Analysing language data systematically and looking closely at how people formulate their thoughts can reveal astonishing insights about the human mind. Without presupposing specific subject knowledge, this book gently introduces its readers to theoretical insights as well as practical principles for systematic linguistic analysis from a cognitive perspective. Drawing on Thora Tenbrink's twenty years' experience in both linguistics and cognitive science, this book offers theoretical guidance and practical advice for doing cognitive discourse analysis. It covers areas of analysis as diverse as attention, perspective, granularity, certainty, inference, transformation, communication, and cognitive strategies, using inspiring examples from many different projects. Simple techniques and tools are used to allow readers new to the subject easy ways to apply the methods, without the need for complex technologies, whilst the cross-disciplinary approach can be applied to a diverse range of research purposes and contexts in which language and thought play a role.

Contents: Introduction; 1. Background and scope; 2. Language as a representation of thought; 3. Analysis resources; 4. Identifying cognitive orientation; 5. Identifying cognitive depth; 6. Identifying cognitive constructiveness; 7. Using language to convey thoughts; 8. CODA procedures; 9. Beyond CODA.

Author Biography: Thora Tenbrink is a Reader in Cognitive Linguistics at Bangor University. Her previous books include Space, Time, and the Use of Language (2007) and three co-edited books on spatial language and cognition.