This textbook furnishes a comprehensive survey of current language issues in the U.S., exploring the nature of language variation in the United States and its social, historical and political significance. The book is divided into three sections: Part I, American English; Part II, Other Language Varieties; and Part III, The Sociolinguistic Situation in the U.S.A.

Part I. American English: 1. American English: its origins and history Richard W. Bailey; 2. The distinctiveness of American English Edward Finegan; 3. Regional American dialects William Kretzschmar; 4. Social varieties of American English Walt Wolfram; 5. African-American vernacular English Lisa Green; 6. The dictionary of American regional English Joan Houston Hall; Part II. Other Language Varieties in the USA: 7. Multilingualism and non-English mother tongues Joshua A Fishman; 8. Creole languages in the United States: forging new identities Patricia Nichols; 9. Native American languages Akira Y. Yamamoto and Ofelia Zepeda; 10. Spanish in the northeast Ana Celia Zentella; 11. Spanish in the southwest Carmen Silva-Corvalán; 12. American sign language Ceil Lucas and Clayton Valli; 13. Asian American voices Thom Huebner and Linda Uyechi; 14. Linguistic diversity and English language acquisition Robert Bayley; Part III. The Sociolinguistic Situation in the USA: 15. Language ideology and language prejudice Rosina Lippi-Green; 16. Ebonics and its controversy John Baugh; 17. Language policy and English-only Terrence G. Wiley; 18. Language and Education Lily Wong Fillmore; 19. Adolescent language Penelope Eckert; 20. Slang Connie Eble; 21. Rap and hip hop H. Samy Alim; 22. Language, gender and sexuality Mary Bucholtz; 23. Language and identity in American literature James Peterson; 24. The language of doctors and patients Cynthia Hagstrom; 25. The language of cyberspace Denise E. Murray; 26. Language attitudes to US speech Dennis R. Preston.