CONTENTS ; Contributors ; List of Tables ; List of Figures ; Introduction ; Robert Bayley, Richard Cameron, and Ceil Lucas ; Part I. Disciplinary Perspectives ; 1. Variationist Sociolinguistics ; Robert Bayley ; 2. Linguistic Anthropology ; Janet Shibamotoe-Smith and Vineeta Chand ; 3. Doers and Makers: The Interwoven Stories of Sociology and the Study of Language ; Christopher McAll ; 4. Critical Discourse Analysis ; Martin Reisigl ; 5. Conversation Analysis ; Paul Seedhouse ; 6. The Intersections of Language Socialization and Sociolinguistics ; Karen Watson-Gegeo and Matthew C. Bronson ; 7. Psycholinguistic Approaches ; Brandon C. Loudermilk ; 8. Interdisciplinary Approaches ; Christine Mallinson and Tyler Kendall ; Part II. Methodologies and Approaches ; 9. Studies of the Community and the Individual ; James A. Walker and Miriam Meyerhoff ; 10. Experimental Methods for Measuring Intelligibility of Closely Related Language Varieties ; Charlotte Gooskens ; 11. Quantitative Analysis ; Kyle Gorman and Daniel Ezra Johnson ; 12. Analyzing Qualitative Data: Mapping the Research Trajectory in Multilingual Contexts ; Juliet Langman ; 13. Longitudinal Studies ; Gillian Sankoff ; 14. Methods for Studying Sign Languages ; Ceil Lucas ; Part III. Bilingualism and Language Contact ; 15. Pidgins and Creoles ; Eric Russell Webb ; 16. Language Maintenance and Shift ; Kim Potowski ; 17. Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition ; Martin Howard, Raymond Mougeon, and Jean-Marc Dewaele ; 18. Codeswitching ; Li Wei ; 19. Sign Language Contact ; David Quinto-Pozos and Robert Adam ; Part IV. Variation ; 20. Sociophonetics ; Maciej Baranowski ; 21. Phonology and Sociolinguistics ; Naomi Nagy ; 22. Morphosyntactic Variation ; Ruth King ; 23. Pragmatics and Sociolinguistic Variation ; Richard Cameron and Scott Schwenter ; 24. Variation and Change ; Alexandra D'Arcy ; 25. Sociolinguistic Variation and Change in Sign Languages ; Adam Schembri and Trevor Johnston ; Part V. Language Policy, Language Ideology, and Language Attitudes ; 26. Language Policy, Ideology, and Attitudes in English-Dominant Countries ; Thomas Ricento ; 27. Language Policies and Language Attitudes in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Vernacularization ; Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu ; 28. Language Policy and Ideology: Greater China ; Qing Zhang ; 29. Language Policies and Politics in South Asia ; Vineeta Chand ; 30. Language Policy and Ideology in Latin America ; Enrique Rainer Hamel ; 31. Language Policy, Ideology, and Attitudes in Western Europe ; Francois Grin ; 32. Language Management in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Post-Soviet Countries ; Aneta Pavlenko ; 33. Language Policy and Attitudes towards Sign Languages ; Joseph Hill ; Part VI. Sociolinguistics, the Professions, and the Public Interest ; 34. Language and Law ; Gregory Matoesian ; 35. Our Stories, Ourselves: Can the Culture of a Large Medical School Be Changed without Open Heart Surgery? ; Richard M. Frankel ; 36. Sociolinguistic Studies of Sign Language Interpreting ; Cynthia Roy and Melanie Metzger ; 37. Language Awareness in Community Perspective: Obligation and Opportunity ; Walt Wolfram ; 38. Linguistic and Ecological Diversity ; Suzanne Romaine ; 39. Language Revitalization ; Lenore A. Grenoble ; 40. Linguistics and Social Activism ; Anne H. Charity Hudley

"The...handbook benefits from the fact that all of the authors are outstanding scholars who are extremely well known in their respective areas of expertise... [G]raduate students who are interested in sociolinguistic studies are most likely to benefit from reading this handbook in its entirety, because the editors have taken great care to account for a combination of theoretical and practical insights regarding studies of language in social contexts." --Language "The Handbook is an excellent volume, with content that nobody wih an interest in the field can afford to ignore. Its structure is comprehensive and innovative... It is a what-how-to-why-and-where-do-we-go-from-here kind of volume which is both erudite and accessible. The breadth, as well as the depth, of what it covers makes it suitable... for various audiences... This handbook will, I believe, remain relevant for years to come and both the editors and Oxford University Press should be applauded for the endeavor." --English Today "The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics [is] an invaluable new contribution to the field of sociolinguistics, as it presents the interdisciplinary development of this field over the past decades. While it certainly stands out for its careful organization of abundant material, it must be especially praised for the special attention given to relevant topics that pertain to modern-day social preoccupations. In this sense, it will no doubt inspire those in the field to further their research. In a classroom setting, it would serve as an engaging academic tool for an overall introduction to the growing field of sociolinguistics. In sum, this handbook is a unique and welcomed addition to the Oxford Handbook collection, which already include studies in the areas of Applied Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Comparative Syntax, Compositionality, Language Evolution, Linguistic Analysis, Linguistic Minimalism, Translation Studies, and Linguistic Typology." -- Linguist List

Selling point: Contains over 40 articles dealing with a great variety of topics in the study of language and society Selling point: Presents the major theoretical approaches, in particular bilingual and multilingual contexts, and both spoken and signed languages Selling point: Offers not only an up-to-date guide to the diverse areas of the study of language in society, but also numerous indications as to where the field is headed

Robert Bayley is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Davis. He has conducted research on variation in English, Spanish, Chinese, ASL, and Italian Sign Language as well as studies of language socialization in U.S. Latino communities. His publications include Language as Cultural Practice (with Sandra R. Schecter, 2002), and Sociolinguistic Variation: Theories, Methods, and Applications (with Ceil Lucas, 2007). Richard Cameron is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has published on Puerto Rican Spanish, Chicago English, age, gender, medical discourse, and sociolinguistic theory. A recently edited book is Spanish in Context (with Kim Potowski, 2007). Ceil Lucas is Professor of Linguistics at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Her recent publications include Language and the Law in Deaf Communities (2003), The Linguistics of American Sign Language, 5th ed. (with Clayton Valli et al., 2011), and The Hidden Treasure of Black ASL: Its History and Structure (with Carolyn McCaskill, Robert Bayley, and Joseph Hill, 2011).

Selling point: Contains over 40 articles dealing with a great variety of topics in the study of language and society Selling point: Presents the major theoretical approaches, in particular bilingual and multilingual contexts, and both spoken and signed languages Selling point: Offers not only an up-to-date guide to the diverse areas of the study of language in society, but also numerous indications as to where the field is headed