Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians at the Gate is a cogent and provocative contribution to both popular culture studies and language attitudes studies. The collection argues passionately for language diversity and for the importance of studying mass media for language attitudes. Taken together, the lively articles examine thoroughly the factors and contexts at play in understandings of language diversity. It does a particularly good job of addressing issues of identity construction, place, and cultural stereotyping. From analysis of grammar guides to country music, the National Writing Project to popular television sitcoms, the collection covers a lot of ground and successfully demonstrates the importance of this kind of wide-ranging study to assessing language attitudes. From the point of view of popular culture studies, it is exciting to see more of this kind of analysis by linguists and it how it can engage some shared enduring questions, particularly issues of authenticity and legitimacy. The collection's specialized assessment of language use in popular culture is a significant contribution to both fields.

This engaging and accessible volume makes a valuable contribution to the field of sociolinguistics. The essays argue persuasively that language variation reflects the diversity of human experience, that voices that are not always heard contain rich structures and ideas, and that their study may yield fresh insights and perspectives. The reader is compelled to reconsider generally accepted prescriptive notions and stereotypes about the speech patterns of stigmatized groups and their languages.

It has been far too long since the last book with this breadth on this subject. There is something here for just about anyone who has an interest in language. The book is consistently well written. That is important because I believe it will engage a larger audience, including teachers who do not do (and those who do not trust) empirical research. I cannot emphasize this too much. Teachers (K-12 and college) need to constantly be reminded of facts about language. For most of my academic life, I taught a linguistics course for future teachers (for most, it was the only linguistics course taken). We read many of the works cited in this book, and the students worked on dialect and grammar problem sets; some even did research projects on dialect variance. But when I met those same students later, when they were teaching, many had reverted to the old attitudes of right/wrong. Not contextual right/wrong (e.g., style standards for journals or newspapers or even physics or linguistics professors) but absolute right/wrong. Bishop Lowth, John Simon, et al. paved easier roads to follow. My hope is that this book will inspire many others to begin doing their own research (and having their students conduct such research). As I read the book, I almost wished I were back in the trenches. With each new chapter came many researchable questions. I found myself saying, "But what if we manipulated this or that variable?" or "Would the results be the same if we replicated on a different population" or "Do we really know that or do we just assume it (and how can I test it)?" The best part, of course, is that the language and the speakers will change, so the research constantly has to redone. Were I still teaching, especially graduate students, this would be a required book in several different courses. There is not just a range of foci, but a range of methodologies, so the book would also be useful in a research methods and design course. However, there is also an important consistency: In each piece, the author's conclusions are based on the evidence. That is what we need to impress on everyone. Look to the evidence, not the "convenient belief."