This book is intended to provide students with a sound, basic coverage of most 

of the topics dealt with in courses described as either ‘Sociolinguistics’ or ‘The 

Sociology of Language.’ It assumes very little previous knowledge of linguistics, 

anthropology, or sociology, and so should prove to be most useful in a fifirst-level 

course. It may also be used as a supplementary text in a higher-level course that 

deals with a narrow range of topics but in which the instructor wants students 

to become familiar with topics not treated in that course. Each of the sub-topics 

covered here concludes with a ‘Discussion’ section. The material in these sections 

is designed to encourage further discussion and research; it may also lead to 

assignments of various kinds. 

It is obvious that a book of this kind draws on a variety of sources. The 

breadth of the published sources can be seen in the bibliographic information 

that is included. I owe a considerable debt to the sources mentioned there. 

During the many years I taught, my students also provided me with numerous 

insights into what works in the classroom and what does not. My thanks go 

once again to Judy Morris and Angie Camardi for all their secretarial assistance 

with the fifirst edition. For this edition, as for the previous editions, my thanks 

go to all those who provided comments to me in various ways over the years. 

It is certainly satisfying to see a fififth edition. I hope it continues to reflflect what 

is happening in this most interesting area of linguistics, one that seemed for a 

time to be coming apart at the seams because of its rapid evolution and success. 

However, any deeper examination shows that sociolinguistics is still clearly 

unifified through its concern with how people use language to create and express 

identities, relate to one another in groups, and seek to resist, protect, or increase 

various kinds of power. 

R.W