This significant volume brings together noted clinicians to offer practical ways of using narrative and other discursive methods of therapy. The innovative ideas presented build upon the social constructionist thinking that has influenced the field for the past decade. It covers topics such as addressing violence, discursive research, and "dialogues" with the authors to demonstrate how these therapies are carried out. Both clinicians and graduate students will find this book of great value.

This volume brings together noted clinicians to offer practical ways of using narrative techniques in therapy. The ideas presented build upon the first wave of narrative thinking that has influenced the field for the past decade. A range of timely topics are covered including sections of dialogue with the authors to demonstrate how these therapies are carried out. Both clinicians and graduate students alike should find this book of value.

From emails relating to adoption over the Internet to discussions in the airline cockpit, the spoken or written texts we produce can have significant social consequences. The area of Mediated Discourse Analysis considers texts in their social and cultural contexts to explore the actions individuals take with texts - and the consequences of those actions. Discourse in Action: brings together leading scholars from around the world in the area of Mediated Discourse Analysis reveals ways in which its theory and methodology can be used in research into contemporary social situations explores real situations and draws on real data in each chapter shows how analysis of texts in their social contexts broadens our understanding of the real world. Taken together, the chapters provide a comprehensive overview to the field and present a range of current studies that address some of the most important questions facing students and researchers in linguistics, education, communication studies and other fields.

When Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist published, it was unique in several ways. It presented Vygotsky as a Marxist methodologist, both locating him in his historical period and delineating how his life and writings have been a catalyst for a contemporary revolutionary, practical-critical, psychology. It highlighted Vygotsky’s unconventional view of how development and learning are related and, in doing so, brought human development into prominence. It introduced important linkages between Vygotsky’s views on thinking and speaking and those of Wittgenstein, drawing implications for language acquisition and language learning. And it drew attention to Vygotsky’s understanding of the role of play in child development, and expanded on the significance of play throughout the lifespan. In these ways, this classic text presented a more expansive Vygotsky than previously understood. The Introduction to this Classic Edition will summarize what has transpired in the years since Lev Vygotsky first published. It will answer who and where is Vygotsky now? What place does he have in scholarship in psychology, education, and other fields? How are practitioners making use of him—to address the challenges of our times, solve seemingly intractable social problems, revolutionize psychology, and develop skilled and worldly citizens? What have the authors accomplished since they first articulated their view of Vygotsky as a revolutionary scientist?

This book deals with the narrative discourse--specifically lifestories--of 16 patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD). It attempts to understand the discourse of these patients in contextual terms. Thus far, the dominant explanation for "incoherence" in AD speech has been largely provided by research in psycholinguistics, much of which has understood AD speech in terms of the progressively deteriorating nature of the disease. This study provides a complementary view by examining ways in which some social factors--audiences, setting, and time--influence the extensiveness and meaningfulness of AD talk. By offering both an examination of interactions across the data as well as analyzing particular cases in detail, this unusual study attempts to juxtapose some general insights regarding AD discourse with case-specific ones. Sociolinguistic analyses of the data demonstrate how certain audiences and particular settings set in motion discourse activities that either facilitate the patients' ability to recall their pasts or impede it. This analysis also includes a critical look at the researcher's contribution in negotiating and reinforcing these activities. Ethnographic details about the social worlds of some of these patients shed light on how larger social contexts at least indirectly contribute to exacerbating the patients' conditions or stabilizing them. The analyses of both context and language provides a more global understanding of the Alzheimer experience. This study also discusses some interactional strategies by which professionals can begin to engage AD patients in meaningful talk as well as ways by which they can better "hear" AD patients' cues at narrating. Throughout, this book underscores the need to factor in social factors when making assessments regarding AD patients' communicative abilities.

The Communication Yearbook annuals originally published between 1977 and 2009 publish diverse, state-of-the-discipline literature reviews that advance knowledge and understanding of communication systems, processes, and impacts across the discipline. Topics dealt with include Communication as Process, Research Methodology in Communication, Communication Effects, Taxonomy of Communication and European Communication Theory, Information Systems Division, Mass Communication Research, Mapping the Domain of Intercultural Communication, Public Relations, Feminist Scholarship, Communication Law and Policy, Visual Communication, Communication and Cross-Sex Friendships Across the Life Cycle, Television Programming and Sex Stereotyping, InterCultural Communication Training, Leadership and Relationships, Media Performance Assessment, Cognitive Approaches to Communication.

Reprints and contextualizes the transcripts of Tom Andersen, Harlene Anderson, and Michael White Andersen, Anderson, and White have shaped the dialogical, collaborative, and narrative therapies Allows readers a glimpse into Andersen, Anderson, and White's journeys and therapies, as well as their wisdom, compassion, and skill Challenges many ideas that have been taken for granted, such as the notions of "self" and "individuality," by a more relational framework