Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Learning About Language)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to find an entry-level book about sociolinguistics. Holmes is probably one of the few people who've ventured to give it a go and didn't do very bad. The realistic and colorful examples of every theory are both this book's flaw and its forte. As a New Zealander, Holmes knows what it's like to live in a multilingual society and this shows in her choice of examples. They help to bring the theories alive, but at times they blur your view of the central theories and technical terms. All in all a pretty good effort, and actually rather pleasant to read.

I am currently using this book as an undergraduate and graduate course book for a Sociolinguistics class in a program in Applied Linguistics and I feel that it is appropriate for that level and only had to suppliment the contents with a few other chapters from some other books. The students like the material and find it easy reading and understandable even though I teach in Mexico with native Spanish speakers.

Janet Holmes is a New Zealander who teaches upper division courses, is a language expert, is interested in gender studies, social-cultural changes in society, and in the English language as an expression of who we-you-are. Most recently, I used the book to gain clarity about the difference between a national language and an official language. If you have any interest in the English Only movement, this book is for you. How can you fight EO? By learning about what it means to have a national and official language. Enjoy this book. Knowledge is power. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Learning about Language)If you want to look deeper at forces behind language use and disuse, this is a book for you. Invaluable, and now that I have reading investment in the book, I feel it is an invaluable resource. It can be read by anyone. It is a pleasure to read about the social implications of languages, and get a glimpse of languages from the views and perspectives of the real users, you-me.

The book is clean like new and no pages missing. I thank the seller in advance

Easy to work with. Although there are too many examples in this book.