Introduction to Linguistics from a Global Perspective - An Alternative Approach to Language and Languages

How do languages work? 10 chapters introduce to all major aspects of language and models from theoretical to applied linguistics in an alternative way. Respecting an international university policy for beginner's courses, this book offers an interactive approach even for large, international and interdisciplinary groups, with majors in linguistics, language teaching, European studies, intercultural communication, journalism, psychology, computer science, lexicography, arts, and marketing. The book connects linguistics to various fields. It enables readers to develop linguistic expertise by first presenting problems for reflection, then answering them in everyday language and finally using linguistic terminology, with examples from English and other languages. Students can acquire knowledge with the book “interactively”, at their own pace. Each chapter includes anecdotes, “linguistic learning lyricisms” for difficult terms, a checklist of terms, wrap-up riddles, and a further reading section. Preliminary remarks tell readers how to best benefit from the book. Instructors are relieved from finding the right pace and method for each new learner group. Consequently, classroom meetings can be used to just revise the core knowledge and then apply it to concrete problems from various fields. Instructors are given advice for an effective use of the book and offered several activities for each chapter. Thus, the book becomes a Do-It-Yourself-Then-Do-It-in-Class book. The author, Joachim Grzega, is professor of linguistics and has specialized in Eurolinguistics, language teaching, intercultural communication, expert-layperson communication, and communicative teaching methods.