Eleven leading linguists have contributed to our new language handbook for advanced level students. Writing on their particular areas of expertise, specifically for the student reader, the linguists provide readable and comprehensive explorations of the topic, including an introduction to its scope; central concepts and debates; a brief historical overview of key ideas and developments in the field; more recent thinking and research, and key ideas to consider. A useful text for the classroom, as a class set, an excellent resource for the library and a text to recommend for students to have for their own reference, this handbook will give students a really sound overview of key thinking in topics for language study. Deborah Cameron on Gender and communication Dan Clayton on Attitudes to language change Sue Fox on Spoken language Angela Goddard on Language and technology Paul Ibbotson on Child language acquisition Paul Kerswill on Social variation Alison Ross on Language and representation Jane Setter on English around the world Peter Stockwell on Textual analysis and stylistics Graeme Trousdale on Language change Kevin Watson on Accent and dialect Editor, Dan Clayton, with EMC.