Includes indexes.

Earlier ed. publ. 1997 as: Working with texts : a core book for language analysis.

Unit one - Signs and sounds: Signs; Sounds. Unit two - Words and things: What are words made of?; Word and meaning; Historical dimensions. Unit three - Sentences and structures: Nouns and patterns; Verbs and patterns; Sentences and patterns; Texts and patterns. Unit four - Text and context: written discourse; Make and mend; Tracing the patterns; The textile industry. Unit five - Text and context: spoken discourse; Speech events; Storytelling; Speeches; Conversation - some ground rules; Conversation in practice; The representation of talk.

This is a fully revised and updated version of the best-selling introduction to language. Including a huge range of activities and projects, it introduces core areas of language structure and grammar through analysis of real texts. Ideal for both A level and beginning undergraduate students, this second edition includes: a fresh introductory section on how to use the book new material on spoken and written language, children's language, language and ideology an updated range of texts, including advertisements, beer mats, horoscopes, newspaper articles, junk mail, political speeches more extensions suggesting project work with an answer key at the back a new concluding section giving students practice in analyzing the different topics explored throughout the book.