An introduction to sociolinguistics

Ronald Wardhaugh , An introduction to sociolinguistics . 5th ed. Oxford & Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Pp. 418. Pb $41.95. Wardhaugh's textbook has been one of the most popular ones in sociolinguistics for two decades. Its fifth edition was published in 2006, four years after the fourth and 20 years after the first. The 16 chapters are divided as follows: 1, introduction; 2, languages, dialects and varieties; 3, pidgins and creoles; 4, codes; 5, speech communities; 6, 7, and 8, variation and change; 9, words and culture; 10, ethnographies; 11, solidarity and politeness; 12, talk and action; 13, gender; 14, disadvantage; 15, planning; 16, conclusion. The coverage of sociolinguistic subjects is broad:…