The Voices project of the British Broadcasting Corporation, a recent high-profile media investigation, gathered contemporary English dialect samples from all over the UK and invited contributions from the public to a dedicated website. This book explores both issues of ideology and representation behind the media project and uses to which the emerging data can be put in the study of language variation and change. Two lead-in chapters, written from the complementary perspectives of a broadcast media specialist, Simon Elmes, and an academic linguist, David Crystal, set the project in the BBC’s historical, social, and linguistic contexts. Following these, authorities in a range of specialisms concerned with uses and representations of language varieties address various aspects of the project’s potential, in three broad sections: Linguistic explorations of the representations of language and the debates on language evoked by the data. The linguistic product of the project, including lexical, phonological, and grammatical investigations. Technical aspects of creating maps from the large electronic Voices database. An interactive companion website provides the means to access, explore, and make use of raw linguistic data, along with interpretive maps created from it, all accompanied by full explanations. Analysing 21st Century British English brings together key research and is essential reading for advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students and researchers working in the areas of language variation, dialect and sociolinguistics. Contributors: David Crystal, Bethan Davies, Susie Dent, Simon Elmes, Holly Gilbert, Jon Herring, John Holliday, Alexandra Jaffe, Tommaso Milani, Rob Penhallurick, Jonnie Robinson, Mooniq Shaikjee, Ann Thompson, Will Turner, Clive Upton, Martijn Wieling.

At the turn of the twenty-first century Britain is in a state of change. It is being transformed by the ongoing process of devolution as well as by its increasing multi-ethnicity. At the same time the relationship with the European Union remains controversial. This book charts these transformations in the context of the changes Britain experienced a century ago, at the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on British politics, culture and literature the articles examine a range of topics, including models of utopian and apocalyptic thought, the contemporary celebrity cult, the state of literary theory in Britain and the recent "boom" in lyrical poetry and the "drama of blood sperm". The book is of interest to university lecturers, teachers, students of English and the general reader interested in the present condition of the United Kingdom. Book jacket.

Devised in collaboration with the Open University and Macquarie University, Australia, Analysing English in a Global Context is specifically designed for the postgraduate student market, as well as for teachers of English as a second or foreign language throughout the world. This is a groundbreaking Reader which includes specially commissioned pieces as well as classic texts and provides a global perspective on the changing uses and forms of English and its impact on language teaching contexts. Students' skills in analysing these forms will be developed through an examination of the major functional models and their strengths and weaknesses.

English Studies in the 21st Century presents the results of recent academic research concerning a wide spectrum of subjects—including politics, psychology, religion, philosophy, history, culture, aesthetics, and education—related to literary, cultural, and language studies. Specifically, this collection includes scholarly reflections, interpretations, criticisms, and experiments that both strengthen and challenge dominant perspectives on the English literary tradition and contribute to a multifaceted discussion of contemporary drama and theater, contemporary theory and fiction, Neo-Victorianism, the Anthropocene, posthumanism, and interdisciplinary studies in English, including linguistics and ELT. The book will be an ideal reference for both academics and students.

The Voices project of the British Broadcasting Corporation, a recent high-profile media investigation, gathered contemporary English dialect samples from all over the UK and invited contributions from the public to a dedicated website. This book explores both issues of ideology and representation behind the media project and uses to which the emerging data can be put in the study of language variation and change. Two lead-in chapters, written from the complementary perspectives of a broadcast media specialist, Simon Elmes, and an academic linguist, David Crystal, set the project in the BBC's historical, social, and linguistic contexts. Following these, authorities in a range of specialisms concerned with uses and representations of language varieties address various aspects of the project's potential, in three broad sections: Linguistic explorations of the representations of language and the debates on language evoked by the data. The linguistic product of the project, including lexical, phonological, and grammatical investigations. Technical aspects of creating maps from the large electronic Voices database. An interactive companion website provides the means to access, explore, and make use of raw linguistic data, along with interpretive maps created from it, all accompanied by full explanations. Analysing 21st Century British English brings together key research and is essential reading for advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students and researchers working in the areas of language variation, dialect and sociolinguistics. Contributors: David Crystal, Bethan Davies, Susie Dent, Simon Elmes, Holly Gilbert, Jon Herring, John Holliday, Alexandra Jaffe, Tommaso Milani, Rob Penhallurick, Jonnie Robinson, Mooniq Shaikjee, Ann Thompson, Will Turner, Clive Upton, Martijn Wieling.

Phillis Wheatley's poetry to trace the impact of empire on literary creativity." --Book Jacket.