The analysis of language attitudes is important not only because attitudes can affect language maintenance and language change but also because such reflections and discussions can bring light to social, cultural, political and educational matters that require an interdisciplinary approach. This volume fills a crucial void in the field of Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics by introducing the latest production in the discipline of attitudes toward Spanish, Spanish sign language, Portuguese, Guarani and Papiamentu around the world, from South America and the Caribbean to the United States, Spain and Japan. The studies presented in this collection – a variety of sociolinguistic scenarios and methodological approaches – will make an important contribution to theoretical discussions on linguistic attitudes, specifically in the domains of language integration through education, language policy, and language maintenance. This book is intended for sociolinguists, social scientists and scholars in the humanities as well as graduate students enrolled in sociolinguistics courses.

Language Attitudes and the Pursuit of Social Justice explores the relationship between language attitudes and forms of inequality and oppression, fostering greater awareness of how linguistic choices become political ones and encouraging the search for practices that promote social justice. The volume is organized around different sections that look at language attitudes and their intersections with different dimensions of contemporary social and cultural life, including language policy and planning, language and education, and the role of identity in forming strong communities that promote multilingualism and multiculturalism. Both established and emerging scholars explore the ways in which language attitudes are informed by extralinguistic factors, drawing on case studies involving French, Italian, and Spanish in Canada; interaction of migrant languages in Austria; national languages in West Africa and Senegal; signed languages in Spain; Spanish in Aruba, Uruguay, the US, Catalonia, and Majorca; and Quechua in Peru. The collection urges the development of critical linguistic awareness and a view of languages which recognizes that they shift and change across time and space. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of sociolinguistics, multilingualism, language education, language policy and planning, and bilingual education.

Covering all seven countries on the isthmus, this volume presents the first collection of original linguistic studies on Central American Spanish varieties, which have long been neglected in Hispanic Linguistics. The analyses in this collection span across disciplines such as sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, bilingualism, historical linguistics, and pragmatics. This volume bridges the gap between international and Central American scholars, as it highlights the work that has already been done by Central American scholars but is relatively unknown to scholars outside of the region. It also introduces readers to more recent work that sheds new light on Central American Spanish varieties, from both urban and rural settings as well as in bilingual communities where Spanish is in contact with indigenous languages.

Linguists, researchers, and other practitioners in language education acknowledge that the resolution of language problems associated with breaking down language and cultural barriers that hinder the growth of learners’ self-identities and national identities is ongoing. In fact, even with decades of research in home language use in the classroom, there are still classrooms worldwide where learners are deprived of the opportunity of building their self-esteem, confidence, and autonomy by communicating with their native language. The global nature of communication requires speakers to use all the languages in their repertoire effectively, thus reinforcing the need to encourage home language use in classrooms. Transformative Pedagogical Perspectives on Home Language Use in Classrooms is a cutting-edge research publication on the effective use of home language in the classroom that emphasizes the significance of this activity to the success of the overall language development of the learner. Particular attention is given to transformative pedagogy and the provision of valuable insights into how the teacher can guide and assist learners in the development of critical thinking skills. In addition, the book provides content that enables practitioners in language education and parents to explore their roles in assisting children in breaking down the language and cultural barriers that hinder the growth of their self-identity and national identity. Highlighting topics such as engineering education, cultural responsiveness, and transformative pedagogy, this book is essential for linguists, academicians, education professionals, curriculum designers, policymakers, administrators, instructional designers, researchers, and students.

This volume provides the first comprehensive reference work in English on the French language in all its facets. It offers a wide-ranging approach to the rich, varied, and exciting research across multiple subfields, with seven broad thematic sections covering the structures of French; the history of French; axes of variation; French around the world; French in contact with other languages; second language acquisition; and French in literature, culture, arts, and the media. Each chapter presents the state of the art and directs readers to canonical studies and essential works, while also exploring cutting-edge research and outlining future directions. The Oxford Handbook of the French Language serves both as a reference work for people who are curious to know more about the French language and as a starting point for those carrying out new research on the language and its many varieties. It will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students as well as established scholars, whether they are specialists in French linguistics or researchers in a related field looking to learn more about the language. The diversity of frameworks, approaches, and scholars in the volume demonstrates above all the variety, vitality, and vibrancy of work on the French language today.

This volume offers a multidisciplinary view of cutting-edge research on bilingualism in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions, with the aim of building a bridge between sub-fields and approaches that often find themselves isolated from one another. The thirteen contributions in this volume offer a glimpse of the diversity of bilingualism present in the Hispanic and Lusophone world, shedding light on the sheer variety of speaker communities, language pairings (e.g., Spanish-English, Spanish-Basque, Spanish-Dutch, Portuguese-Spanish-English, Portuguese-English, Spanish-K’ichee Maya, and Spanish-Ixcatec) and speaker types (e.g., simultaneous bilinguals, and early and late sequential bilinguals). The diversity present in this collection of papers, both in empirical coverage and methodological and theoretical approaches, will be of interest to a wide range of students and researchers in bilingualism and Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics.

Drawing on examples from a wide range of languages and social settings, The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World was originally the first single-volume collection surveying the current research trends in international sociolinguistics. This new edition has been comprehensively updated and significantly expanded, and now includes more than 50 chapters written by leading authorities and a brand-new substantial introduction by John Edwards. Coverage has been expanded regionally and there is a critical focus on Indigenous languages. This handbook remains a key tool to help widen the perspective on sociolinguistics to readers interested in the field. Divided into sections covering the Americas, Asia, Australasia, Africa, and Europe, the book provides readers with a solid, up-to-date appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of the field of sociolinguistics in each area. It clearly explains the patterns and systematicity that underlie language variation in use, along with the ways in which alternations between different language varieties mark personal style, social power, and national identity. The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World is the ideal resource for all students in undergraduate sociolinguistics courses and for researchers involved in the study of language, society, and power.