II: Theoretical Perspectives
The second part contains four chapters that encompass different theoretical traditions in International Discourse and Communication (IDC). They span a wide range of approaches: the Ethnography of Speaking or Communication, Interactional Sociolinguistics, Critical approaches, and finally so-called postmodern approaches. Taken together, the approaches described in these chapters survey the majority of approaches in the field. While titled “theoretical,” they all have methodological foci as well, thus demonstrating the importance of method in IDC. In practice much IDC work draws on multiple traditions, both of theories and methods, and a familiarity with them makes for easier grasp of the various issues of the field.
