Designed for beginning undergraduates studying for degrees in English, this textbook provides an introduction to a range of sociolinguistic theories and the insights they provide for a greater understanding of varieties of English, past and present. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to sociolinguistic variation, the book provides a systematic overview such topics as:'English' as a social and as a linguistic conceptEnglish speech communitiesSocial and regional dialectology in relation to varieties of EnglishEnglish historical sociolinguistics, from Old English to late Modem EnglishSociolinguistics and change in EnglishOutcomes of contact involving varieties of EnglishEnglish and language planningEnglish, sociolinguistics and linguistic theory.The book contains data drawn from studies of English as it is used around the world. Throughout, there is an emphasis on facilitating a deeper understanding of linguistic variation in English and the social, political and cultural contexts in which speakers and writers of English operate.