Reviewed by Richard W. Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University

This book is intended as a general text for an introductory course in English language studies or sociolinguistics. Each chapter ends with a short summary, a list of activities for students, and suggested further readings.

Ch. 1, ‘Setting out’ (1–13), introduces readers to the ways in which the English language varies depending on the user, the setting, and the purpose. Diane Davies discusses language variation in individuals and among groups and defines key terms such as idiolect, codeswitching, speech community, dialect, accent, and solidarity. In Ch. 2, ‘Studying varieties’ (14–27), D presents an overview of the phonetic inventory of English consonants, vowels, and diphthongs, although it should be noted that most of the examples are the received pronunciation. Following a discussion of syllable structure, elision, and assimilation, D discusses word formation and the basic syntactic categories. She concludes this chapter with a brief discussion of English text and discourse. Ch. 3, ‘The march of modern English’ (28–44), provides an overview of the proliferation of English since the fifteenth century, beginning with the establishment of William Caxton’s printing press in 1476. This chapter moves on to discuss the growth of international English and attitudes toward the changing nature of the language.

Ch. 4, ‘English from a global perspective’ (45–59), discusses Braj Kachru’s (1989) concentric circles model of World Englishes. D examines American English from the inner circle, South Asian English from the outer circle, and English in Japan in the expanding circle. Ch. 5, ‘Ethnicity and varieties of English (60–75), begins with an exploration of pidgins and creoles and moves on to examine African-American Vernacular English and Chicano English.

Beginning with grammatical gender and the generic sense often associated with masculine terms, Ch. 6, ‘Gender, sexuality and English’ (76–90), focuses on gender performativity. Ch. 7, ‘Speech, writing and the new media’ (91–107), discusses the interrelatedness of these three types of communication. Building on the discussions in the previous chapter, Ch. 8, ‘English in context’ (108–21), presents register variation in English based on social setting.

Ch. 9, ‘English and power’ (122–40), investigates hegemonic and powerful varieties of English by asking two questions: ‘What do we mean by “power” in language?’ (122) and ‘Are there powerful varieties?’ (122). Ch. 10, ‘The future of English as an international language’ (141–58), revisits the discussion of Kachru’s (1989) model from Ch. 4, examining the shifting status of expanding circle English(es).

This short book contains numerous examples and should spark interesting classroom discussions. It could easily serve as the main text in an undergraduate World Englishes course or a supplementary text in a sociolinguistics class.

REFERENCE

KACHRU, BRAJ B. 1989. Teaching World Englishes. Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics 15.1.85–95.