1 - Find Topic Overviews - Language and Linguistics - Guides & Tutorials at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Find Topic Overviews

In this section, I will show you 2 types of resources for locating a comprehensive overview on your topic. Online reference collections allow you to cross-search hundreds of digitized reference books to find an encyclopedia entry on your topic. Specialized encyclopedias are also searchable as e-books.

Use other tools to find a topic overview

Try searching for an overview in one of these online reference collections.

Oxford Reference
Oxford Reference is a searchable collection of reference books published by Oxford University Press. Find full-text entries on topics from every discipline.
Encyclopedia Britannica
The complete Encyclopaedia Britannica, searchable online. It contains more than 72,000 articles, 75,000 definitions and more.
Gale eBooks
Gale eBooks, formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), includes encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

More encyclopedias and dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Linguistics: Selected Encyclopedias

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences
Publication Date: 2011
"Includes basic entries for those unfamiliar with a given topic and more specific entries for those seeking more specialized knowledge." Access via Credo Reference. [See more books like this]
The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics by Carol A. Chapelle
Publication Date: 2020
Offers a wide-ranging overview of the issues and research approaches in the diverse field of applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, examines, and seeks solutions to real-life language-related issues. [See more books like this]
The Oxford handbook of experimental semantics and pragmatics
Publication Date: 2019
Exploring the growing field of experimental semantics and pragmatics, this volume offers an up-to-date account of research in the field spanning thirty-one different topics, including scalar implicatures, presuppositions, counterfactuals, quantification, metaphor, prosody, and politeness, as well as exploring how and why a particular experimental method is suitable for addressing a given theoretical debate.

Language Education: Selected Encyclopedias

Oxford Research Encyclopedia in Education
An authoritative, evolving and up-to-date resource for those who wish to understand the complex field of education. Designed for educational researchers, but useful to citizens and parents, politicians and policymakers, educators and scholars.
Encyclopedia of language and education by Nancy H. Hornberger, Editor
Publication Date: 2008
Key reference to support research in language and education. Access via Springer Nature Link E-Books. [See more books like this]
Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning by Michael Byram, Editor and Adelheid Hu, Editor
Publication Date: 2013
It is an authoritative reference dealing with all aspects of this increasingly important field of study. Offering a comprehensive range of articles on contemporary language teaching and its history, it has been produced specifically for language teaching professionals and as a reference work for academic studies at postgraduate level. [See more books like this]
Encyclopedia of Language and Education by Ruth Wodak and David Corson, Editors
Publication Date: 1997
An 8-volume set covering language policy and political issues in education (v. 1), literacy (v. 2), oral discourse and education (v. 3), second language education (v. 4), bilingual education (v. 5), knowledge about language (v. 6), language testing and assessment (v. 7) and research methods in language and education (v.8). Available for borrowing. [See more books like this]
Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquistion by Peter Robinson, Editor
Publication Date: 2013
"[A] user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications." [More like this]

Intercultural Communication: Selected Encyclopedias

The Concise Encyclopedia of Communication by Wolfgang Donsbach, Editor
Publication Date: 2015
This concise volume presents key concepts and entries from the twelve-volume ICA International Encyclopedia of Communication (2008), condensing leading scholarship into a practical and valuable single volume. Access via Wiley Online Ebooks
The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication by Charles Berger, Editor and Michael E. Roloff, Editor
Publication Date: 2016
A comprehensive overview of the theories, concepts and processes that interpersonal communication researchers use to explain a wide variety of social interaction phenomena. From The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series. Access via Wiley Online Ebooks [More like this]
The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction by Karen Tracy, Editor-in-Chief
Publication Date: 2015
A comprehensive overview of the theories, concepts and processes that interpersonal communication researchers use to explain a wide variety of social interaction phenomena. From The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series. Access via Wiley Online Ebooks [More like this]
Language and Communication: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia by Michael Shaw Findlay
Publication Date: 1998
An illustrated, A-to-Z volume exploring how Western and non-Western traditions influence one another, providing insights into the sociocultural rules governing the use of language.

Translating and Interpreting: Selected Encyclopedias

Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies by edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha
Publication Date: 2020
Access via Proquest Ebook Central Perpetual. [More like this]
Translation Studies Bibliography (TSB)
It is an annotated bibliography of the vast field of Translation and Interpreting Studies. TSB's first release was launched in 2004. The bibliography will be updated regularly, with an official new release once a year.