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Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together
Words and Minds takes a lively and accessible look at how we use language to combine our mental resources and get things done. Examining everyday language and drawing on a wide range of research, but always with a light style, Neil Mercer provides a unified account of the relationship between thought and language.
Mercer analyses real-life examples of language being used effectively, or otherwise, in many different settings, including workplaces and schools, the home, the internet and the courtroom, and offers practical insights into how we might improve our communication skills.
Words and Minds will appeal to anyone interested in language and the psychology of everyday life.
Mercer analyses real-life examples of language being used effectively, or otherwise, in many different settings, including workplaces and schools, the home, the internet and the courtroom, and offers practical insights into how we might improve our communication skills.
Words and Minds will appeal to anyone interested in language and the psychology of everyday life.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2020
Excellent read. Accessible and light in style - very useful for all those researching into oracy and how communication and thinking work together.
January 31, 2013
This book is about how human beings think together and, through the medium of language, jointly construct meaning. The author adopts a descriptive linguistic approach so if you are looking for a prescription for how to write or speak the `Queen's English' then I suggest you look elsewhere.
It begins by looking, albeit briefly, at Vygotsky's seminal work on the relationship between language and thought, and continues by stressing the importance of context in the making of meaning. It then discusses the uses to which language has been put in the pursuit of power, influence and control, continues by exploring the contribution that living in communities has made to the development of collective thought and ends by examining the varied forms of dialogue that occur in different situations.
Though only a slight book and 'academic' in tone, it is, nevertheless, and as might be expected, very well written. More importantly, though, it manages, succinctly, to summarize the latest developments in linguistics and language study relating to the connections between language and thought and certainly highly recommended for anyone wanting a `taster' before delving into weightier tomes!
It begins by looking, albeit briefly, at Vygotsky's seminal work on the relationship between language and thought, and continues by stressing the importance of context in the making of meaning. It then discusses the uses to which language has been put in the pursuit of power, influence and control, continues by exploring the contribution that living in communities has made to the development of collective thought and ends by examining the varied forms of dialogue that occur in different situations.
Though only a slight book and 'academic' in tone, it is, nevertheless, and as might be expected, very well written. More importantly, though, it manages, succinctly, to summarize the latest developments in linguistics and language study relating to the connections between language and thought and certainly highly recommended for anyone wanting a `taster' before delving into weightier tomes!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews