The Sociolinguistics of Writing

Lillis has provided a useful overview of writing from a sociolinguistic perspective. She challenges the status quo in sociolinguistics by clearly and succinctly arguing for the study of writing as a central focus in the field. The author’s lucid, engaging text provides a welcome perspective on writing as a dynamic, multimodal, social practice occurring everyday in not only traditional but also emergent domains. -- James Corcoran, University of Toronto * Linguist List *
The author has succeeded in giving an ambitious and intelligently designed overview of the scientific discourse related to writing and sociolinguistics. The present publication shows the current state of research and helps researchers, and perhaps advanced students, to get an impression of different approaches to the topic as well as to position themselves and their work. It can be seen as real progress that writing is no longer neglected in sociolinguistics. it is most interesting to see what kind of research in this relatively new field will be produced in the near future. -- Iris Foster, TU Braunschweig * Written Language & Literacy *
With clear vision and a broad reach this book provides a powerful contribution to understanding the nature of writing. Equally important is its contribution to sociolinguistics, showing how the study of written language belongs at the centre of contemporary sociolinguistics. Professor David Barton, Lancaster University -- Professor David Barton, Lancaster University