How language is used in institutions and how institutions generate language is a key concern of both sociolinguistics and social theory. This readable and comprehensive introduction to language and power in institutions combines theoretical reflection with a strong analytical focus. Covering a range of institutional discourses and settings, each chapter in Language and Power closely examines institutional discourse practices and provides detailed steps to the critical analysis of institutional discourse both linguistic and multimodal. This book is a long overdue contribution to the analysis of the way that institutions have the power to shape our thinking and understanding of the world and to construct identities. Key Features: *This book contains fascinating examples from a variety of institutional contexts, including academia, prison, media and the military * It brings together insights from (multimodal) critical discourse analysis, social theory, media studies and corpus analysis * It is essential reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates doing-sociolinguistics, media studies, communication-and cultural studies