Overview
Sociolinguistics in Ireland takes a fresh look at the interface of language and society in present-day Ireland. In a series of specially commissioned chapters it examines the relationship of the Irish and English languages and traces their dynamic development both in history and at present.
Full Product Details
Author: R. Hickey
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Edition: 1st ed. 2016
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 6.593kg
ISBN: 9781137453464
ISBN 10: 113745346
Pages: 424
Publication Date: 03 February 2016
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
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Reviews
Review 1 - Alexandra D'Arcy, University of Victoria Canada This proposed edited volume brings together a range of sociolinguistic scholarship, woven together by a clear focus on the context of Ireland. The proposal presents a project that is remarkably broad in its coverage, socio-politically (the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), topically (media, code-switching, language shift & revival, emigration, spoken & written language, translation, etc.), temporally (medieval Ireland to the present day), and linguistically (English, Irish, as well as questions of L1 and L2). The volume editor, Raymond Hickey, is an incredibly experienced researcher, author, and editor, and the proposal sits squarely within his field of expertise. That he should assemble such a refined project, centred around a diligently composed selection of contributions, is fully consistent with his established track-record. Bar none, the greatest strength of this volume is its breadth and scope within a strictly delimited theme (Ireland). Sociolinguistics is an incredibly diverse field, and the proposed volume touches on many key aspects of the field. Here, in particular, is where Prof. Hickey's knowledge of the Irish context comes to the fore: It seems he has assembled contributions that speak to key areas of sociolinguistics of Ireland: language shift, code-switching, language policy and how it has shaped current practices, ideology, language acquisition, and so on. There is truly something for everyone here. What the book does not include is a variationist perspective, and I suspect this was a purposeful exclusion. The sociolinguistics of language variation in any variety are defined by constellations of features, not a single feature or two. Thus, that topic would merit its own volume and could not be done justice in a chapter or two. Moreover, one could not include such a chapter on English or Irish alone; both would be required. Most critically for the purpose of this review, however, is that I do not think this is a drawback of the volume and I do not feel that the inclusion of such work is required. Indeed, in many respects, this volume is atheoretic. That is, there are no specific methodologies that are foregrounded within its chapters (interactional sociolinguistics, for example, also does not appear). In my estimation, this is a strength. It ensures that certain readerships are not excluded, and favours no particular approach to, or definition of, sociolinguistic research. As a consequence, and as Prof. Hickey points out in his proposal, this project will have a broad audience. It will certainly be welcomed among scholars of World Englishes. This is partly because of its focus on a particular variety of English, and partly because it samples among topics that will be of interest and relevance to them and speaks to the variety of interests within the field. The volume will also be a key source for sociolinguists more generally, again because of its breadth. Finally, it will be welcomed by specialists of Irish. As such, I envision that the volume will be widely sought after not only by libraries but by individual scholars, for their personal collections. I also expect that the volume, or at least select chapters, will be included in course material, both graduate and undergraduate. Does this proposed volume engage with recent scholarship? It seems that every chapter has been solicited new for the volume, though each will clearly build on authors' existant research programs. In this sense, it is clearly original. But the volume is also original for the topic area, i.e. sociolinguistics in Ireland. Outside of perhaps a handbook, there is no volume that combines this range of topics. What makes the current volume unique, of course, is the Irish focus. In so far as the structure and organization of the volume are concerned, I have little to say. Prof. Hickey is quite masterful at seeing the links and building the structure in a logical and coherent manner. The final section of the book is a bit of varia collection, and yet the papers do all deal with ways in which sociolinguistics interfaces with other fields, and the structure and logic illustrates (indeed, highlights) this clearly. Out of this falls the coherence of the volume (there is nothing that does not 'fit'). Its common focus has already been addressed. There is nothing opportunistic about this collection-it all feels judiciously and cogently structured, organized, and solicited. It is also worth nothing that the scholars who will be contributing to this volume are experts in their respective subjects. They are well respected, and this too will bolster readership and regard for the final product. In short, there is nothing here that I feel needs adjusting or changing. All I feel is excitement: This is going to be a stellar volume and I look forward to reading it. All in all then, I heartily recommend this volume for publication. It will surely find a keen and interested audience across a range of linguistic and language-based disciplines. Review 2 - Robert Lawson, Birmingham City University 1. General overview This edited collection offers a comprehensive and detailed treatment of sociolinguistic research in Ireland and covers historical and contemporary perspectives on language research in this part of the world. The abstracts hint at a number of productive lines of enquiry spanning a range of historical and contemporary language topics. Moreover, it is good to see that some chapters tackle subject matter beyond the confines of Ireland (primarily chapters 12 and 15), adding a much-needed international perspective to the volume. Taken together, the 17 chapters, all authored by notable researchers, will be a useful addition to the sociolinguistic literature and introduces some interesting approaches to the study of Irish Gaelic and Irish English. Based on the reading of the abstracts and the general proposal, the volume appears to be, on the whole, coherent and well-structured, although I had some concerns regarding the order of chapters (see section 2 for more details). Nevertheless, this volume is a good fit with existing work on sociolinguistics in the UK and dovetails nicely with existing work published by Palgrave on sociolinguistic research on specific geographical areas. As such, my recommendation would be to support the publication of this project. 