The last decade has seen a fundamental rethinking of the concept of context. Rather than functioning solely as a constraint on linguistic performance, context is now also analysed as a product of language use. In this new perspective, language and context are seen as interactively achieved phenomena[...]

Alessandro Duranti explores the way traditional oratory in a Samoan village is shaped by the needs of the political process and shows how language insulates ceremonial speakers from the perils of everyday confrontation. He proposes a "moral flow hypothesis" in discourse, to describe a grammar that d[...]

Documenting how in the course of acquiring language children become speakers and members of communities, "The Handbook of Language Socialization" is a unique reference work for an emerging and fast-moving field.Spans the fields of anthropology, education, applied linguistics, and human development I[...]