The English Language: Past, Present and Future:
English: History, Diversity and Change
Graddol, D., Leith, R. and Swann, J.
Using English: From Conversation to Canon
Maybin, J. and Mercer, N.M.
Learning English: Development and Diversity
Mercer, N. M. and Swann, J
Redesigning English: New Texts, New Identities
Goodman, S. and Graddol, D.
(all published by Routledge in 1996)
Other useful and accessible books include:
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
Crystal, D. (1997) CUP
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
Crystal, D. (1995) CUP
The English Language
Crystal, D. (2002, 2nd edition) Penguin Books
Professor Crystal is an international authority on the English language and writes accessibly for a general audience
The Future of English
Graddol, D. (1997) The British Council
A rich compendium of facts and figures on the current global position of English in relation to other languages, together with analysis of future trends
The Languages of the World
Katzner, K. (1977) Routledge
An introduction to the histories and cultures of the world’s major languages, with brief written examples of each
The Story of English
McCrum, R. et al (3rd edition, 2002) Faber/BBC Publications
Originally produced to accompany the BBC series of the same name, an outline of the history of English as a global language, full of fascinating examples and illustrations
The Lore and Language of Childhood
Opie, I. and Opie, P. (1959) OUP
A classic anthropological study of children’s games and the word play that accompanies them, collected from schools around the British Isles in the late 1950s
Oxford English Dictionary
OUP
A goldmine of information if you are interested in the etymologies of words (but do consider consulting the online version at your local library)
Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics
Romaine, S. (2000, 2nd edn) OUP
A classic, accessible introduction to the field of sociolinguistics
An Atlas of English Dialects
Upton, C. and Widdowson, J.D.A. (1996) OUP
Based on findings of the Survey of English Dialects conducted in the mid-twentieth century, this is a fascinating guide to the diversity of English regional speech.
The Surgeon of Crowthorne
Winchester, S. (2003) Penguin Books
The rather surprising story of the compilation of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary
Word4Word in more depth:
OU on the BBC: Word4Word - A Word About The Series
BBC
Have you ever wondered how and why people from around the British Isles have different ways of saying the same thing? Word4Word on BBC Radio... Read more : OU on the BBC: Word4Word - A Word About The Series
OU on the BBC: Word4Word - Programme Summaries
Production team
Discover more about BBC Radio 4's series on the development of language Read more : OU on the BBC: Word4Word - Programme Summaries
OU on the BBC: Word4Word - Where can I find information about language online?
The Open University / Karen Parker
If you've had your ears pricked by Word4Word and would like to explore the rich landscape of local variations of language in more depth, why... Read more : OU on the BBC: Word4Word - Where can I find information about language online?
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