Schieffelin (anthropology, New York U.) and Garrett (anthropology, Temple U.) are scholars of language, culture, and socialization. In their introduction to this five-volume reference they discuss the discipline of "(a]nthropological linguistics--or linguistic anthropology, as it is more commonly known, particularly in North America...." Their aim in selecting and collecting articles and excerpts for this anthology is to provide broad representation of the many areas of investigation at the core of the discipline as well as those from related disciplines that have contributed to its development. Seventy-seven selections are arranged according to broad themes, the first of which is thinking about language. Among the selections are "Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power" (Charles L. Briggs and Richard Bauman), "Bilingualism" (Monica Heller), and "The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society" (Edward Sapir). Following are selections pertaining to talking about language. Titles include: "Everyone Has to Lie in Tzeltal" (Penelope Brown), and "Those Naughty Teenage Girls: Japanese Kogals, Slang, and Media Assessments" (Laura Miller). Subsequent sections address the broad themes of using language, and changing language. A chronological table shows the earliest selection to be "Introduction to the Handbook of American Indian Languages" (1911, by Franz Boas); the most recent, "Enquoting voices, Accomplishing Talk: uses of be + like in Instant Messaging" (2009, by Jones and Schieffelin). Unlike many anthologies, this one includes an index, which greatly enhances its usefulness; it will serve a wide audience for years to come. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Viewing language as a dynamic semiotic system that shapes and is shaped by cultural, social, and cognitive factors alike, the materials gathered in this new Major Work collection from Routledge explore how people in communities worldwide think about language, talk about language, use language, and change language. The collected works illustrate the ways in which language practicesspoken, written, and signedare resources that participants use for creating social worlds and accomplishing a wide range of activities within those worlds. Furthermore, they demonstrate how analysts use linguistic and cultural practices, and the ideologies that shape them, to provide insights into the complexities of everyday, as well as less commonly occurring, social encounters.Theoretical essays are complemented with readings that illustrate, integrate, and often advance these frameworks. Focus is on work that emphasizes the importance of cultural contexts in analysing the linguistic practices in which they are embedded; the role talk-in-interaction in establishing, maintaining, or transforming social realities; and the linguistic and communicative resources and strategies that speakers use in conforming others to their point of view. Selections range from investigations, for example, of how speakers create and assert identities in particular kinds of face-to-face interactions; how political institutions, including language academies and experts, attempt to regiment the language practices of particular communities, and how such attempts are resisted; and how various technologies and media, including literacy, radio, television, cellular telephones, and computers, are transforming communicative landscapes at local, national, transnational, and global levels.Primarily drawing on the work of linguistic anthropologists, the collection will be of interest to those working in Social and Cultural Anthropology, the Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics, Communications, Discourse Analysis, Language and Education, Rhetoric, and other fields in which scholars and students explore how language use creates and shapes social worlds. Autorid: Bambi Schieffelin, Paul Garrett