Communicating and Organizing in Context

PREFACE

This book represents somewhat of an odyssey, taking me beyond my earlier career interests, yet reflecting a continued focus on issues of discourse and context.

My communication career started in communicative development, with a strong interest in the “miracle” of communication—with no particular training, most two-year-olds acquire the rudiments of language and communication, enabling them to participate in social interaction. From the outset, my doctoral training and subsequent research has been interdisciplinary. At Wisconsin, I studied with Frederick Williams, who was very interested in social differences in language use and contributed to studies on Head Start and other language intervention programs. While completing my doctoral ...