The Handbook, written predominantly in German, assumes the bilateral division of linguistic academic communication matter in both text and conversation and differentiates between the linguistics of texts (first volume) and the linguistics of conversation (second volume). Both volumes of the Handbook are set out so as to clearly present their subject matter, whereby the numerous differences and contrasts between the written monologue (textual communication) and the oral dialogue (conversational communication) are clearly represented and the reader is relieved of the tedious task of orientation. The main goals of the handbook are to represent recent international research as well as the historical development of re-search on this complex subject, to explain the basis of both textual and conversational methods of analysis, to analyze the crucial aspects of the constitution and typology of texts and conversations, as well as to present the dialogue between textual and conversational linguistics with other disciplines and specific areas of practice.