Michael McCarthy

Cambridge Word Routes Anglais-Français is the first in a unique new range of bilingual reference books for learners of English. Words and phrases are organised around key concepts and near-synonyms in English are clearly differentiated. Word Routes contains: 1) 450 word groups organised either by topic (e.g. Hospital, Aircraft) or concept (e.g. Understand, Strength), and built around a core vocabulary. This section is highly illustrated with line drawings. 2) Language for Communication: 48 sections comprising a unique collection of everyday conversational phrases for different situations (e.g. Expressing Surprise, Telephoning), and their nearest equivalents in the learners’ own language. 3) An alphabetical index of all English headwords (including IPA pronunciations) and an alphabetical index of all translations. Word Routes gives clear and detailed information on grammar and collocation, and has thousands of example sentences, as well as extensive coverage of idioms. The learner’s own language is used in all explanations, and the needs of French-speaking learners are specifically covered. American English is included.

In this book Michael McCarthy and Ronald Carter describe the discoursal properties of language and demonstrate what insights this approach can offer to the student and teacher of language. The authors examine the relationship between complete texts, both spoken and written, and the social and cultural contexts in which they function. They argue that the functions of language are often best understood in a discoursal environment and that exploring language in context compels us to revise commonly-held understandings about the forms and meanings of language. In so doing, the authors argue the need for language teachers, syllabus planners and curriculum organisers to give greater attention to language as discourse.

Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers gives a practical introduction to the field of discourse analysis and its relevance for language teaching. The book begins by answering the question What is discourse analysis?' and examines how discourse analysts approach spoken and written language. Different models of analysis are outlined and evaluated in terms of their usefulness to language teachers. This is followed by chapters on discourse-oriented approaches to grammar, vocabulary and phonology. The final section of the book looks at spoken and written language in the light of native-speaker and learner data and considers examples of teaching approaches. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers has a very practical orientation, and the text is interspersed with reader activities with guidance on appropriate responses at the end of the book.

The material in this book reviews work dating back to the vocabulary control movement in the 1930s and also refers to more recent work on the role of lexis in language learning. Two chapters describe the main foundations of lexical semantics and relevant research and pedagogical studies in vocabulary and lexicography; and a further chapter discusses recent advances in the field of lexis and discourse analysis. There is also a series of specially commissioned articles which investigate the structure and functions of the modern English lexicon in relation to its exploitation for classroom vocabulary teaching.