A Stylistic Approach to Canon Breaking Texts. Eds. Alcina Sousa and Ingrid Cíbiková. Trnave: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave/Filozofická faculta, Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky, 2016

The book we are reviewing bridges a gap in the field of linguistic studies, particularly in that of foreign language teaching and learning. Although the work’s focus lies on the study of specific linguistic, discursive and pragmatic issues related to the English language, the epistemological, didactic and instrumental principles of the book may, in fact, be applied to any other natural language. Within the scope of English linguistics, because the object in question is the English language, A Stylistic Approach to Canon Breaking Texts is part of what we call Linguistics Applied to the Teaching of non-native/additional languages (beyond the mother tongue), an area which has been gradually assuming more academic and research focus for the last two decades. The book comprises 197 pages, 21 chapters, as follows: Chapter I – Ways Out: Checking Students’ Set Text Readings; Chapter II – Ways In: Previewing Guidelines; Chapter III – Characters. Understanding Characters and their Relationships; Chapter IV – Context. Understanding the Setting/Social Milieu; Chapter V – Plot. Understanding the Plot; Chapter VI – Main Themes. Understanding Main Themes of the Text; Chapter VII Genre. Understanding the Genre of the Text; Chapter VIII – Diary Entries. Understanding Different Modes of Vindicating Subjectivity; Chapter X – Radio Talk; Chapter XI – Drama Sketch. Understanding Creativity in Prose Fiction and Performance; Chapter XII – Postcards and Christmas Card. Understanding Everday Home/Family/Social Literacy Practices; Chapter XIII – Telegraphic Language. Reading between the Lines: Understanding Humour; Chapter XIV – Multimedia Messages. Deciding about Register and Language Purpose in Everyday Social/Professional Domains; Chapter XV – Personal Narratives: Understanding Voice and Register; Chapter XVI – Personal Notes. Understanding Subjectivity in Everday Literary Practices; Chapter XVII – Poems. Understanding Language and Literariness across Genres; Chapter XVIII – Essays. Understanding Critical Language and its Creative Use; Chapter XIX – Memos. Understanding Short Messages; Chapter XX – Messages. Understanding Creativity in Everyday Communication Events: Science and Technology and Chapter XXI – Recipes. Understanding the Language of Instuctions. It is worth mentioning that and each chapter has a rather unique and identical structure: “general aim”, “specific aims”, “tasks” and “activities”. Being a compilation of fictional and non-fictional texts and/or excerpts for use by university students of English as a foreign language, there is, as the very title of the book and the chapters indicate, a concern with the selection of texts that are then properly addressed in the different units of the textbook. In fact, the authors state: