The widening use of computers has powerfully influenced the way people communicate, search for, and store information. For the majority of individuals and situations, the primary vehicle for such information is natural language, where text and speech are crucial encoding formats for the information revolution. This book introduces students to the fundamentals of how computers are used to represent, process, and organize textual and spoken information. It allows students to gain an effective understanding of how the computer works and where problems arise with the involvement of natural language. Self-contained chapters cover the central analytical concepts and provide students with tips on how to integrate this knowledge into their working practice. The authors ground the concepts and analyses covered in the text in real-world examples familiar to students. Drawing on these examples, the authors teach students how to produce evidence-based analyses and arguments about language. The result is a book that teaches students to generate, justify, and argue for valid conclusions about the design, capabilities, and behavior of natural language stystems.