What do you think?
Rate this book
Introducing Sociolinguistics
FOR SALE IN U.S. AND CANADA ONLY.
FOR SALES IN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES, PLEASE CONTACT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS. Sociolinguistics is one of the central branches of modern linguistics and deals with the place of language in human societies. This introductory textbook expertly synthesizes the main approaches to the subject. The book covers areas such as multilingualism, code-choice, language variation, dialectology, interactional studies, gender, language contact, language and inequality, and language and power. At the same time it provides an integrated perspective on these themes by examining sociological theories of human interaction. In this regard power and inequality are particularly significant. The book also contains two chapters on the applications of sociolinguistics (in education and in language policy and planning), and a concluding chapter on the sociolinguistics of sign language.
Written collaboratively by teachers and scholars with first hand experience of sociolinguistic developments on four continents, this book provides the broadest introduction currently available to the central topics in sociolinguistics.
Features
• Provides a solid foundation in all aspects of sociolinguistics and explores important themes such as power and inequality and new themes such as sign language and gender on the internet.
• Well illustrated with maps, diagrams, inset boxes, drawings and cartoons.
• Accessibly written with the beginner in mind.
• Uses numerous examples from multilingual settings.
• Explains basic concepts, supported by a Glossary.
• Further Reading lists, a full bibliography, and a section on ‘Next Steps’ provide valuable guidance.
Rajend Mesthrie is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town and known for his sociolinguistic work in English, Asian and African languages. Joan Swann is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Language and Communication in the School of Education at the Open University. Andrea Deumert is researching language planning and the history of Afrikaans in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town. William L. Leap is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the American University, Washington DC, and a leading scholar on American Indian language education and on gender.
(US & Canada only)
Paul Peranteau (paul@benjamins.com)
P O Box 27519 215 836-1200
Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 215 836-1204
FOR SALES IN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES, PLEASE CONTACT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS. Sociolinguistics is one of the central branches of modern linguistics and deals with the place of language in human societies. This introductory textbook expertly synthesizes the main approaches to the subject. The book covers areas such as multilingualism, code-choice, language variation, dialectology, interactional studies, gender, language contact, language and inequality, and language and power. At the same time it provides an integrated perspective on these themes by examining sociological theories of human interaction. In this regard power and inequality are particularly significant. The book also contains two chapters on the applications of sociolinguistics (in education and in language policy and planning), and a concluding chapter on the sociolinguistics of sign language.
Written collaboratively by teachers and scholars with first hand experience of sociolinguistic developments on four continents, this book provides the broadest introduction currently available to the central topics in sociolinguistics.
Features
• Provides a solid foundation in all aspects of sociolinguistics and explores important themes such as power and inequality and new themes such as sign language and gender on the internet.
• Well illustrated with maps, diagrams, inset boxes, drawings and cartoons.
• Accessibly written with the beginner in mind.
• Uses numerous examples from multilingual settings.
• Explains basic concepts, supported by a Glossary.
• Further Reading lists, a full bibliography, and a section on ‘Next Steps’ provide valuable guidance.
Rajend Mesthrie is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town and known for his sociolinguistic work in English, Asian and African languages. Joan Swann is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Language and Communication in the School of Education at the Open University. Andrea Deumert is researching language planning and the history of Afrikaans in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town. William L. Leap is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the American University, Washington DC, and a leading scholar on American Indian language education and on gender.
(US & Canada only)
Paul Peranteau (paul@benjamins.com)
P O Box 27519 215 836-1200
Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 215 836-1204
528 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 1999
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 26, 2011
Really, really uninteresting. Perhaps if this had been the only material available for the course, but as it was now we had 'Language: Introductory Readings' as well which supplied everything needed. This book was terrible to read and I lost focus after a couple of pages only. Too much repetition of things from earlier years within English studies.
April 10, 2020
I have decided not to pursue sociolinguistics after finishing this book...
February 21, 2023
Invaluable insightful guide.
December 6, 2024
I am putting this because reading this took up half my life this semester.
November 8, 2013
Almost nine years ago, I took a introductory linguistics course as part of my undergraduate degree. Maybe it was a phenomenal course and I just didn't realize it. Maybe I've absorbed a lot of the theories and issues of sociolinguistics as I've studied literature. But, for whatever reason, I felt like this book didn't really teach me much I didn't already know.
And I suspect that's simply because it's too introductory a textbook to use in a graduate-level class.
And I suspect that's simply because it's too introductory a textbook to use in a graduate-level class.
May 7, 2016
Very easy-understanding topics with the help of funny comic extracts.
However it's kind of bulking a lot of information, more mental maps, tables and well-marked subtopics would make it more organized for an introductory book.
However it's kind of bulking a lot of information, more mental maps, tables and well-marked subtopics would make it more organized for an introductory book.
June 10, 2007
read twice as i TAed for this class my final year of uni.
February 15, 2010
Linguistics
Read
May 19, 2011nice book
December 18, 2015
Very good book to get a general view and knowledge about sociolinguistics. It not only introduces the conceptual background, but also does illustrate the theories with well chosen examples.
December 14, 2016
Very, VERY thorough on its discussions. Excellently researched and grounded.
February 16, 2014
Thankful for the generous references and cited examples in each chapter section.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews