Book for Language and Culture

[Natalie Maynor]

I'm going to be teaching our Language and Culture course next semester
for the first time and found a likely looking textbook by poking around
on the web:  Nancy Bonvillain's _Language, Culture, and Communication_.
My copy just arrived, and, though I like what I see of the topics
included (which is what caught my eye in the web description of the
book), I'm a bit concerned about how old most of the references are.
This is supposedly a brand-new edition, but except for a section on
the Ebonics flap, most of the citations are from many years ago.
Titles like "Recent Relexification Processes in Philippine Creole
Spanish," with a publication date of 1977, seem odd, to say the least.
Or a chart showing the distribution of minority languages in the U.S.,
with the fine print under it pointing out that it's based on a 1976
survey.  Or a discussion of linguistic diversity in India, with all
the references from the '70s and '80s.  Or attitudes in Canada given
in surveys in the '70s.  Etc.

Do any of you have opinions on this book or suggestions for other
possibilities?  A big problem is that book orders are due by the
end of this week.
   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)