Reviews

This innovative blend of textbook, workbook, and anthology is a welcome addition to the introductory linguistics literature.
David Crystal, Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor

With An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies, Anne McCabe presents an enormously appealing, accessible, and up to date treatment of the field to those who always wanted to know what it was all about — but, perhaps, were afraid to ask! They will come to explore the major modalities of language use and their relation to mind, appreciate the exuberance of language change and variation in social context, and consider the complexities of language learning and development in relation to our biological make-up. Always, they will be involved on all levels: as inquirers interested in major theoretical questions and empirical approaches; as language users who are constantly invited to reflect on the nature of language through an unusually rich and engaging array of exercise that enliven each chapter of the book; as learners seeking assurances, through chapter summaries, a glossary, and exercise answers, that their own reading of the issues is accurate; and as students of the field desiring to place their new knowledge within other areas of linguistics and to receive suggestions for further reading. Applied linguistics and its students are the happy beneficiaries of McCabe’s most welcome contribution.
Heidi Byrnes, George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German, Georgetown University

McCabe provides novices to the linguistics community with a well-written and highly interactive text that allows readers with various levels of pre-existing knowledge to explore both the theoretical and practical applications of linguistics and language studies across many topics, and she provides a contemporary alternative to similar introductory publications in the field of linguistics. The text is one that clearly serves numerous purposes for both novices and experts in the fields of linguistics and language studies.
Robert A. Cote, Sharjah Women’s College, United Arab Emirates, in LINGUIST List 22.4990 (December 2011)