ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with language socialization and the broader questions of social and cultural knowledge: how is learning language linked to becoming a member of a community? The book discusses the issues of gender and language. It describes to help students engage in principled ways with contentious issues and to suggest some methods through which they can explore and add to the discussion. The book deals with genre, style, and performance, draws primarily upon work in the ethnography of speaking. It also raises methodological questions for social science more generally. The book focuses on the relationship between language and social and political life. It copes with language and power in face-to-face communities, viewing language as both reflective of and active in constituting political relationships. The book discusses the classic of language and culture studies—the relationship between language and thought.
