A new, fully revised edition of this bestselling textbook in linguistic anthropology, updated to address the impacts of globalization, pandemics, and other contemporary socio-economic issues in the study of language Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology has introduced thousands of students to the engaging and compelling field of linguistic anthropology. Now in a new, fully updated and revised third edition, this bestselling textbook provides a student-friendly exploration of language as a social and cultural practice. Covering both theory and real-world practice, this clear and highly accessible textbook examines the relationship between language and social context while highlighting the advantages of an ethnographic approach to the study of language. The third edition includes a timely new chapter that investigates how technologies such as social media and online meetings have changed language. The new edition also considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on linguistic practices, ensuring that this text will be a valuable resource for students for years to come. This insightful text: Offers an engaging introduction to the field of linguistic anthropology Features all-new material covering contemporary technologies and global developments Explains how language use is studied as a form of social action Covers nonverbal and multimodal communication, language acquisition and socialization, the relationship between language and thought, and language endangerment and revitalization Explores various forms of linguistic and social communities, and discusses social and linguistic differentiation and inequality along racial, ethnic, and gender dimensions Requiring no prior knowledge in linguistics or anthropology, Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology, Third Edition, is the perfect textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory linguistic anthropology as well as related courses in sociolinguistics, sociology, and communication.

Language not only expresses identities but also constructs them. Starting from that point, Language and Identity examines the interrelationships between language and identities. It finds that they are so closely interwoven, that words themselves are inscribed with ideological meanings. Words and language constitute meanings within discourses and discourses vary in power. The powerful ones reproduce more powerful meanings, colonize other discourses and marginalize or silence the least powerful languages and cultures. Language and culture death occur in extreme cases of marginalization. This book also demonstrates the socio-economic opportunities offered by language choice and the cultural allegiances of language, where groups have been able to create new lives for themselves by embracing new languages in new countries. Language can be a 'double-edged sword' of opportunity and marginalization. Language and Identity argues that bilingualism and in some cases multilingualism can both promote socio-economic opportunity and combat culture death and marginalization. With sound theoretical perspectives drawing upon the work of Bakhtin, Vygotsky, Gumperz, Foucault and others, this book provides readers with a rationale to redress social injustice in the world by supporting minority linguistic and cultural identities and an acknowledgement that access to language can provide opportunity.

"The first book to highlight the most pressing sociology-of-language themes of our times. All of which have to do with the twin issues of power and identity. Important evidence and illustrations bearing upon these matters are provided and supplemented by an extensive bibliography"--Provided by publisher.

In this book different aspects of language and aging are discussed. While language spoken by and language spoken with elderly people have been treated as different areas of research, it is argued here that from a dynamical system perspective the two are closely interrelated. In addition to overviews of research on language and aging, a number of projects on this topic in multilingual settings are presented.

The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.

One key measure of a country's status in the world is the literacy of its people; at the same time, global migration has led to increased interest in bilingualism and foreign language learning as topics of research. Literacy Development and Enhancement Across Orthographies and Cultures reviews international studies of the role of literacy in child development, particularly how children learn their first written language and acquire a second written and spoken one. Comparisons and contrasts are analyzed across eight countries and 11 languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hebrew, Dutch, and Catalan.

Using qualitative and quantitative, established and experimental methods, contributors trace toddlers' development of print awareness, clear up common myths regarding parental involvement and non-involvement in their children's literacy, and suggest how the spelling of words can aid in the gaining of vocabulary. For added relevance to educators, the book includes chapters on early intervention for reading problems and the impact of pedagogical science on teaching literacy.

Highlights of the coverage:

• Letter name knowledge in early spelling development
• Early informal literacy experiences
• Environmental factors promoting literacy at home
• Reading books to young children: what it does-and doesn't do
• The role of orthography in literacy acquisition among monolingual and bilingual children
• Gaining literacy in a foreign language
• Instructional influences on literacy growth

Literacy Development and Enhancement Across Orthographies and Cultures adds significant depth and interest to the knowledge base and should inspire contributions from additional languages and orthographies. It belongs in the libraries of researchers and educators involved in cognitive psychology, language education, early childhood education and linguistics.

In this book different aspects of language and aging are discussed. While language spoken by and language spoken with elderly people have been treated as different areas of research, it is argued here that from a dynamical system perspective the two are closely interrelated. In addition to overviews of research on language and aging, a number of projects on this topic in multilingual settings are presented.

