This innovative, comprehensive course textbook uses a clinical approach to explore pragmatics and pragmatic language skills.

Drawing on authentic, real-life examples of pragmatic breakdown in children and adults who have developmental or acquired language disorders, Louise Cummings expertly guides readers to core insights and principles for understanding where context and meaning in human communication meet. Key features include:

• Chapter-opening learning objectives and chapter-closing summaries
• Authentic illustrative cases of atypical pragmatic interaction
• Exercises for checking knowledge and understanding
• Annotated recommended further reading
• A detailed glossary of important terms in pragmatics and clinical linguistics

Aimed equally at undergraduate and graduate students who are coming to pragmatics for the first time, the text discusses the key issues and concepts of this field in a fascinating new way. With a common, easy-to-follow structure across chapters and a wealth of pedagogical resources, this is an essential text for students of linguistics and applied linguistics, communication studies, speech-language pathology, psychology and cognitive science, and beyond.