Vox Popular: The Surprising Life of Language in the Media

by Robin Queen

Our favorite movies and TV shows feature indelible characters who tell us about themselves not just in what they say but in how they say it. The creative decisions behind these voices--such as what accent or dialect to use--offer rich data for sociolinguistic study. Ideal for students of language variation as well as general readers interested in media, "Vox Popular" is an engaging tour through the major issues of sociolinguistic study as heard in the voices from mass media.

- Provides readers with a unified and accessible picture of the interrelationships between language variation and the mass media

- Presents detailed original analyses of multiple audiovisual media sources

- Includes a broad methods chapter covering quantitative and qualitative methods in a style not available in any other textbook

- All theoretical terms are accessibly explained, with engaging examples, making it suitable for non-academics as well as undergraduate students

- Incorporates pedagogical textboxes throughout and includes sections dedicated to developing practical skills for the field

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2015

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good as an intro to sociolinguistics writ large, not merely a close study of the linguistics of mass media. It introduces many of the major concepts and techniques in the discipline and illustrates them with examples from TV and movies. Accessibly written and research rich. Examples got outdated fast, so I wish it had a companion website for teaching.