This comprehensive project has the objective of describing and assessing pronunciation talent with special focus on its psychological and neural correlates. The first part of this undertaking describes the extensive tests necessary to measure phonetic talent in its various dimensions, such as production and perception, the segmental and suprasegmental levels of speech, and different utterance forms such as spontaneous speech, reading and imitation. Subjects are examined in their native language (German), a familiar second language (English) and, to a lesser degree, an unfamiliar language...

With English-medium higher education burgeoning in Europe and elsewhere outside the English-speaking world, this book is the first to offer an ethnographically-embedded analysis of such classroom discourse by taking cognizance of English functioning as a lingua franca (ELF) in international student groups. By virtue of investigating one such educational programme in its entirety, the study also enlarges the present knowledge on ELF discourse as it offers novel insights into the interactional dynamics that shape and develop an educational community of practice.

The book is an empirical study of naturally occurring talk between psychotherapist and clients experiencing various anxieties and traumas that most of us recognize and can relate to. By relying on contemporary theories about sequential, situated discourse as well as drawing on "praxis" literature, it aims to investigate how psychotherapy as practice is contextually and interactionally accomplished. By scrutinizing patterns of language use, which reflect the core norms of the speech event of psychotherapy, it offers a unique look into the therapeutic dialogue at the micro level. The book...