Introduction

This introductory chapter fills in the background to the study that forms the empirical basis of this book. Crucially, it provides an indicative statement on the aims of the book in relation to the specific issues of language and interactional competence. It explains the role of corpus linguistics, not only in the foundational quantitative presentation of the language system but also in its synergistic interplay with other methodologies, especially ethnography and conversation analysis, in providing a holistic and integrative perspective of the communication of a community of speakers of other languages. The introduction also provides an overview of the chapters of the book.