This comprehensive new edition of Wardhaugh’s textbook incorporates additional study features and numerous new and updated references to bring the book completely up-to-date, whilst maintaining the features that made the book so popular with lecturers and students: accessible coverage of a wide range of issues, clearly written, and with useful student study features.

* A fully revised new edition of Ronald Wardhaugh’s popular introduction to sociolinguistics, which now includes over 150 new and updated references and new study features throughout * Features new “Explorations” sections in each chapter incorporating suggested readings, discussion sections, and exercises – all designed to encourage students to develop their own skills and ideas * Reflects new developments in the field, providing greater focus on ideas such as identity, solidarity, and markedness * Provides balanced coverage of a range of topics, including: language dialects, pidgins and Creoles, codes, bilingualism, speech communities, variation, words and culture, ethnographies, solidarity and politeness, talk and action, gender, disadvantage, and planning * Comprehensive and accessible, it is the ideal introduction for students coming to sociolinguistics for the first time