Sociolinguistics

Oxford Introductions to Language Study

by Bernard Spolsky, H.G. Widdowson (Series Editor)

Sociolinguistics is the study of the different ways in which various groups of people use language. This book provides a brief yet comprehensive introduction to the field. It explores how sociolinguistics is linked to other disciplines such as history, politics and gender studies.

Genres: Linguistics, Sociology, Nonfiction, Language

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 1998

About the author

Bernard Spolsky was educated at Wellington College and Victoria University and received a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Montreal.

He has been the head of the English Department, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Director of the Language Policy Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, where he is currently Professor of English.

Bernard Spolsky has conducted and published research in language testing, second language learning, computers in the humanities, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and language policy. He has been President of TESOL, held a Guggenheim fellowship and a Mellon fellowship, and has been Senior Research Fellow at the National Foreign Language Center in Washington.

He has written several books for Oxford University Press: Conditions for Second Language Learning, Measured Words and Sociolinguistics.

Reviews

[Alatea]

Sociolinguistics in a nutshell. Short, easy to read and covering everything one needs to know to have some common knowledge on the matter.

[Chrissey]

it is a very good, short summary of Sociolinguistics. If you are just beginning to study this subject, it will be very helpful in explaining some of the key words.

[Hannah]

I'd bought this book for a class that I thought I needed to take, and then later, I found out the university had given me the wrong course of study. x_x I was actually a little disappointed to not be taking the class after my first few sessions, so this book was a great overview of what I missed out on. I was familiar with most of the concepts from the other linguistics classes I'd taken (I had a great professor!), but this was still an interesting, very accessible, and very readable review. It covers the territory of a lot of the interesting issues of sociolinguistics (bilingualism, gender and class differences in language, etc) while also acknowledging some of the pitfalls of sociolinguistics as a field as it stands. Even being in the midst of a good amount of reading for another course, this book motivated me to want to dig into this area again, which is commendable in itself.

[Teeba]

Great reference !!

[DM Ryan]

This was a good review of what I learned in a linguistics class 25 years ago, but nothing is updated. The lens of the author is that of a white, English-speaking male, which means everything is presented as factual, even things that aren't settled or are currently being researched. He seemed very upset that there wasn't one unifying theory for sociolinguistics, but if he dug a little deeper, he would see that social and economic circumstances explain everything. No, it's not simple because people and societies aren't simple.

[Jason Hu]

Too easy.

[Dakota Rice-Narusch]

A nice, short introduction to sociolinguistics. This is more a book on defining a bunch of major concepts in sociolinguistics, but it does have a fair amount of references for further reading too.

[Ahmed]

Do you know the abstract of his sociolinguistic book? by Bernad spolsky

[Miron]

I'd like to first state that had I rated this book with only myself in mind, I'd have given it five stars. Taking only others into consideration, I'd have given it only three stars. Thus, the mix and compromise is a four-star review.

This is certainly one of my favorite recent reads, and provided an excellent teaching tool and conversation starter- something that doesn't come along very often. This work is, of course, not without fault. But it was entertaining and informative enough in a blend that warrants my high opinion of it.

So what are some of this work's shortcomings? For starters, it tends to be a little opinion-heavy (even considering that this is a sociolinguistics book). Some of the information is presented in a less than appealing manner. And I can imagine it becoming a dry read for anyone not genuinely interested in this topic.

The second reading section addresses some of these issues, however, which is another benefit.

Overall, I don't recommend this to just anyone as a means of passing time or leisure. But to those who are curious and ever seeking mental stimulation, I do.

[HebatAllah Hassan]

As a student, plowing my way through that book, and applying its theories and practices to the language variations of my own beloved country (Egypt) was quite fun. Now, and a few years later, teaching it has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever. THUMBS UP, SPOLSKY :)

[Emmy]

Good introduction to sociolinguistics. Occasionally just pages full of examples that some people may find interesting, but I tended to skim, as there is no way to retain all of them even if you read them.

[Nar Ges]

It also helped me in my 2nd year courses

[Claudia]

A pleasant and easy read about a fascinating subject.