Language, Society and Power: An Introduction

By Betsy Evans, Annabelle Mooney, Linda Thomas, et al.

Book Overview

Language, Society and Power is an accessible introduction to studying language in a variety of social contexts.　

This book examines the ways language functions, how it influences the way we view society and how it varies according to age, ethnicity, class and gender. It considers whether representations of people and their language matter, explores how identity is constructed and performed, and considers the creative potential of language in the media, politics and everyday talk.

The fifth edition of this popular textbook features:

 Updated chapters with new activities;  Examples that include material related to youth language, computer-mediated communication, texting and electronic communication;  New material on online mass media, fake news and Twitter as a form of political agency;  More discussion of social media, social networking, memes and mobile communication;  An introduction to the concepts of translanguaging and superdiversity;  An expanded Gender chapter that questions binary gender identities;  A companion website which includes more video material to support learning as students make their way through the book.

Language, Society and Power

assumes no linguistic background among readers, and is a must-read for all students of English language and linguistics, media, communication, cultural studies, sociology and psychology who are studying language and society for the first time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 041578624X
• ISBN13: 9780415786249
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great

The book came quickly and was in the condition stated in the description. I was very happy with what I received!

Great Explanation; a bit polluted by modern society

Clarity and logical explanation of the modern theories of language and linguistics is this book's strength. I exhaustively covered this book because of a college class that it was required for. Much about language that is basic for moving on from elementary linguistics is covered in this book.Contemporary classic theories of language are included (ie Saussure's theories, Sapir-Whorf, etc) which sets the reader off into a fascinating discovery of how language promotes or inhibits one's power in modern society. In such contemporary issues as political correctness and the Standard American English debate, a slightly more leftist view is employed in the writing of the book than I would've preferred, but nonetheless, there is a suffice and clear explanation of the information throughout.A quality book. Check it out!