2. Structure and coverage The section headings seem sensible and there is a wide range of material covered. Naturally, there are often a number of different ways that such a breadth of material could be organised. For example, I felt that keeping together the material which charts the historical development of Irish in Ireland would have been productive (e.g. Chapters 7, 8, 1 and 9 all kept together), while the material covered in chapter 4 would seem to follow more sensibly after the material covered in chapter 2. Nevertheless, this is only one way to do it and it is clear that the editor has thought carefully about the most effective way to bring together the range of topics covered by the authors and has sought out specific contributions to the volume in the interests of thematic coherency and focus. 3. Chapter comments The choice of topics covered in the chapters is interesting and there is good breadth of material covered. The chapters are all authored by experts in the respective fields and there are no glaring omissions in terms of content. In terms of peer-review, there was no information in the proposal as to how this would be handled (either internal author-review or external peer-review) and more information on this would have been welcome and how it might impact on the timetable for completion. 4. Timeliness and 'shelf-life' of research The volume is a timely addition to the growing body of literature which focuses on language use in particular areas of the UK, some of which has already been published by Palgrave. In line with similar volumes on sociolinguistic research in the UK, my intuition would be that the research covered in this volume would be relevant for approximately ten years. 5. Likely readership With the interest in sociolinguistic variation in specific geographical areas ever increasing, this volume will serve as a useful reference point about sociolinguistic research in Ireland for postgraduate researchers, professional linguists, sociologists, policy makers and other academics interested in issues of place, identity and language use. Indeed, there is a wide variety of material here which will appeal to a range of readers, not only to those researchers working on language issues in Ireland, but also to those interested in language variation and language use more generally. My feeling is that the book is probably not aimed at undergraduate students, but some chapters might serve as a useful introduction for advanced undergraduate students taking courses in sociolinguistics who wish to read more specialised texts about language use in Ireland (especially chapters 1, 3 and 6). 6. Foreseeable issues Given the range of topics covered and the number of contributors involved, one concerns would be the extent to which the volume maintains a degree of consistency of style and tone. A related point would be how the editor intends to deal with variation in terminology across the chapters and whether there would be any attempts to standardise the key concepts and terms covered in the volume. 7. Miscellaneous Currently, it is not possible for me to comment on the consistency of individual chapters in terms of level, style and presentation, given that the proposal only contained the chapter abstracts. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile pointing out that the editor of the volume has a great deal of experience editing a range of research volumes, including Legacies of Colonial English (2004, Cambridge University Press), Eighteenth-Century English (2010, Cambridge University Press) and Researching the Languages of Ireland (2011, Uppsula University Press). As such, Palgrave should feel confident that the project is being led by a editor with such a strong research and editorial background. Response to the Reviews In the following responses are only offered to those points where the reviewers made critical remarks and suggestions. Review 1: What the book does not include is a variationist perspective, and I suspect this was a purposeful exclusion. The sociolinguistics of language variation in any variety are defined by constellations of features, not a single feature or two. Thus, that topic would merit its own volume and could not be done justice in a chapter or two. RH: I am well aware of the veriationist approach to sociolinguistics and have contributed to this myself (see the second edition of the Handbook of Language Variation and Change). I will be applying methods and insights from this approach in my own chapter. For the chapters on modern Irish it is a question whether sociolinguistic variation can be determined because the communities are so small, but I will keep an eye own for this type of variation and suggest the contributors do as well. Review 2: 2. Structure and coverage: For example, I felt that keeping together the material which charts the historical development of Irish in Ireland would have been productive (e.g. Chapters 7, 8, 1 and 9 all kept together), while the material covered in chapter 4 would seem to follow more sensibly after the material covered in chapter 2. RH: A good suggestion; I have rearranged the chapters in section I to the following: 1) Brian O Cathain The sociolinguistics of Irish in present-day Ireland 2) Siobhan Ni Laoire The sociolinguistics of Irish-English code-switching 3) Raymond Hickey The sociolinguistics of English in Ireland 4) Iarfhlaith Watson The sociolinguistics of Irish language media 5) Vera Regan The sociolinguistics of recent emigration to Ireland 6) Anne Barron The sociolinguistics of language use in Ireland 3. Chapter comments: In terms of peer-review, there was no information in the proposal as to how this would be handled (either internal author-review or external peer-review) and more information on this would have been welcome and how it might impact on the timetable for completion. RH: This depends on what the publishers prefer. There should be internal author-review but at least some external reviewing would make sense to ensure that there is some feedback from outside. I will bear this in mind. 6. Foreseeable issues: Given the range of topics covered and the number of contributors involved, one concern would be the extent to which the volume maintains a degree of consistency of style and tone. A related point would be how the editor intends to deal with variation in terminology across the chapters and whether there would be any attempts to standardise the key concepts and terms covered in the volume. RH: Good point, terminology will have to be stadardised across the chapters. I can put a small glossary of sociolinguistic terms at the end (and circulate this beforehand to authors) to heighten the level of consistency.
The book may be useful for undergraduate classes focused on sociolinguistics more generally, but is certainly of high value to more advanced scholarship on the specific matter of the study of languages in Ireland. ... This volume presents a wide variety of methods and theoretical perspectives and ranges in scale from a close scrutiny of phonetic changes to broad historical trends ... . This diversity of approaches introduces both breadth and depth to its intended topic with great efficacy. (Josh Cannon, Language in Society, Vol. 47 (4), June, 2018)
Author Information
Raymond Hickey studied at Trinity College, Dublin and in Kiel, Germany. He has held professorial appointments at four German universities. His main research interests are sociolinguistics, varieties of English, eighteenth century English, the Irish language alongside general questions of language contact and change on which he has published widely.
