01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Citation
Chambers, J. K. (2008). Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic Variation and Its Social Significance (revised ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Chapter Summary
The book is about 270 pages of text in five chapters, with notes, references and an index, in the Language in Society series. Wiley describes it as a critical synthesis of sociolinguistics centred on the study of language variation and change. This is the version with prefaces to the first, second and revised editions, which Wiley lists as the third edition. Each chapter is divided into numbered sections and subsections that name the studies discussed, so the contents list works as an index of the variationist literature.
Chapter 1: Correlations
The opening chapter defines the domain of sociolinguistics, with sections on personal characteristics, linguistic styles, social characteristics, sociocultural and sociological factors, and sociolinguistics and the sociology of language. It then introduces the variable as a structural unit and the sociolinguistic enterprise: Labov's New York survey, linguistic and independent variables, and the figures and tables used to present results. The final sections place variation against the tradition of categoricity, with langue and parole, the axiom of categoricity, communicative competence, and linguistics without categoricity.
Chapter 2: Class, Network, and Mobility
The longest chapter handles social class and sociolinguistic sampling, the indexing of class by socioeconomic and subject indices, and class markers in studies such as Boston "short o", Norwich (ao) and Montreal que-deletion. It then turns to the effects of mobility and homogenization, networks (norm enforcement, measures of network bonds and integration), and the linguistic correlates of network integration. It closes with the interaction of network with other independent variables and with the roles of individuals, including aspirers, interlopers and insiders.
Chapter 3: Expressing Sex and Gender
The chapter begins with the interplay of biology and sociology and with sex patterns with stable variables such as (ng). It compares language, gender and mobility in inner-city Detroit and Ballymacarrett, Belfast, and discusses gender-based and sex-based variability, including explanations from "status consciousness", "face", and verbal ability. It also covers male and female speech patterns in other societies, with examples from Japan and the Middle East.
Chapter 4: Accents in Time
Starting with aging, the chapter considers the acquisition of sociolects, the influence of family and friends, adolescence and adolescent networks (including Jocks and Burnouts in Detroit), and young adults in the "talk market". It ends with changes in progress: age-grading, real time and apparent time, and tests of the apparent-time hypothesis.
Chapter 5: Adaptive Significance of Language Variation
The final chapter asks why variation persists. It begins with the Babelian hypothesis, global counteradaptivity and local adaptivity, and a discussion of dialects in lower animals and the theories of genetic and social adaptation. It then treats the persistence of non-standard speech, traditional and sociolinguistic theories of the sources of diversity, naturalness, vernacular roots, and linguistic variation and social identity.
Key Concepts
Chapter 1: Correlations
- Linguistic variable: the structural unit whose variants are correlated with social factors.
- Axiom of categoricity: the assumption in linguistic theory that the object of study is categorical, which the chapter questions.
Chapters 2–3: Class, network, mobility, and sex and gender
- Social class indexing and sampling: how speakers are classified and selected.
- Social network integration: measures of network bonds and their linguistic correlates.
- Sex and gender differences: the distinction, and the probabilistic nature of the differences.
Chapters 4–5: Age, change and adaptation
- Apparent time and real time: two ways of inferring change in progress.
- Age-grading: the age-related pattern that is stable across generations.
- Covert prestige: the persistence of non-standard speech.
- Naturalness and economy: factors the chapter weighs in explaining the sources of diversity.
Critical Analysis
Strengths
- Synthesis around one organising theme. The five chapters take the main social correlates in turn (class and network, sex, age) and then ask what the evidence adds up to.
- Study-by-study detail. The subsection headings name particular communities and variables, so readers can find the evidence for a claim.
- Theory appears at both ends. Chapter 1 sets out the axiom of categoricity and its alternatives, and Chapter 5 returns to explanation, so the empirical chapters are framed by argument.
- Updated edition. The revised edition carries a new preface and, per Wiley, the latest developments in the field.
Limitations
- Variationist focus. Multilingualism, language policy and discourse approaches are outside the five chapters.
- Dated evidence. The book was published in 2008, and research on social meaning and style since then is not included; Eckert's book covers that shift.
- Dense presentation. The numbered subsections mark many individual studies, which suits reference but makes the main thread harder to follow for newcomers.
Where It Fits in the Course
Holmes and Wilson's An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Trudgill's Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society and Wardhaugh and Fuller's An Introduction to Sociolinguistics are introductions to the field, with Trudgill's the shortest. Chambers is the step after them for the variationist core. Li Wei's The Bilingualism Reader is a collection of research readings on bilingualism, and Eckert's Meaning and Linguistic Variation is the later account of how variation research turned to social meaning.
How to Use This Book
It suits advanced undergraduates and graduate students who have had an introductory sociolinguistics course and know the linguistic variable and basic phonetic transcription.
A reading plan:
- Core: Chapter 1 for the conceptual frame, then Chapters 2 to 4 on the main social correlates.
- Argument: Chapter 5 once the evidence is familiar.
- Selective: within Chapter 2, the network sections matter most for method; Chapter 3 for gender and Chapter 4 for age and change.
Read an introductory text first for the basics, and follow Chambers with Eckert for the move from correlations to social meaning.