This is a comprehensive volume which engages with language policies and positions to highlight the issues surrounding language commodification and globalization.Throughout human history, languages have been in competition with each other. As the world becomes more globalized, this trend increases. It affects the decision-making of those in positions of power and determines macro language policies and planning. Often decisions about language (or dialects or language variety) are related to usefulness - defined in terms of their pragmatic and commercial currency or their value as symbols of socio-cultural identity. Languages can be modes of entry into coveted social hierarchies or strongholds of religious, historical, technological and political power bases. Languages are seen now as commodities that carry different values in an era of globalization.This volume engages with language policies and positions in relation to the roles and functions these languages adopt. It examines the 'value' of languages, defined in terms of the power they have in the global marketplace as much as within the complex matrices of the local socio-politics. These valuations strongly underpin the various motivations that influence policy-making decisions, and in turn, these motivations create the tensions that characterize many language-related issues; tensions that arise when languages become commodified.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

This volume covers the language situation in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political contexts and the current language situation, including language-in-education planning, the role of the media, the role of religion, and the roles of non-indigenous languages. The authors are indigenous and have been participants in the language planning context.

The author presents a new approach to the study of language policy, by focusing on language policy formation and implementation as a dynamic, conflict-laden "process" involving the interaction of various actors with different motivations and uneven bargaining powers, rather than as a "product," examinable "post hoc" from existing language legislation.

Jean-Louis Dessalles explores the co-evolutionary paths of biology, culture, and the great human edifice of language, linking the evolution of the language to the general evolutionary history of humankind. He provides searchingly original answers to such fundamental paradoxes as to whether we acquired our greatest gift in order to talk or so as to be able to think, and as to why human beings should, as experience constantly confirms, contribute information for the well-being of others at their own expense and for no apparent gain: which if this is one of language's main functions appears to make its possession, in Darwinian terms, a disadvantage. Dr Dessalles looks for solutions in the early history of human species and considers the degree to which language evolved as a means of choosing profitable coalition partners and maximizing individual success within a competitive social environment. The author opens with a discussion of the differences between animal and human communication and the biological foundations of language. He looks at the physiological preconditions for language evolution and the early evolution of meaning and communication. He then embarks on an important and original account of the natural history of conversation. Here he considers the roles of language in supporting social cohesion and information exchange. This challenging and original account will appeal to all those interested in the origins of language and the evolution of human behaviour.

This book presents a collection of thematically focused articles addressing culture-specific features of academic communication, with a particular focus on communication conducted in English as an Additional Language and directed at multicultural audiences. It comprises papers arranged in four sections: Expert writers, Novice writers and readers, Conference participants, and Non-research academic genres. The book explicitly addresses and is centred upon the concept of a research niche understood as a space to be captured and populated, as a temporary location to move or grow out of in the course of individual professional development from novice to expert, and as a space to consciously reach beyond, delimited by one's linguistic, cultural, educational, and geopolitical background. Here the niche is approached as a frame of reference for discussion of what is culture-bound, culture-sensitive, and culture-free in the academic community and its practices.

This book throws light on ideologies, practices and sociocultural developments currently shaping language use in Japan by departing from the more common investigation of language in private contexts and examining aspects of the language found in a range of significant public spaces, from the material (an international airport, the streets of Tokyo, the JSL classroom in Japan and courtrooms) to the electronic (television dramas, local government web pages and cyberspace).

Through its study of the language encountered in such settings, the volume provides a deeper understanding of multifaceted aspects of linguistic diversity, both in terms of the use of languages other than Japanese and of issues relating to the Japanese language itself. The variety of theoretical approaches brought to bear by contributing authors ensures a substantial intellectual contribution to the literature on language in contemporary Japan.

This book was published as a special issue of Japanese Studies.

Polish vs. American Courtroom Discourse brings together the fields of discourse analysis and socio-legal studies to identify, illustrate and explain the cross-cultural similarities and disparities between the inquisitorial and adversarial procedures of witness examination in criminal trials.

The Language, Society and Power Reader is the definitive Reader for students studying introductory modules in language and society.

Highly user-friendly, this wide-ranging collection of key readings introduces students to the thoughts and writings of major writers working within the area of sociolinguistics. The Language, Society and Power Reader

• is divided into ten thematic sections that explore the nature of language in the following areas: power, politics, media, gender, ethnicity, age, social class, identity and standardisation
• includes classic foundational readings from renowned scholars, but also innovative and contemporary work from new writers in the area
• provides a wealth of editorial support for each section with detailed section introductions and background information, issues to consider, annotated further reading and suggestions for further viewing
• features a glossary with helpful definitions and information on how the readings link to different areas.

While it can be used as a stand-alone text, The Language, Society and Power Reader has also been fully cross-referenced with the new companion title: Language, Society and Power, third edition (Routledge, 2011). Together these books provide the complete resource for students studying modules in language and society in English language and linguistics, media, communication, cultural studies, sociology and psychology.

