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Contents vii <p>List of Boxes xi</p> <p>Research in the Spotlight xiv</p> <p>Companion Website xvi</p> <p>Acknowledgments xvii</p> <p>1. Introduction 1</p> <p>2. Language and Society 10</p> <p>3. Place 25</p> <p>4. Social Status 47</p> <p>5. Time 60</p> <p>6. Ethnicity 75</p> <p>7. Gender and Identity 85</p> <p>8. Style 104</p> <p>9. Interaction 116</p> <p>10. Multilingualism 127</p> <p>11. Language Contact 136</p> <p>12. Attitudes and Ideologies 148</p> <p>13. Language as a Social Entity 161</p> <p>14. Education 175</p> <p>15. What is Sociolinguistics? 188</p> <p>Glossary 197</p> <p>Bibliography 213</p> <p>Index 229</p>

<b>Gerard Van Herk</b> is a Canada Research Chair in Regional Language and Oral Text at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has researched and written on varieties of the English language and is the editor of<i> Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications</i> (eds. with C. Mallinson and B. Childs, 2013).

"I'm sitting here in Newfoundland, in Canada, writing a book about sociolinguistics, and you're out there somewhere, starting to read it. If you were here and could hear me talk -- especially if you were Canadian, especially if you had some training -- you could tell a lot about me. When I speak English, most people can tell I'm North American (I pronounce schedule with a [sk] sound), Canadian (I rhyme shone with gone, not bone), and probably from Quebec (I keep my socks in a bureau). And if I was wherever you are, I could probably tell a lot about your speech community and where you fit into it. The fact that we can do this is one of the things that interest sociolinguists..."<br /> <br /> <p>It's rare to encounter a textbook that one will want to read cover to cover. But Gerard van Herk has written exactly that, introducing students to the field of sociolinguistics as the best teachers do: with excitement, humor, and deep knowledge. What is Sociolinguistics? is a tour through the major issues that define the field, such as region, status, gender, time, language attitudes, interaction, and style, while also exploring the sociolinguistics of multilingualism, culture and ethnicity, language contact, and education.</p> <p>The chapters contains useful and clear features including:</p> <ul> <li>Numerous innovative exercises and</li> <li>Spotlighted research, where the author introduces some key concepts discussed in foundational research and offers suggestions for reading the primary literature</li> <li>Further readings, glossary terms, chapter summaries, and text boxes that explore introduced concepts in greater depth for interested students</li> <li>The companion website offers PowerPoint slides for instructors and sample answers to questions, while providing students with further resources, including sound files and carefully curated links for further study.</li> </ul>

“This is a delightfully engaging introduction to the passionate purpose of sociolinguistics. Van Herk is a masterful guide who personally escorts students on an informative, entertaining tour of the field. Students experience sociolinguistics through the perfect blend of substance, interaction, and autobiographical perspective.” – <i>Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State University<br /> </i><br /> “<i>What is Sociolinguistics</i> offers a refreshingly different take on many of the standard, key concepts in the field.  It is funny, clear, and distinctly personal, providing essential information about sociolinguistics and referring students to a host of other works that can take them deeper if they wish.” – <i>John Rickford, Stanford University<br /> </i>

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