36.3333, Reviews: English Sociolinguistics: Daniel Schreier (20250515)

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Subject: 36.3333, Reviews: English Sociolinguistics: Daniel Schreier (20250515)

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Date: 01-Nov-2025
From: Angelina Gong [sg8746 at nyu.edu]
Subject: Daniel Schreier (20250515)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-1611

Title: English Sociolinguistics
Subtitle: An Introduction
Series Title: Cambridge Introductions to the English Language
Publication Year: 20250515

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
           http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics
Book URL:
https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/english-sociolinguistics-introduction?format=HB#about-the-authors

Author(s): Daniel Schreier

Reviewer: Angelina Gong

SUMMARY
English Sociolinguistics: An Introduction is an introductory textbook
on sociolinguistics for undergraduate and BA students of English
Language and Linguistics. The author aims to guide students into the
most important and influential subfields of linguistics in a
comprehensive and accessible way, using examples and exercises,
relevant quotations from the literature, personal experiences, and a
few anecdotes throughout the book. The most interesting component of
this book is what the author calls “out-of-the-box” topics, which
refer to the connections made to the reader’s own language
observations. A basic knowledge of linguistics and an understanding of
the International Phonetic Alphabet are required to fully grasp the
content of this book, but the author explains the concepts in
relatively simple terms, using accessible language and connecting them
to research issues, factual examples, and students’ firsthand language
experiences.
The structure of the book allows students to skip and cross-read
chapters. Before the reading in each chapter, a chapter review is
provided as a roadmap, followed by a list of the content organized by
subtopics. Within the chapters, various activities are offered to
encourage readers to discuss important issues and reflect on their own
opinions and personal connections. At the end of each chapter, a list
of “Key Terms” and “Further Reading” is provided so that readers can
familiarize themselves with the terms and concepts and apply them
appropriately in their future studies and research. For those who are
not familiar with phonetic transcription, an appendix presenting the
phonological symbols is included at the end of the book, along with a
glossary explaining the technical terms.
Organization and Content
The book is organized into ten chapters, each focusing on a specific
domain of sociolinguistic inquiry. The structure is deliberately
flexible: chapters can be read sequentially for a comprehensive
overview or individually for focused study, making the text adaptable
to different instructional contexts. Spanning ten chapters, the book
offers a panoramic view of English sociolinguistics—its history,
methodological innovations, sociopolitical ramifications, and
contemporary trajectories.
The opening chapters, Chapters 1-3, trace the historical development
of sociolinguistics, beginning with early dialectological research and
progressing to the “sociolinguistic turn” of the 1960s. Classic
studies such as Labov’s work in Martha’s Vineyard and New York City
are situated in their broader intellectual context (Labov, n.d.).
These chapters emphasize the shift from a purely structural
understanding of language to one that integrates social variables such
as class, gender, ethnicity, and network membership. They also
highlight core concepts, including the linguistic variable, envelope
of variation, and social network theory, which are introduced with
clarity and linked to contemporary research.
The middle section explores the dynamic and context-sensitive nature
of language. Chapter 4 examines language contact and the emergence of
new varieties of English, including pidgins, creoles, and mixed codes.
Chapter 5 situates sociolinguistic inquiry historically, demonstrating
how principles such as uniformitarianism allow linguists to connect
past and present language change. Chapter 6 turns to interactional
sociolinguistics, focusing on how linguistic resources are deployed in
real-time interaction to negotiate identity, power, and social
meaning. Chapter 7 explores applied sociolinguistics, linking theory
to practical domains such as education, legal contexts, and language
activism.
Chapters 8-10, the final chapters, widen the analytical lens to
macro-sociolinguistic issues, including language planning, policy, and
globalization. Chapter 8 examines English in official and postcolonial
contexts, weighing the sociopolitical implications of language choice
in multilingual societies. Chapter 9 explores the role of mobility and
digital media in reshaping linguistic communities, emphasizing the
fluidity of global English. Chapters 8 and 9 scale up to the
macro-sociolinguistic level, tackling language planning, language
rights, globalization, and digital communication. Topics such as
English in postcolonial nations, language revitalization efforts, and
the role of English in digital superdiversity are presented with
nuance and empirical grounding. Chapter 10 closes the book with
reflections from leading sociolinguists, featuring personal interviews
with renowned sociolinguists such as Walt Wolfram, Sali Tagliamonte,
and John Rickford on their intellectual journeys, contributions, and
visions for the future of the field. This chapter is particularly
effective in humanizing the discipline, offering students insight into
the lived experience of sociolinguistic scholarship.
Throughout the book, the author attempts to connect abstract
sociolinguistic theories to students’ everyday language observations.
Activities are practical and discussion-based, encouraging students to
engage with language data and reflect critically on their own
linguistic repertoires.
EVALUATION
Foundations and Contemporary Perspectives in Sociolinguistics
The book offers a comprehensive synthesis of the field’s classical
foundations and its contemporary developments. One of the book’s key
strengths lies in its historical grounding. Chapter 2, for example,
traces the shift from traditional dialectology to variationist
sociolinguistics, demonstrating how William Labov’s pioneering studies
on Martha’s Vineyard and in New York City department stores
established a model for examining language variation in its social
context. This emphasis aligns with Milroy’s (1992) argument that
sociolinguistics emerged to study the systematic relationship between
