Sociolinguistics and Contemporary French

Book excerpt: This book deals with the ways in which French is used in different circumstances and settings in France and abroad, with the language attitudes of French speakers and with language policy. It is concerned to examine not only the linguistic data, but also the social, political and economic environment in which contemporary French is used. At the same time it offers an introduction to contemporary sociolinguistic theory, methods and results. After a brief historical introduction and a review of approaches to regionalism, Professor Ager looks at such questions as the conflicts between standard French and regional languages such as Breton, the changing role of French in the world; the distinctiveness of social and professional varieties such as the language of the working class, scientists or immigrants and language variation correlating with interactional factors such as formality or medium. A final chapter deals with language attitude, language policy and language planning. This volume sets language information in its social context and shows how to investigate and evaluate both language variation and the social and political reaction to it.