This volume provides a clear and concise introduction to sociolinguistics with a special focus on language variation and change. With hands-on examples throughout, Schreier attempts to demonstrate the development of variationist sociolinguistic theory and methodology.

The volume comprises five chapters. Chapter 1 begins with an exploration of language-internal and language-external dimensions of variation. Examples from the lexicon, phonology, syntax, and pragmatics are used to illustrate the language-internal dimension, the underlying causes of which are then discussed in terms of the impact of region, social class, ethnicity, and social structure. Chapter 2 presents methodological approaches and techniques employed in sociolinguistic research on language variation and change with an introduction to fieldwork and corpus compilation. Based on the existing literature and his own examples, Schreier elaborates on ways data are collected, handled, and interpreted in conducting sociolinguistic research. Chapter 3 looks into variation in individuals who are found to display sensitivity to surroundings and style. Issues of variation in social groups, namely, the impact of social stratification, social networks, and communities of practice are also examined. The chapter ends with a discussion of the three waves of variationist sociolinguistics in the last fifty years and their major findings.

Chapter 4 consists of three parts. It first addresses the impact of contact-induced language change in English by making a comparative analysis of dialect and language contact. Three traditional contact-induced varieties including jargons, pidgins, and creoles are highlighted with examples from throughout the world. The second part of the chapter is concerned with Braj Kachru's division of English into three concentric circles: the Inner Circle (ENL: English as a Native Language), the Outer Circle (ESL: English as a Second Language) and the Expanding Circle (EFL: English as a Foreign Language), which is followed with a discussion of the developmental and evolutionary features of ESL. To exemplify the diversification and complexity of contact-induced variation and change, the chapter presents further examples of four new varieties including New Zealand English, Tristan da Cunha English, South African English, and Hong Kong English. Chapter 5 centers on some theoretical implications where three possible causes of language change are dealt with. The diffusion models of language change (the wave model and the cascade model) and the well-known S-curve pattern are presented to retrace the three waves of variationist sociolinguistics described in Chapter 3. The volume closes with a summary of the five theoretical problems (i.e. constraints, transition, embedding, evaluation, and actuation) proposed by Weinreich, Labov, & Herzog (1968) in Empirical foundations for a theory of language change (University of Texas Press).

With a list of additional readings after each chapter and some relevant classroom activities provided for the first four chapters, this volume is of both theoretical and practical significance, useful for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students who are interested in sociolinguistics.