Language and Ethnicity [Key Topics in Sociolinguistics].pdf

Language and Ethnicity
What is ethnicity? Is there a “white” way of speaking? Why do
people sometimes borrow features of another ethnic group’s
language? Why do we sometimes hear an accent that isn’t
there? This lively overview reveals the fascinating relationship
between language and ethnic identity, exploring the crucial
role it plays in both revealing a speaker’s ethnicity and help-
ing to construct it. Drawing on research from a range of ethnic
groups around the world, it shows how language contributes
to the social and psychological processes involved in the forma-
tion of ethnic identity, exploring both the linguistic features of
ethnic language varieties and also the ways in which language
is used by different ethnic groups. The first overview of this
important topic, Language and Ethnicity will be ed by stu-
dents and researchers in sociolinguistics, as well as anybody
interested in ethnic issues, language and education, intereth-
munication, and the relationship between language
and identity.
c armen fought is Associate Professor of Linguistics at
Pitzer College, Claremont, California. Her research focuses on
issues of language and ethnicity, including the dialects asso-
ciated with Latinos and Latinas in California, bilingual acqui-
sition, and language attitudes. She is author of Chicano English
inContext(2003)andSociolinguisticVariation:CriticalReflections
(2004).
KEY TOPICS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Series editor: Rajend Mesthrie
This new series focuses on the main topics of study in sociolinguistics
today. It consists of accessible yet challenging accounts of the most
important issues to consider when examining the relationship between
language and society. Some topics have been the subject of
sociolinguistic study for many years, and are here re-examined in the
light of new developments in the field; others are issues of growing
importance that have not so far been given a sustained treatment.
Written by leading experts, the