Sociolinguistics provides a powerful instrument by which we can interpret the contemporary and near-contemporary use of language in relation to the society in which speakers live. Almost since the beginning of the discipline, however, attempts have been made to extrapolate backwards and interpret past linguistic change sociolinguistically. Some of these findings have influenced the discussion of the history of the English language as portrayed in the many textbooks for undergraduate courses.

Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics has become one of the most widely adopted, consulted, and authoritative introductory textbooks to linguistics ever written. The scope of the text makes it suitable for use in a wide range of courses, while its unique organization into student-friendly, self-contained sections allows for tremendous flexibility in course design.

Fully develop all the crucial skills central to assessment in English A Language and Literature. Packed with examiner guidance, assessment support and practical tasks for each part of the 2011 syllabus, this comprehensive guide includes a huge bank of compelling activities, like web text analysis, editorials and poetry to cement exam achievement.

Semiotics and Language: An Analytical Dictionary (AD) is the most ambitious attempt to date to provide a comprehensive lexicon as well as a coherent theoretical framework for the study of semiotics. Generally speaking, it embraces historical and interdisciplinary aspects of semiotics along with American, Continental, and Russian traditions. However, on the latter point it should be stated from the outset that the French tradition, with its special emphasis on Saussurean and Hjelmslevian linguistics, prevails.

This book, first published in 1950, is a collection of what the author felt to be the minimum of English grammar relevant to efficient communication in language. The scope of this title was determined by collecting from children’s writings examples of common faults and weaknesses, and it is through these texts that certain concepts emerged as fundamental, including predication, word-order, proximity, equivalents, variety and repetition. Pattern in English will be of interest to students of English language.