Professional Discourse

Using a wide range of professional genres such as research papers, business reports, performance commentaries, guidebooks and legal documents, this study focuses on the discourse of professional writing, employing analytic paradigms from systemic-functional linguistics, pragmatics, text analysis, sociology and anthropological linguistics. Kenneth Kong argues that while professions use different sets of practices, their use of language displays many universals. This is demonstrated through the analysis of data from a broad cross-section of professional settings such as medicine, law, business, mass media and engineering. This examination of professional discourse, and its important role in society, will be of interest to researchers in applied linguistics, to professionals who want to understand the role of language in their work, and to teachers of English for specific purposes.

‘Kenneth Kong’s Professional Discourse is a keenly competent and deeply insightful discussion of the language and identity work of professionals. It is the state of the art in the field today.’

James Paul Gee - Arizona State University

‘Professional Discourse promises to become a landmark contribution to the politics of, training for, and conduct of being professional in diverse occupations across international communities. It provides in-depth coverage of the theories, techniques, and assumptions in an engaging yet precise style, and serves as an indispensable resource for students as well as seasoned practitioners and researchers.'

Patrice M. Buzzanell - Purdue University