James E. Alatis, Heidi E. Hamilton, and Ai-Hui Tan (eds.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2000: Linguistics, language and the professions: Education, journalism, law, medicine, and technology. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2002. Pp. i, 279. Pb $39.95.

Extract

The 2000 Georgetown University Round Table focused on “the application of linguistics to … a full range of … professions” (p. 3). It offered tracks on education, journalism, law, medicine, technology, and other professions. The book reviewed here presents highlights from that conference: six plenary speeches, eight selected conference papers, and a closing discussion among plenary speakers, conference organizers, and audience members. The chapters are distributed fairly evenly across the range of professions identified for the conference. The plenary speakers were Shirley Brice Heath, John R. Rickford, Allan Bell, Roger W. Shuy, Richard M. Frankel, and Lee Lubbers. James E. Alatis and Heidi Hamilton were the conference chairs. In this review, I will not comment on each chapter of the book; rather, I will highlight some themes and focus on articles I found particularly relevant to them.