So far in the book the concept of narrative has been left largely unexplored except in so far as it has arisen as a functional labelling of data emerging from the short-text MDA of the corpora examined. However, while these labels were applied using the expertise of linguists, the fit between narrative so described and narrative as studied by linguists is unclear. This chapter sets the background for the examination of narrative, as defined by the model of Labov and Waletzky, both by introducing the model and working through an example of the intersection of these researchers’ approach to narrative and the micro- and macro-structural analyses in our data.

This chapter presents an overview of what is currently known about phonetic and phonological first language (L1) attrition and drift in bilingual speech and introduces a new theory of bilingual speech, Attrition & Drift in Access, Production, and Perception Theory (ADAPPT). Attrition and drift are defined and differentiated along several dimensions, including duration of change, source in second language (L2) experience, consciousness, agency, and scope. We address why findings of attrition and drift are important for our overall understanding of bilingual speech and draw links between ADAPPT and well-known theories of L2 speech, such as the revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r), the Perceptual Assimilation Model-L2 (PAM-L2), and the Second Language Linguistic Perception model (L2LP). The significance of findings revealing attrition and drift is discussed in relation to different linguistic subfields. The chapter raises the question of how attrition and drift potentially interact to influence speech production and perception in the bilingual’s L1 over the life span; additional directions for future research are pointed out as well.

This chapter examines the conceptualization and measurement of contact phenomena in the context of bilingualism across various languages. The goal of the chapter is to account for various phonetic contact phenomena in sociolinguistic analysis, as well as providing context for elaborating on quantitative methodologies in sociophonetic contact linguistics. More specifically, the chapter provides a detailed account of global phenomena in modern natural speech contexts, as well as an up-to-date examination of quantitative methods in the field of sociolinguistics. The first section provides a background of theoretical concepts important to the understanding of sociophonetic contact in the formation of sound systems. The following sections focus on several key social factors that play a major part in the sociolinguistic approach to bilingual phonetics and phonology, including language dominance and age of acquisition at the segmental and the suprasegmental levels, as well as topics of language attitudes and perception, and typical quantitative methods used in sociolinguistics.

In response to some critics of contemporary Irish culture who have lamented the loss of Irish cultural distinctiveness, particularly in language use, this chapter draws on research in the sociolinguistics of globalization to argue for an alternative method of reading language in fiction. Rather than focusing exclusively on fixed language identities, it suggests a method of reading for the modes and values of expression that are produced by linguistic mobility, neoliberalism, and technology. The chapter considers this changing status of language as it appears in Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends and Naoise Dolan’s Exciting Times, including the ways in which economic globalization has prioritized language as a skill and a commodity while reinventing its function through technology. The chapter argues that Rooney’s and Dolan’s novels dramatize the shift from a fixed language identity to a global one based on the idea of linguistic resources in a way that leaves their characters in ambivalent relationships to Irishness, the English language, and globalization.

This chapter introduces the geographic area covered by the book. It reviews the changes that have taken place since the previous edition in 2007, in terms of the people who live there, their distribution, and the languages they use, showing that Britain and Ireland are becoming increasingly multiethnic and are homes to a rich array of languages and dialects. It also provides an overview of the rest of the book.

Over c. 50 years, language education has been a significant site of ideological struggle over England’s position in the world, and the last two decades have seen intensification in the assertion of English nationalism in central government. Our analysis of this history starts with the development of multicultural language education in the 1970s and 1980s, highlighting the factors that contributed to this: activist pressure from minority communities, educational philosophies valuing the ‘whole child’, educational decision-making embedded in local democratic structures, and a legislative strategy that promotied good community relations. This started to change in the 1990s, with the curriculum centralisation and the side-lining of LEAs initiated by the Thatcher government. Efforts to regulate increased population movement also made borders and immigration status more of a priority than multiculturalism, and after 2001, security, social cohesion and the suspicion of Muslims started to dominate public discourse. These developments are analysed in six areas of language education policy: standard English, English as an additional language for school students, English for adult speakers of other languages, modern languages, and community languages in mainstream and supplementary schools. Finally, we consider the role of universities in these processes.

This chapter presents on overview of present-day Welsh English(es) with a focus on regional variation and diachronic developments over the past fifty years. The Anglicisation of Wales has progressed in several phases over the centuries, which is why the accents and dialects of English in Wales are regionally distinctive, the Welsh language and neighbouring English English dialects impacting them to different degrees. The chapter takes the Survey of Anglo-Welsh dialects (Parry 1999) as a starting point and uses corpus and survey data compiled in the twenty-first century as well as recent research publications, thereby examining the main trends of development in the different domains of English. Phonological variation and change are described across a broad North–South continuum, whereas in morphosyntax the greatest differences can be found between the predominantly English-speaking Southeast and the bilingual, historically Welsh-dominant North and West Wales. In regional lexicon, sociolinguistically and nationally salient items are relatively few, originating from both Welsh and English. Finally, the chapter draws attention to recent research, and highlights some caveats and future directions for the study of English in Wales.

This chapter discusses linguistic variation in Slavic languages by presenting an overview of the relationship between human communication in the society and the corresponding linguistic features. In this chapter we focus on the parameters of variation according to the language user, such as age or dialects, and according to the language use, such as communicative functions or communication styles, e.g. politeness. We cite both qualitative and quantitative methods for studying aspects of sociolinguistic variation. Examples are drawn from large corpora of two Slavic languages, Russian and Serbo-Croatian, with a particular focus on academic writing, news reporting, and reporting personal experience in social media, as well as from dictionaries and field studies.

This chaper looks at the peculiar mixture of linguistic forms that are archaic and dialectal in Homer and compares them to the hybrid dialects that are employed in English-language popular music today. Sections 1 and 2 provide a detailed account of the main linguistic features of Homer’s Kunstsprache and separates its archaic components from its dialectal components. Section 3 looks at perceptions of dialect (and dialect imitations) in Archaic Greece. Sections 4-5 illustrate how ancient and modern critics interpreted Homer’s dialect, and introduces phase theory, along with remaining open questions therein. Section 6 introduces several contemporary case studies of singers adopting a non-native, hybrid dialect of English when performing. These include Adele, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Green Day, Alesha Dixon, the Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Azalea, and Keith Urban. Lessons won from these case studies are then applied to Homer.

This chapter concludes the book by summarizing the main results and discussing future prospects of study.