Discourse and Literature: The Interplay of Form and Mind

Oxford Applied Linguistics

by Guy Cook

This study examines the relevance of schema theory to literary theory and the analysis of literary texts. Schema theory suggests that people understand texts and experiences by comparing them with stereotypical mental representations of similar cases. The new experience is then processed in terms of its deviation from that structure or its conformity to it. The book concludes with a section on pedagogical implications and an analysis of three well-known literary texts.

Genres: Linguistics

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Guy Cook is Professor of Language and Education at the Open University, UK. He was formerly Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading (1998-2004) and head of TESOL at the London University Institute of Education (1991-1998). He was co-editor of the journal Applied Linguistics 2004-2009. He is current Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, and an academician of the UK Academy of the Social Sciences. He has published extensively on applied linguistics, discourse analysis, English language teaching, literary stylistics, advertising, and the language of environmental debate. He has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries.