Language and Gender: A Reader

"Language and Gender has been the standard bearer for the field for over a decade. This exciting new edition provides fully updated coverage, using globally oriented data to present both the history of language and gender research and its contemporary theoretical debates. A must-have for anyone interested in the field." Robin Queen, University of Michigan

"Coates and Pichler have gifted the field with this updated edition. . . . Appropriate for novices and experts alike, this book faithfully represents the current state of language and gender scholarship while reviewing its past and pointing toward a rich future." Robert Podesva, Georgetown University

"This stimulating collection of articles covers every aspect of language and gender research and provides a satisfying sense of the development of ideas over the decades, as well as valuable insights into current debates in this vibrant research area." Janet Holmes, Victoria University of Wellington

This new edition of Language and Gender: A Reader responds to the wealth of research that has shaped the field since the book's initial publication in 1998. Jennifer Coates and Pia Pichler combine new research articles with foundational works, and draw on research from all over the world, including Brazil, China, and Japan as well as North America and Europe. The Reader discusses a wide range of topics, including single and mixed-sex talk; language, gender, and power; gendered talk in the public domain; and language, gender, and sexuality.

The volume is divided into ten sections exploring gender differences in pronunciation and grammar and in conversational practice; power and dominance in mixed-sex talk; same-sex talk; talk in the public domain; and debates on gender and power and on difference or dominance. There are two new sections - on language, gender, and sexuality, and on debates around the relevance of gender in the analysis of spoken interaction. The Reader concludes by discussing new directions in language and gender research, including the concept of the Community of Practice, the significance of gender and language ideologies, and the influence of social constructionism on the field. The editors have kept the strongest features of the previous edition, while adding twenty-three new and important pieces to the collection.