linguistic variation and social structure. The author also underscores
the interdisciplinary nature of the field by linking it to sociology,
anthropology, political science, and education. The book also  moves
beyond classical variationist frameworks to address contemporary
themes such as interactional sociolinguistics and applied
sociolinguistics, including discourse markers, facework,
translanguaging, and language planning.
Globalization, Multilingualism, and the Mobility of English
One of the most distinctive contributions of the book is its emphasis
on globalization and multilingualism as central—not
peripheral—dimensions of English sociolinguistics. The author
highlights how English has evolved as a global language shaped by
contact, mobility, and multilingual practices. He explores phenomena
such as code-switching, pidgins, creoles, and multiethnolects using
case studies from Singapore, South Africa, and the Caribbean that
aligns with research emphasizing English’s embeddedness in global
ecologies (Kachru, 1992; Pennycook, 2007). The author also draws on
Blommaert’s (2010) concept of mobility to argue that English is
increasingly dislocated from fixed geographic communities and travels
through global flows, acquiring new social meanings in different
contexts. This framing helps students move beyond static notions of
dialect and variation toward understanding language as dynamic,
mobile, and politically situated.
Linguistic Discrimination, Power, and Social Justice
Perhaps the book’s most compelling contribution lies in its sustained
engagement with linguistic discrimination and social justice. Unlike
earlier sociolinguistics textbooks that treat these issues as
secondary, the author integrates them as central concerns into
Chapters 7 and 8. He examines linguistic profiling against speakers of
African American Vernacular English (AAVE/AAL) through well-known
cases, including Anita Henderson’s experience with housing
discrimination and John Baugh’s pioneering research on linguistic
profiling (Baugh, 1996; Schreier, 2025). He also references Voigt et
al.’s (2017) analysis of police body camera footage, which documents
racial disparities in officer respect and illustrates how linguistic
profiling functions as a form of structural racism. The author extends
this discussion to educational contexts, connecting persistent NAEP
reading score gaps to linguistic prejudice and systemic inequities
rather than individual deficits. The book also highlights language
planning and policy issues, such as Singapore’s “Speak Good English”
movement, to show how state interventions can stigmatize local
varieties like Singlish (Wee, 2018). By doing so, Schreier encourages
students to critically examine how language ideologies shape access,
opportunity, and identity.
Although these discussions are well-developed, the book would benefit
from a more explicit integration of raciolinguistic frameworks, which
offer conceptual tools for analyzing the intersection of race and
language ideologies. Similarly, incorporating intersectional
perspectives could illuminate how language discrimination intersects
with class, gender, migration, and other forms of inequality.
Cohesion, Contribution, and Positioning in the Field
Structurally, the book is cohesive and well-organized. The progression
from foundational theories to complex sociopolitical issues mirrors
the intellectual development of students throughout a course. The
concluding chapter, which features interviews with leading
sociolinguists, offers personal insights into the field’s development
and future directions. This unique inclusion sets the book apart from
many other textbooks and reinforces sociolinguistics as a human and
collaborative field of inquiry.
Compared to other widely used introductory texts, such as An
introduction to sociolinguistics by Wardhaugh and Fuller (2021),
Schreier’s work stands out for its explicit focus on English
sociolinguistics while still maintaining a global and critical
orientation. His attention to linguistic justice and multilingualism
situates the book within current disciplinary shifts toward more
inclusive and activist perspectives (Rickford & King, 2016). This
makes the text particularly valuable for linguistics, TESOL, and
applied linguistics programs that seek to integrate critical and
global perspectives into their curricula.
REFERENCES
Baugh, J. (1996). Perceptions within a variable paradigm: Black and
White vernaculars and the U.S. housing market. In G. Guy, C. Feagin,
D. Schiffrin, & J. Baugh (Eds.), Towards a social science of language
(pp. 223–238). John Benjamins.
Blommaert, J. (2010). The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge
University Press.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd
ed.). University of Illinois Press.
Labov, W. (n.d.). How I got into Linguistics.
Upenn.edu.https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/HowIgot.html
Milroy, L. (1992). Linguistic variation and change. Blackwell.
Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and transcultural flows.
Routledge.
Rickford, J. R., & King, S. (2016). Language and linguistics on trial:
Hearing Rachel Jeantel (and other vernacular speakers) in the
courtroom and beyond. Language, 92(4), 948–988.
Schreier, D. (2025). English sociolinguistics: An introduction.
Cambridge University Press.
Voigt, R., Camp, N. P., Prabhakaran, V., Hamilton, W. L., Hetey, R.
C., Griffiths, C. M., ... & Eberhardt, J. L. (2017). Language from
police body camera footage shows racial disparities in officer
respect. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(25),
6521–6526.
Wardhaugh, R., & Fuller, J. M. (2021). An introduction to
sociolinguistics (8th ed.). Wiley Blackwell.
Wee, L. (2018). Language policy in Singapore: Singlish and the Speak
Good English Movement. Routledge.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Angelina Gong is a graduate student in TESOL at New York University.
Her research interests are bilingual education, language assessment,
and second language acquisition. Her research focuses on how language
ideologies, instructional practices, and assessment shape English
learners’ educational experiences: how bilingual instructional design
supports academic achievement and linguistic equity in New York City
Public Schools. Her work has been presented at international
conferences, including STORIES 2025 Conference (University of Oxford,
UK) and AAAL 2026 Conference (Chicago, USA). In addition to her own
projects, she serves as a reviewer for TESOL 2026 Conventions (Salt
Lake City, USA).



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