American Speech Patterns and Cultural Values

Introduction

This book examines American cultural values and their expressions in everyday speech, particularly an American discourse strategy which the author coins as a metaphoric comparison'.

Key Arguments

The book argues that culture not only conditions perceptions of reality but also shapes language patterns. Through comparisons with Polish, it shows how idiosyncratic and culture-bound American English is and how, in view of its global popularity, adopting it as mode of communication can alter the lens through which we see the world in both clearly discernible and subtle ways.

Intended Audience

This book will be of interest to a broad audience including linguists, American Studies scholars, non-native speakers of English, and Slavists.