The book is the first of its kind to establish Cognitive Linguistics as a research paradigm within the field of world Englishes. The authors survey the main tenets of both areas of linguistic enquiry and suggest that the theoretical and methodological apparatus developed both within Cognitive Linguistics generally and within its novel sub-discipline Cognitive Sociolinguistics can overcome certain limitations inherent in traditional approaches to cultural variation in language. They present a case study of the linguistic realization of the cultural model of community in African English as an exemplar for the investigation of cultural models in other varieties of English. Corpus-linguistic methods are combined with conceptual metaphor analysis and blending theory to elucidate a vast network of conceptualizations salient to speakers of African English. The findings, based on computer corpora and a range of additional sources, are discussed against the background of work in anthropology, religious studies, and political science. The book also reflects on the role of English in intercultural communication and concludes with a comparison of Cognitive Linguistics and pragmatic functionalism, placing the former in the wider framework of a hermeneutic philosophy that stresses dialogic understanding.

This book is a study of how people collaboratively interpret events or experiences as having paranormal features, or as evidence of spiritual agency. The authors study recordings of paranormal research groups as they conduct real life investigations into allegedly haunted spaces and the analyses describe how, through their talk and embodied actions, participants collaboratively negotiate the paranormal status of the events they experience.By drawing on the study of the social organisation in everyday interaction, they show how paranormal interpretations may be proposed, contested and negotiated through conversational and embodied practices of the group. The book contributes to the sociology of anomalous experience, and explores its relevance to other social science topics such as dark tourism, participation in religious spaces and practices, and the attribution of agency. This book will therefore be of interest to academics and postgraduate researchers of language and social interaction; discourse and communication, cultural studies; social psychology, sociology of religious experience; parapsychology, communication and psychotherapy.

This volume covers the language situation in Hong Kong, Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political contexts and the current language situation, including language-in-education planning, the role of the media, the role of religion and the roles of non-indigenous languages. Two of the authors are indigenous to the situations described while the other has undertaken extensive field work and consulting there. The three monographs contained in this volume draw together the literature on each of the polities to present an overview of the research available about each of them, while providing new research-based information. The purpose of the volume is to provide an up-to-date overview of the language situation in each polity based on a series of key questions in the hope that this might facilitate the development of a richer theory to guide language policy and planning in other polities where similar issues may arise. This book was published as special issues of Current Issues in Language Planning.

Language is key to understanding culture, and culture is an essential part of studying language. This reader focuses on the interplay between Language and Intercultural Communication. Reflecting the international nature of the field, this reader covers a wide range of language and cultural contexts: Arabic, Chinese, English (British, American, Australian and South African), Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Samoan and Spanish. Divided into six parts, it covers: Culture, language and thought; Cultural approaches to discourse and pragmatics; Communication patterns across cultures; Teaching and learning cultural variations of language use; Interculturality and Intercultural Communication in professional contexts. With twenty two readings by eminent authorities in the field as well as cutting-edge materials representing current developments, the book explores the breadth and depth of the subject as well as providing an essential overview for both students and researchers. Each part begins with a clear and comprehensive introduction, and is enhanced by discussion questions, study activities and further reading sections. Alongside a comprehensive Resource List, detailing important reference books, journals, organisations and websites and an annotated Glossary of key terms, the final section offers advice on how to carry out research in Language and Intercultural Communication.

This book explores the nature and scope of modality in Japanese. It contains a review of the history of Japanese modality studies, as well as theoretical and empirical research and is the first collection of studies on Japanese modality written in English and offers a stimulating contrast to existing studies on Western languages.

Intercultural communication is a daily occurrence for most people, as a result of transnational population flows and globalized media. The contributions to this volume propose reconceptualizations of orthodox accounts of intercultural communication based on supposed national cultural characteristics. They approach the subject from a variety of angles, including intercultural communication training, the role of power in intercultural negotiations, the linguistic situation in Europe, and the conflict between nationalist and transnational discourses in literature. The articles consider the need for a revision of the notions of culture and communication given multicultural and multilingual environments such as universities; the use of English as a lingua franca in Europe; how collaborative discourse can reshape power relations; the importance of social intelligence in intercultural communication; cultural and linguistic influences on conceptual metaphors and their translation; and the way Irish and Galician women poets negotiate competing ideologies such as nationalism, feminism, Celticism and Catholicism. This book was published as a special issue of the European Journal of English Studies.

This book proposes, examines and unpacks the notion of unequal Englishes as a way to understand English today. Unlike many studies on the pluralization of English, the volume assumes that inequalities and Englishes are inextricably linked and must be understood and theorized together.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.