In this book the authors describe the discoursal properties of language and demonstrate what insights this approach can offer to the student and teacher of language. The authors examine the relationship between complete texts, both spoken and written, and the social and cultural contexts in which they function. -- There are chapters on: -issues in teaching spoken and written language; -literature, culture and language teaching; -patterns of text organisation; -teaching grammar and vocabulary from a discourse perspective; -planning a discourse-based language syllabus.