Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation: An Introduction to Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics for Nonspecialists

By Salvatore Attardo and Steven Brown

In the age of Artificial Intelligence hallucinations and slop, the need for a clear, accessible, uncluttered, and authoritative textbook is more important than ever. The fourth edition of Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation retains the informal and reader-friendly style of previous editions and has been substantively updated and rewritten to incorporate recent scholarship throughout. Language is important for a number of fields, including teaching, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The wide coverage of language structure, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, and grammar makes this book suitable for pre-service teachers, undergraduates, and graduate students who need some exposure to linguistics, but do not need highly technical training in formal linguistics.

This extensively classroom-tested book is organized for use in a semester or can be customized for shorter terms by omitting chapters after the foundational core provided by chapters 1-3. The encyclopedic nature of the book, which includes a glossary and an index, make it appropriate for self-study and any reader who is interested in the study of language.

Readers of the fourth edition of Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation will find:

Expanded coverage of Prosody, the phonetic alphabet, African American Language, neurodiversity and language, English as a world language, and English as a lingua franca;New content on biolinguistics, translanguaging, enregisterment, indexicality, the semiotic turn in sociolinguistics, code-meshing, complex dynamic systems theory, and personality theory in SLA;A thorough overview of the basics of English grammar.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472040375
• ISBN13: 9780472040377
• Release Date: May 2027
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press ELT
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.