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A groundbreaking examination of how speech causes some of our deepest social divides—and how it can help us overcome them. “Katherine Kinzler is a phenomenon—one of the most brilliant young psychologists of her generation.” —Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy and Just BabiesWe gravitate toward people like us; it's human nature. Race, class, and gender shape our social identities, and thus who we perceive as “like us” or “not like us.” But one overlooked factor can be even more powerful: the way we speak. As the pioneering psychologist Katherine Kinzler reveals in How You Say It, the way we talk is central to our social identity because our speech largely reflects the voices we heard as children. We can change how we speak to some extent, whether by “code-switching” between dialects or by learning a new language; over time, our speech even changes to reflect our evolving social identity and aspirations. But for the most part, we are forever marked by our native tongue—and are hardwired to prejudge others by theirs, often with serious consequences. Someone's accent alone can determine the economic opportunity or discrimination they encounter in life, making speech one of the most urgent social-justice issues of our day. Our linguistic differences present challenges, Kinzler shows, but they also can be a force for good. Humans can benefit from being exposed to multiple languages—a paradox that should inspire us to master this ancient source of tribalism and rethink the role that speech plays in our society.“A must read for any social scientist, and any concerned citizen.” —Emily Oster, New York Times–bestselling author of Cribsheet and Expecting Better“Kinzler explores in this revelatory and thought-provoking debut the social assumptions people attach to accents and speaking styles, to sometimes devastating effect.... Well-written and entertainingly told, Kinzler's persuasive exploration of linguistic-based differences will awaken readers to potentially unrecognized biases.” —Publishers Weekly

Understanding and addressing linguistic disadvantage must be a central facet of the social justice agenda of our time. This book explores the ways in which linguistic diversity mediates social justice in liberal democracies undergoing rapid change due to high levels of migration and economic globalization. Focusing on the linguistic dimensions of economic inequality, cultural domination and imparity of political participation, Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice employs a case-study approach to real-world instances of linguistic injustice. Linguistic diversity is a universal characteristic of human language but linguistic diversity is rarely neutral; rather it is accompanied by linguistic stratification and linguistic subordination. Domains critical to social justice include employment, education, and community participation. The book offers a detailed examination of the connection between linguistic diversity and inequality in these specific contexts within nation states that are organized as liberal democracies. Inequalities exist not only between individuals and groups within a state but also between states. Therefore, the book also explores the role of linguistic diversity in global injustice with a particular focus on the spread of English as a global language. While much of the analysis in this book focuses on language as a means of exclusion, discrimination and disadvantage, the concluding chapter asks what the content of linguistic justice might be.

This is the first volume to focus on the role of media in processes of linguistic change, one of the most contested issues in contemporary sociolinguistics. Its 17 chapters and five section commentaries present cutting-edge research from variationist and interactional sociolinguistics, media linguistics, language ideology research, and minority language studies. The volume advances our understanding of linguistic change in a mediatized world in three ways. First, it introduces the notions of sociolinguistic change and mediatization to create a broader theoretical framing than the one offered by ‘the media'and ‘language change'. Second, it takes the discussion beyond the notions of ‘influence'and ‘effect'and the binary distinction of ‘media'vs. ‘community language'. Third, it examines the relation of sociolinguistic change and mediatization and from five complementary viewpoints: media influence on linguistic structure; media engagement in interaction; change in mass and new media language; language-ideological change; and the role of media for minority languages. Bringing these strands of sociolinguistic scholarship together, this volume examines their shared references and common lines of thinking.

This book presents cutting-edge research into the complex interrelationships between linguistic diversity and ideology. It provides insight into how institutions and individual stakeholders carry ideologies forward into the discursive space through policies, propaganda or individual perceptions and reflections. The chapters focus on different European localities (UK, Central Europe, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Italy), social actors (migrant communities, citizens, and policy-makers), and institutional contexts such as public bodies (European, national) and private enterprises. Understanding ideology as a social act of conceptualization, the book contributes to the growing interdisciplinary body of linguistic research into the social theory of meaning and change.

This sociolinguistic study offers a new theoretical framework for understanding the diffusion of language change within a community. Advanced statistical analysis methods are used in rigorously testing the supposed norm-enforcement effect of social networks. Revisions to the social network model are proposed, allowing the effects of various social factors operating simultaneously on the individual to be considered in evaluating the process of resistance to language change.

It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is. Steven Roger Fischer begins his book with an examination of the modes of communication used by dolphins, birds and primates as the first contexts in which the concept of'language'might be applied. As he charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century, when the science of linguistics was developed, Fischer analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He considers the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon and slang, as well as the effects radio and television, propaganda, advertising and the media are having on language today. Looking to the future, he shows how electronic media will continue to reshape and re-invent the ways in which we communicate.'[a] delightful and unexpectedly accessible book... a virtuoso tour of the linguistic world.'—The Economist'... few who read this remarkable study will regard language in quite the same way again.'—The Good Book Guide