Designed for beginning undergraduates studying for degrees in English, this textbook provides an introduction to a range of sociolinguistic theories and the insights they provide for a greater understanding of varieties of English, past and present. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to sociolinguistic variation, the book provides a systematic overview of such topics as: *'English' as a social and as a linguistic concept *English speech communities *Social and regional dialectology in relation to varieties of English *English historical sociolinguistics, from Old English to late Modern English *Sociolinguistics and change in English *Outcomes of contact involving varieties of English *English and language planning *English, sociolinguistics and linguistic theory. The book contains data drawn from studies of English as it is used around the world. Throughout, there is an emphasis on facilitating a deeper understanding of linguistic variation in English and the social, political and cultural contexts in which speakers and writers of English operate.

Graeme Trousdale is Professor of Cognitive Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Graeme's publications include Constructionalization and Constructional Changes, as co-author (OUP, 2016), New Directions in Grammaticalization Research, as co-editor (John Benjamins, 2015) and The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar, as co-editor (OUP, 2013).