© Columbia University Press
An Introduction to English Sociolinguistics
Paper, 160 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-2325-9
$24.50
June, 2010
Cloth, 160 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-2324-2
Edinburgh University Press
$75.00
This textbook, aimed primarily at beginning undergraduates obtaining degrees in English, provides an introduction to a range of sociolinguistic theories and their insight into varieties of English, past and present. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to sociolinguistic variation, the book provides a systematic overview of topics such as: "English'"as a social and linguistic concept; the relationship between regional and social dialectology, and their application to the study of English; English historical sociolinguistics, from Old English to late Modern English; sociolinguistics and ongoing change in English; Englishes as contact varieties; English as an official language; and English, sociolinguistics, and linguistic theory. The book draws from studies of English as it is spoken around the world, facilitating a deeper understanding of linguistic variation in English and the social, political, and cultural contexts in which speakers and writers of English operate.