How and why do adults modify their language when they move to a new area? In this detailed study of rural dialect users who have moved to the Norwegian city of Bergen, Kerswill throws light on this widespread phenomenon. The book is concerned with the theory of language change through language and dialect contact, and with the theory and practice of sociolinguistics. While the approach is broadly quantitative, the author shows the importance of ethnographic and social-psychological explanations.

With dialects constantly changing and mobility increasing in recent years, it has become difficult to distinguish between such local accents as one from London or Reading, Bonn or Cologne. This book's authoritative contributors cover all aspects of recent dialect change, in particular, dialect convergence and divergence. Each commissioned chapter, based on original research, provides an overview of a particular issue and presents case studies to illustrate points raised.

What is the English language like, why is it like that and what do we need to know in order to study it? This wide ranging introductory textbook not only presents the English language from multiple perspectives, but provides the reader with the necessary grounding in linguistics to investigate it for themselves.