Clinical Pragmatics

A critical examination of the current state of our knowledge of pragmatic disorders.

Louise Cummings (Author)

9780521888455, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 April 2009

318 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.63 kg

'This thought-provoking book constitutes a valuable and extremely insightful work covering the wealth of developments, uncertainties and controversies in a rapidly expanding research field of clinical pragmatics. It exhaustively surveys developmental and acquired pragmatic disorders and successfully scrutinizes the current state of knowledge giving careful attention to a variety of approaches and methods in a mostly transparent and readable manner, which makes it an excellent introduction and a must-read for all interested in clinical pragmatics … Clinical Pragmatics is a highly inspiring accomplishment with great potential for [raising] awareness and triggering further theoretical explorations and empirical investigations in the field.' Joanna Nijakowska, Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics

Many children and adults experience significant breakdown in the use of language. The resulting pragmatic disorders present a considerable barrier to effective communication. This book is the first critical examination of the current state of our knowledge of pragmatic disorders and provides a comprehensive overview of the main concepts and theories in pragmatics. It examines the full range of pragmatic disorders that occur in children and adults and discusses how they are assessed and treated by clinicians. Louise Cummings attempts to integrate the fields of pragmatics, language pathology and cognitive science by examining the ways in which pragmatics can make a useful contribution to debates about cognitive theories of autism. The reader is encouraged to think in a critical fashion about how clinicians, experimentalists and theorists deal with pragmatic issues.

1. Clinical pragmatics: theory and practice
2. A survey of developmental pragmatic disorders
3. A survey of acquired pragmatic disorders
4. The contribution of pragmatics to cognitive theories of autism
5. The cognitive substrates of acquired pragmatic disorders
6. The assessment and treatment of pragmatic disorders
7. A critical evaluation of pragmatic assessment and treatment techniques.

Subject Areas: Speech & language disorders & therapy [MMZL], Cognitivism, cognitive theory [JMAQ], Linguistics [CF]