The sociolinguistics of globalization /

Released in the "Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact" series, this volume joins a growing number of studies that explicate how increasing population mobility in the postcolonial world is impacting language. A noted authority on discourse and multilingualism, Blommaert (Tilburg Univ., The Netherlands) explores diverse languages in contact, but his main trajectory is the varieties of English that are becoming indigenized as English assumes an increasingly transnational role in global discourse. He offers a new theory of language change designed to analyze the different statuses of these emerging varieties, which he illustrates through pertinent examples of language use. The richness of linguistic change taking place today in the super diversity of multiethnic communities presents a corollary to the often-cited tragedy of language loss among indigenous peoples. With its abundant and memorable explanations of the origins of new expressions, forms of speech, and stylistic hierarchies, this book testifies eloquently that the study of even the most recent language requires an informed historical perspective. This thought-provoking book will prove both accessible to students and valuable to experts. Those who wish to entertain new critical perspectives on contemporary sociolinguistic change should read it. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. E. J. Vajda Western Washington University