This book examines the ways in which the media represents language-related issues, but also how the media's use of language is central to the construction of what people think language is, could or ought to be like. The chapters examine issues of identity, gender, youth, citizenship, politics and ideology across a range of media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet. The result is a multilingual survey of the construction of language in and by the media that will be essential reading for students and researchers of sociolinguistics or language and communication. Since the emergence of sociolinguistics as a new field of enquiry in the late 1960s, research into the relationship between language and society has advanced almost beyond recognition. In particular, the past decade has witnessed the considerable influence of theories drawn from outside of sociolinguistics itself. Thus rather than see language as a mere reflection of society, recent work has been increasingly inspired by ideas drawn from social, cultural, and political theory that have emphasised the constitutive role played by language/discourse in all areas of social life.
"The Advances in Sociolinguistics" series seeks to provide a snapshot of the current diversity of the field of sociolinguistics and the blurring of the boundaries between sociolinguistics and other domains of study concerned with the role of language in society.