Resources
Sociolinguistics 2e
Teachers
How To Use Sociolinguistics
The Routledge English Language Introductions are ‘flexi-texts’ that you can use to suit your own style of study. All the books in the series, including Sociolinguistics, are divided into four sections:
- Introduction: Key Concepts in Sociolinguistics
Section A sets out key concepts. The Units of this section take you step-by-step through the foundational terms and ideas, carefully providing you with an initial toolkit for your own study. By the end of the section, you will have a good overview of the whole field. - Development: Studies in Language and Society
This section adds to your knowledge and builds on the key ideas already introduced. Units in this section also draw together several areas of interest. By the end, you will already have a good and fairly detailed grasp of the field, and will be ready to undertake your own exploration and thinking. In Sociolinguistics, the examples in each Unit are taken from real students' studies. - Exploration: Data for Investigation
This section provides examples of language data and guides you through your own investigation of the field. The Units in this section are more open-ended and exploratory, and you are encouraged to try out your ideas and think for yourself, using your newly acquired knowledge. - Extension: Sociolinguistic Readings
Finally, section D offers you the chance to compare your expertise with key readings in the area. These are taken from the work of important writers, and are provided with guidance and questions for your further thought.
The glossary/index at the end, together with the suggestions for Further Reading at the end of each Unit in section B, will help to keep you orientated.
You can read this book like a traditional text-book, ‘vertically’ straight through from beginning to end. This will take you comprehensively through the broad field of study. However, the Routledge English Language Introductions have been carefully designed so that you can read them in another dimension, ‘horizontally’ across the numbered Units. For example, Units A.1, A.2, A.3 and so on correspond with Units B.1, B.2, B.3, and with Units C.1, C.2, C.3 and D.1, D.2, D.3, and so on. Reading A5, B.5, C.5, D.5 will take you rapidly from the key concepts of a specific area, to a level of expertise in that precise area, all with a very close focus. You can match your way of reading with the best way that you work.
You can use Sociolinguistics as a main course text for the language and society, language variation and sociolinguistic elements in all the different A level syllabuses. The combination of authoritative textbook, open-ended workbook, and reader means that it can be used where you might otherwise have had to choose between two or three alternatives, or have your students buy three expensive books. The flexi-text design allows you to use the book as best suits your own practice and level of expertise. You can use sections A and B to introduce material to students in an accessible and clearly-defined way. The material in section B was produced by students so that your own students can see how quickly they can progress to their own thinking and data-collection. Sections A and B are thus the raw material for structuring your coverage of this part of the course. You can then use the material in section C to provide you with classroom resources, allowing students to explore language data for themselves. The section D readings can be set as follow-up reading. For each of these, there are both general and specific suggestions for further study.