Discourse and Psychology: An Introduction

This book presents a unique understanding of the interdependence between language and psychology and how one’s speech is shaped by and in turn shapes one’s thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Drawing on the tenets of discourse analysis and psychology, it presents a comprehensive guide to a new and burgeoning area in linguistics and critical theory. The volume focusses on individual and group behaviour to show how identity formation is as much dependent on the psychological state as on social surroundings and context. It introduces various concepts from the sociocognitive framework, discursive and critical psychology, highlighting the myriad ways of approaching the complex interface between text, sociocultural factors, and cognitive processes.

An indispensable guide to the complex world of language and the unconscious, the volume will be of interest to students and scholars of linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychology and behavioural science, language, and critical theory. It is also a must-read for the general reader interested in language, communication, and social intelligence.

Saumya Sharma is Assistant Professor (Linguistics) at the English and Foreign Languages University, Lucknow Campus, India. She was a guest faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for a year, where she taught a course on composition and communication skills. Her research interests include examining the discourse-psychology interface, particularly gender issues, vocabulary teaching, and critical pedagogy. She has published in the areas of English-language teaching, stylistics, and critical discourse analysis. Some of her recent publications include Language, Gender and Ideology: Constructions of Femininity for Marriage (Routledge, 2018) and Common Errors in Everyday English (2017).