Concepedia

Publication | Closed Access

An introduction to sociolinguistics

333

Citations

0

References

2009

Year

TLDR

An introduction to sociolinguistics by Ronald Wardhaugh, published in its fifth edition in 2006, covers a broad range of sociolinguistic topics including multilingualism, dialectology, and social variation. The book is organized into 16 chapters covering topics from introduction to conclusion, including languages, dialects, pidgins, codes, speech communities, variation, culture, ethnography, solidarity, talk, gender, disadvantage, and planning. Wardhaugh's textbook has remained one of the most popular sociolinguistics texts for two decades. Published by Blackwell in 2006, the fifth edition spans 418 pages and costs $41.95.

Abstract

Ronald Wardhaugh, An introduction to sociolinguistics. 5th ed. Oxford & Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Pp. 418. Pb $41.95.Wardhaugh's textbook has been one of the most popular ones in sociolinguistics for two decades. Its fifth edition was published in 2006, four years after the fourth and 20 years after the first. The 16 chapters are divided as follows: 1, introduction; 2, languages, dialects and varieties; 3, pidgins and creoles; 4, codes; 5, speech communities; 6, 7, and 8, variation and change; 9, words and culture; 10, ethnographies; 11, solidarity and politeness; 12, talk and action; 13, gender; 14, disadvantage; 15, planning; 16, conclusion. The coverage of sociolinguistic subjects is broad: multilingualism and its consequences, regional and social dialectology.