ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the sociolinguistic and ideological context for the analysis of linguistic variation in spoken English at the level of language variety, and language attitudes. It critically reviews the pivotal concepts of language variety, and standard/non-standard English and the types of attitudes and practices which have developed around these notions as well as the ways in which they are now being challenged with a focus on IE as a non-main Inner Circle variety. The relationship between IE and SBE/SAE is explored and the NS usages that form the basis of the linguistic analysis in this book are introduced, together with the criteria and rationale for the choices made.
