In this ground-breaking new textbook, best-selling author and experienced gamer, James Paul Gee, sets out a new theory and method of discourse analysis which applies to language, the real world, science and video games.

1: Introduction 2: Language, Worlds, and Games 3: Avatars and Affordances 4: The Things We Can Be 5: Syntax and Semantics 6: Situated Meaning 7: An Interim Summary 8: A Unified Theory of Discourse Analysis 9: Chibi-Robo10: Metal Gear Solid 11: Projective Identity 12: Avatars and Big "D" Discourses 13: Non-Responsive Media 14: Alignment and Development

‘This is without a doubt the most significant book on discourse analysis to come along in at least a decade. Gee masterfully accomplishes what many discourse analysts have fallen short of: formulating a unified framework for discourse analysis that explains not just how we engage with texts, but how we engage with the world and with one another. What is presented is a bold, unapologetic argument for discourse analysis as 'an integrative science of meaning making in human lives and society'. It is an argument that few other scholars have the clarity of vision to make so persuasively and so dramatically. This is an extraordinary book that will be of interest to discourse analysts, teachers, game designers, and anyone interested in how we make meaning and take action in the world. It will no doubt open up space for all sorts of useful debates about language, learning, and human relationships. ‘Rodney Jones, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong'James Paul Gee has written an interesting, engaging and, most importantly, widely readable book that should cause us all to think more deeply about how video games communicate.Blending his experience with discourse analysis and video games, Gee’s latest work should start a conversation that helps us think more deeply about the media that are increasingly interwoven throughout our lives.This book should be read by all those interested in language, meaning, and video games and I expect it will prompt many quality discussions across traditional disciplinary boundaries.'Christopher Paul,Association Professor and Chair of the Communication Department, Seattle University, USA.