In this new edition of a classic textbook, Martin Montgomery explores some of the close connections between language and social life. He explores the ways in which children learn language in interaction with those around them, learning at the same time through language how to make sense of their world. He considers the social implications of accent and dialect as well as the broader interconnections of language with social class, ethnic group and subculture.

He explores the role of language in shaping social relationships as part of everyday encounters and looks at the ways in which our habitual ways of interpreting the world may be shaped by the categories, systems and patterns of our language.