Series: Language in Society

A new approach to sociolinguistics, introducing the study of the social meaning of English words over time, and offering an engaging and entertaining demonstration of lexical sociolinguistic analysis. The Social Life of Words: A Historical Approach explores the rise and fall of the social properties of words, charting ways in which they take on new social connotations. Written in an...

Forensic Linguistics is an introduction to the fascinating interface between language and the law. It provides an integrated and fully theorised understanding of language and law issues. The book contains many helpful examples from genuine legal contexts and texts, discussing the linguistic sources of disadvantage before the law, particularly for ethnic minorities, children, and abused women.

This newly revised edition is both a lively introduction and practical guide to the main concepts and challenges of intercultural communication. Grounded in interactional sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, this work integrates theoretical principles and methodological advice, presenting students, researchers, and practitioners with a comprehensive and unified resource. Intercultural Communication features new original theory and expanded treatment of generations, gender, and...

Talk in Action examines the language, identity, and interaction of social institutions, introducing students to the research methodology of Conversation Analysis. Features: Focuses uniquely on real-world applications of CA by examining four institutional domains: calls to emergency numbers, doctor-patient interaction, courtroom trials, and mass communication. Provides a theoretical and methodological overview of the roots of CA, reviewing the main developments...

Sociolinguistic Styles presents a new and in-depth, historically rooted overview of the phenomenon of style-shifting in sociolinguistic variation. Written by an internationally acclaimed expert in the field, the text explores why, where and when it occurs. Full examination of the complex phenomenon of style-shifting in sociolinguistics, focusing on its nature and social motivations, as well as on the mechanisms for...