Michael Forrester 
Psychology of Language 
A Critical Introduction

`Appealing in its attempt to approach the psychology of language from a wide range of often controversial viewpoints…. Forrester′s book is a book of reflection. The work constitutes a nice addition to the alternative book library of the advanced graduate student or academic′ –
Contemporary Psychology

This comprehensive textbook brings together diverse themes on the psychology of language in an integrated way. Rather than covering only the formal-structural aspects of language, Forrester provides a broad view of the study of language across various perspectives, focusing throughout on interesting relationships between language and human psychological processes.

The book provides a clear introduction to key topics from language structure and processing, semantics and cognitive science, to conversation analysis, reading and writing, power relations in communication and postmodern psychology.

The author explores language by considering three themes: thinking – the cognitive processes of self-communication; talk – where the emphasis is on everyday conversational behaviour; and text – including the study of reading and writing. A coherent framework is developed by looking at topics which link the themes together, clearly demonstrating the relationship between language and communication processes.

Table of Content

Introduction

Language Structure and the Significance of Recursion

Semantics

The Concept of Meaning

Deixis

The Interface between Language and Social Interaction

Conversational Analysis and Accountability in Everyday Talk

Processes and Procedures in Conversational Interaction

Power Relations in Language

Sign Systems and Social Semiotics

The Role of the Reader in Text Interpretation

Writing and the Construction of Narrative Text

Post-Modern Psychology and Language

Discourse Analysis and Social Psychology

About the author

Michael A Forrester is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He is the author of The Development of Young Children′s Social Cognitive Skills (1992).