The German-Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues (Routledge Language in Society)

The German-Speaking World is an accessible textbook that offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in the world.

This new, second edition has been fully revised to reflect the many political and social changes of the last 20 years including the impact of technology on language change. It continues to combine text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems.

Key features of this book:

• Informative and comprehensive: covers a wide range of current issues
• Practical: contains a variety of graded exercises and tasks plus an index of terms
• Topical and contemporary: deals with current situations and provides up-to-date illustrative material
• Thought-provoking: encourages students to reflect and research for themselves

The German-Speaking World is the ideal textbook for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of German but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics.

Patrick Stevenson is Professor of German and Linguistics at the University of Southampton, UK.Kristine Horner is Reader in Luxembourg Studies and Multilingualism at the University of Sheffield, UK.Nils Langer is Professor of North Frisian and Minority Research at the University of Flensburg, Germany.Gertrud Reershemius is Professor of Linguistics and Language Contact at Aston University, UK.