Discourse Theory and Practice provides specially written profiles of eight key discourse analysts, describing each one's main contribution to the field, and introducing their method of discourse analysis. This carefully structured reader is much more than just a collection of previously published papers, it offers: an introduction to the field; editorial commentaries which present the key epistemological and methodological issues of discourse theory and practice; strong pedagogic features; The book is organized into four coherent parts and features key readings by Stuart Hall, Jonathan Potter, David Silverman, Erving Goffman, Teun van Dijk, Derek Edwards and Michael Billig. Discourse Theory and Practice is the only reader in discourse analysis compiled with a readership of psychology, cultural studies and sociology students in mind. It is the course reader on the Open University course (D843) Discourse Analysis.