Originally published in 1986, the goal of Contemporary Issues in Language and Discourse Processes was to provide various perspectives on three key issues facing scholars interested in how language is used communicatively in discourse. The first issue had generated considerable interest among discourse scholars. How does knowledge guide the organization of discourse? More specifically, how do we use cognitive scripts and schemes to interpret strings of communicative acts and then formulate coherent attachments to these strings? The second issue addresses the problem of research methodology. How scholars ought to structure their accounts of communicative sequences and provide evidence for their claims had received very little attention as an independent subject of inquiry. The third issue presented considers the viability of focusing on interactants' goals as the primary organizing feature of discourse sequencing and production.

Each issue is extended and critiqued by relevant scholars who comment on the contributions, pull together the key arguments proposed by the authors and also give their own perspective on these issues. Today it can be read in its historical context.