Sociolinguistics: Theoretical Debates

by Nikolas Coupland (Editor)

Sociolinguistics is a dynamic field of research that explains the role and function of language in social life. This book offers the most substantial account available of the core contemporary ideas and arguments in sociolinguistics, with an emphasis on innovation and change. Bringing together original writing by more than twenty of the field's most influential international thinkers and researchers, this is an indispensable guide to the newest and most searching ideas about language in society. For researchers and advanced students it gives access to the field's most pressing issues and debates, as well as providing a platform for new initiatives in sociolinguistic research.

Kindle Edition

Published July 5, 2016

Reviews

[Miglė · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores new perspectives of research and new terms used in sociolinguistics. It's not 'debates' stricto sensu, but a presentation of new directions / trends / stuff in this discipline. In a very short and oversimplified way, this 'new stuff' can be summarized as follows:
1) Broadening the scope: stuff that wasn't the object of sociolinguistics before, now is the object of sociolinguistics.
2) Dissolving the boundaries: stuff that used to be regarded as distinct (languages, cultures, power) are now seen as now seen as an interplay of other, smaller factors, i.e. a person who's fluent in two languages is not called bilingual, but rather having a specific linguistic repertoire and drawing from it, not seeing hers / his repertoire as consisting of two separate entities.
3) Attention to small stuff (small communities and / or their linguistic practices) and critique of totalizing attempts.

All in all - an interesting exercise in learning to see things differently, even though my inner desire of classification rebelled at some of the ideas.
Also, it's a collection of articles and I only read thoroughly the ones that seemed relevant to my research, and just glanced through the rest - so others might find different things there.

[Mike Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who want overviews of theoretical shifts in language theories, this is a perfect book. The citations and bibliographies will be particularly useful to those needing a resource that can quickly frame movements in scholarship. This will be most useful to academic writers and professors that need to work from a clear starting point that will unfold throughout the semester. Excellent book.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important overview of where the field of sociolinguistics currently stands, especially in relation to social theory, with important reviews of the origins and development of the field as a whole.