Educational Reforms in Peru indicate a shift toward a more tolerant view of language diversity. For instance, the Education Law #28044 (Ministry of Education, 2005) establishes the teaching of respect for indigenous languages and language diversity as a main goal in the area of language. This law is important, but it does not imply a real…

This book introduces beginning students of linguistics at all levels and general readers to the study of language, providing an overview of key topics and an explanation of basic terms and ideas. The book is also designed to encourage the reader to think about the way language works and reconsider some popular misconceptions about language and…

The encyclopedia is designed as a reference work on the history, structure, and use of English. The first section outlines five phases in the development of the English language (origins, Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, Modern English) and then proceeds to the varieties of world English and perceptions of English and its future.…

This report provides data on standard and non-standard African language varieties occurring in urban areas of South Africa, drawn from nine smaller reports. It illustrates the language use patterns in black urban communities and describes the language varieties spoken in them. It was found that the impact of non-standard varieties on the use of…

This introduction to sociolinguistics surveys the various ways that language can be studied as a social phenomenon, examining known relationships between language variation and large-scale social factors and showing how this variation runs along "fault lines in social structure," such as divisions between social classes, the sexes, and different…

The collection of essays on language contact and language conflict includes: "Language Choices: Contact and Conflict?" (Martin Putz); "Language Ecology: Contact Without Conflict" (Peter Muhlhausler); "Towards a Dynamic View of Multilingualism" (Ulrike Jessner); "A Matter of Choice" (Florian Coulmas); The…