Investigating Language Attitudes: Social Meanings of Dialect, Ethnicity and PerformancePeter Garrett, Nikolas Coupland and Angie Williamspp 224 (10 b/w ills.) 216x138mm June 2003 hardback £40.00ISBN 0-7083-1803-7 Investigating Language Attitudes is a systematic and critical appraisal of the variety of ways in which people's attitudes to language have been researched internationally over recent decades. The authors explain this complex field through clear reviews and commentary on previous work, while also offering a demonstration of language attitude research in one specific and important context, the English language in Wales. In addition to discussing different ways of expressing attitudes, from teenagers' and teachers' attitudes to regional and subcultural variation in attitudes, the book also considers issues such as degrees of authentic Welshness, the impact of rapid social change in Wales.The methodological and empirical issues considered in Investigating Language Attitudes will be of particular interest to all lecturers, researchers, and students in the fields of sociolinguistics, the social psychology of language, the sociology of language, and education. For those with a particular interest in Wales, the findings from the series of empirical studies present a barometer of life opportunities, social inequalities, and national coherence in a changing contemporary environment. Peter Garrett, Nikolas Coupland and Angie Williams are all at the Centre for Language and Communication Research, Cardiff University.

Peter Garrett is Senior Lecturer, and his main interests are in attitudes, intergroup theory, and persuasive communication. Nikolas Coupland is Professor, with main interests in sociolinguistic variation, style and discourse. Angie Williams is Senior Lecturer. Her main interests are in research methods, intergenerational and relational communication. All three have published widely in the area of language and communication.