- ISBN: 9780312296001 | 0312296002
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 12/12/2006
English and Ethnicitypresents the work of scholars from a range of disciplines (linguistics and sociolinguistics, literary studies, cultural anthropology, communications, African American studies, and education) to examine the complex interaction between the English language and the construction of ethnicity in the English-speaking world. The essays demonstrate that both the constructs ofEnglishandethnicityare contested sites of identity formation in the modern world. English is not a monolithic linguistic entity with one "standard" form, but a highly complex linguistic construct where variation can be conveyed through shifts at all levels of linguistic organization (prosodic, phonological, lexical, pragmatic, discoursal). Ethnicity intersects with other aspects of sociocultural identitye.g., race, class, genderall or none of which may be signaled linguistically. The volume illustrates that while for some English use indexes ethnicity, for others its usage may involve processes ofde-ethnicization.English and Ethnicityenriches our understanding of the contemporary dialogue on the role of English in the global context in relation to heritage languages, language policy, and language maintenance.