Misunderstanding in Social Life by Steven Ross

Misunderstanding in Social Life by Steven Ross

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

Provides a variety of theoretical and analytical perspectives on misunderstanding within different types of spoken interaction/discourse - such as in news media interviews, legal and medical situations, communication by second language learners and between different cultural and social groups, and mistakes in everyday conversation.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free US shipping over $15
  • Buying preloved emits 41% less CO2 than new
  • Millions of affordable books
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

Misunderstanding in Social Life by Steven Ross

Misunderstanding is a pervasive phenomenon in social life, sometimes with serious consequences for people's life chances. Misunderstandings are especially hazardous in high-stakes events such as job interviews or in the legal system. In unequal power encounters, unsuccessful communication is regularly attributed to the less powerful participant, especially when those participants are members of an ethnic minority group. But even when communicative events are not prestructured by participants' differential positions in social hierarchies, misunderstandings occur at different levels of interactional and social engagement. Misunderstanding in Social Life examines such problematic talk in ordinary conversation and different institutional settings, including socializing events and story tellings, education and assessment activities, and interviews in TV news broadcasts, employment agencies, legal settings, and language testing. The analyzed interactions are located in a variety of sociocultural environments and conducted in a range of languages, including English, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, such language varieties as Aboriginal Australian English and Maori New Zealand English, and nonnative varieties. The original studies included in this volume adopt a variety of theoretical perspectives, including discourse-pragmatic approaches, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, social constructionism, tropological and narrative analysis. They represent multiple views of misunderstanding as a multilayered discourse event.

'This book is an important contribution to discourse analytic research in misunderstanding'


Discourse & Society 16(1)

Steven T. Ross (Ph.D., Princeton) has taught at the Naval War College since 1973. He has also held positions as a political-military analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. He has published numerous books and articles on warfare, diplomacy, and military history.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780582382220
ISBN 10 058238222X
Title Misunderstanding in Social Life
Author Steven Ross
Series Language In Social Life
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Year published 2003-01-22
Number of pages 272
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.