An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Citation

Holmes, J., & Wilson, N. (2022). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (6th ed.). Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The sixth edition, in Routledge's Learning about Language series, is a long book of about 730 pages. After an introductory chapter it is divided into three sections: multilingual speech communities (Chapters 2–5), language variation with a focus on users (Chapters 6–9), and language variation with a focus on uses (Chapters 10–15), followed by a conclusion. An "Interlude" on identity sits between the second and third sections. Back matter includes references, an appendix of phonetic symbols, a glossary and an index. The book keeps the prefaces of all six editions, and an online companion, cross-referenced in the text, provides video and audio material and links. The publisher says this edition adds new material on gender, social media and online language use, codeswitching and language policy, and revises examples and exercises with new material from Asia and South America. One endorsement quoted by the publisher notes that each chapter now includes a methodology section, and another that the exercises come with answers.

Chapter 1: What do sociolinguists study?

An introduction to sociolinguistics as the study of the interaction between language and society, setting out the questions the rest of the book pursues.

Chapters 2–5: Language choice in multilingual communities; Language maintenance and shift; Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations; National languages, language policy, and language planning

The first section looks at communities that use more than one language: how speakers choose between languages (including codeswitching, for which this edition adds material), why communities maintain or abandon a language, the kinds of varieties found in multilingual nations, and the policies and planning by which states promote national and official languages.

Chapters 6–9: Regional and social dialects; Gender and age; Ethnicity and social networks; Language change

The second section asks how speech varies with who the speakers are: where they come from and their social group, their gender and age, their ethnicity and the networks they belong to. It closes with a chapter on language change.

Interlude: Identity in Sociolinguistics

A unit on identity placed between the user-focused and use-focused sections.

Chapters 10–15: Style, context and register; Speech functions, politeness and cross-cultural communication; Gender, politeness and stereotypes; Language, cognition and culture; Analysing Discourse; Attitudes and applications

The third section turns to how language varies with the situation and purpose of use: style and register, the functions of speech and politeness across cultures, the relation between gender, politeness and stereotypes, language in relation to thought and culture, methods for analysing discourse, and attitudes to language together with practical applications of sociolinguistics.

Chapter 16: Conclusion

The closing chapter of the book, after the three sections.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–5: Multilingual Speech Communities

• Language choice: the factors that lead multilingual speakers to use one language rather than another in a given situation.
• Codeswitching: moving between languages or varieties within an interaction.
• Language maintenance and shift: whether a community keeps its language or gradually replaces it with another.
• Language planning: deliberate efforts, usually by governments, to influence the status and use of languages.

Chapters 6–9: Focus on Users

• Regional and social dialects: varieties associated with where speakers live and with their social group.
• Social networks: the patterns of contact among speakers, used to explain linguistic behaviour.
• Language change: change in a language over time, studied through current variation.

Chapters 10–15: Focus on Uses

• Style and register: variation according to the formality of the context and the activity or occupation involved.
• Speech functions: what speakers use utterances to do.
• Politeness: the linguistic means of managing social relationships, which differ across cultures.
• Discourse analysis: methods for analysing stretches of language in use.
• Language attitudes: people's evaluations of languages, varieties and their speakers.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Clear, three-part organization. Separating multilingual communities, variation by user and variation by use gives students a map of the field, and the identity Interlude marks the turn from one perspective to the other.
• Global examples. The authors draw examples from communities around the world, and this edition adds material from Asia and South America. Hans Ladegaard, in an endorsement quoted by the publisher, says the sixth edition discusses even more languages and countries.
• Exercises with answers and research methods. Howie Giles's endorsement notes that the exercises come with answers, which supports self-study; Ladegaard notes that each chapter has a methodology section to help students start their own sociolinguistic research.
• Up to date and well supported. New material on social media, online language, gender and language policy, a companion website with audio and video, and updated further reading keep the book current for a field that changes quickly. It is now in its sixth edition.

Limitations

• Length. At around 730 pages it holds far more than one course can cover, and instructors will need to select.
• Introductory depth. The book explains concepts in the light of classic approaches and introduces more recent research, but it is a survey; students wanting detailed treatment of variationist theory or of the newer focus on social meaning will need specialist books.

Where It Fits in the Course

In this sociolinguistics course, Holmes and Wilson is the fullest of the introductory textbooks. Peter Trudgill's Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society is a much shorter and more personal introduction that can be read in a few days, and makes a good preview or companion. Wardhaugh and Fuller's An Introduction to Sociolinguistics covers similar ground for students who already have some introductory linguistics; a course can choose between the two as its main text, with Holmes and Wilson being the more accessible to complete beginners.

For further study, J. K. Chambers's Sociolinguistic Theory is a critical synthesis of variationist research on class, networks, gender and age, which follows naturally from Chapters 6–9. Penelope Eckert's Meaning and Linguistic Variation presents the "third wave" view of variation as a resource for constructing identity and social meaning, a good next step after the Interlude on identity. Li Wei's The Bilingualism Reader collects research on bilingual language use, codeswitching and identity, extending Section I.

How to Use This Book

The book assumes no previous study of linguistics and suits first courses in sociolinguistics as well as students of English language, linguistics and applied linguistics. The appendix of phonetic symbols helps readers without phonetics training.

• Start: Chapter 1, then choose by course focus.
• For a variation-centred course: Section II (Chapters 6–9), followed by Chapter 10 on style and register and Chapter 15 on attitudes.
• For a course on multilingualism or language policy: Section I (Chapters 2–5).
• For an interactional or pragmatic emphasis: Chapters 11–14 on speech functions, politeness, gender and stereotypes, language and culture, and discourse analysis.
• Everyone: the Interlude on identity and the Conclusion.

Work through the exercises as they appear and check the answers before moving on. Use each chapter's methodology section to plan a small project, such as recording and comparing speech in two settings. Follow the cross-references to the companion website for audio and video examples, which make variation easier to hear than to read about.