychology and Language Use

by Thomas M. Holtgraves

This interdisciplinary synthesis of the social psychological aspects of language use provides an integrative and timely review of language as social action. The book successfully weaves together research from philosophy, linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, social and cognitive psychology, pragmatics, and artificial intelligence. In this way, it clearly demonstrates how many aspects of social life are mediated by language and how understanding language use requires an understanding of its social dimension.

Topics covered
*speech act theory and indirect speech acts;
*politeness and the interpersonal determinants of language;
*language and impression management and person perception;
*conversational structure, perspective taking; and
*language and social thought.

This volume should serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers in social psychology and communication who want a clear presentation of the linguistic underpinnings of social interaction. It will also be useful to cognitive psychologists and other language researchers who want a thorough examination of the social psychological underpinnings of language use. Although this book is relevant for a variety of disciplines, it is written in a clear and straightforward style that will be accessible for readers regardless of their orientation.

Genres: Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sarah Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and insightful

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine scholarly lad once wrote:

"This book is tough reading because it introduces a whole new world full of intrigue and possibility - but where else can you pick up phrases like "Gricean particularized implicatures" ? The book is also fairly short at 200 pages, so while parts may be tedious, the whole endeavor is enjoyable. This is a good introduction to pragmatics (linguistics) and language and social psychology."