Classical linguistics and racecraft have an intertwined history, in that Indo-European linguistics arose concurrently with scientific racism, and shares many of the same metaphors and conceptual frameworks. This chapter touches on this shared history, before exploring some aspects of the metalinguistics and sociolinguistics of race in the ancient world. In particular, the concept of ‘linguistic racism’ will be used to look at how ancient texts use lack of (shared) language to imply a lack of humanity, and how non-Greek speakers are compared to animals. It will also look at depictions of foreign-language speakers as the linguistic ‘other’, particularly in depictions of enslaved people.

Chapter 2 begins Part I, “Linguistic Analysis of Linear A,” which consists of Chapters 2 to 5. As the main key to deciphering a script is identifying the language behind it, this chapter strives to present evidence of various types as to the character of the language behind Linear A. As this was the script of the Minoans on Crete in the 2nd millennium BCE, the chapter first outlines the linguistic landscape in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East at this time, mapping out the features of each ancient language in this region along six different parameters: (1) which language family it belongs to; (2) whether its nouns and verbs are inflected with one set of affixes (prefixes/suffixes), or more than one; (3) whether it is inflected with affixes alone, or also in some other way; (4) whether its affixes can serve multiple purposes, or just one; (5) whether its affixes are mostly prefixes or suffixes; and (6) the default order in which the subject, verb, and object occur in its sentences. Other evidence for the nature of the Minoan language is then discussed, including archaeogenetic and archaeological evidence for the origin of the Minoans, and evidence from documents in other cultures.

This comprehensive Glossary contains detailed definitions of over a hundred linguistic terms, together with illustrative examples, to ensure that readers who might not be familiar with some of these terms will not be placed at a disadvantage by the linguistic arguments presented in the book.

Chapter 4 constitutes the final part of the “toolkit” and is focused on research ethics and integrity. In the first half of the chapter, we discuss the purpose of ethics boards and human subjects protections programs, and how to ethically collect language data through various methods of human behavior, including through social media. The second half of the chapter contains a discussion of research integrity and such topics as citing and referencing sources appropriately, what constitutes plagiarism, and stylistic considerations to take when disseminating your work.

Chapter 5 broadly discusses language use in multilingual and multidialectal societies, codeswitching, language birth, and language loss. We include case studies of multilingualism in the Vaupès in Amazonia and the Maghreb in Africa, the intermingled nature of Maltese and Michif, and English-only movements in North America.

Chapter 3 describes and demonstrates the use of several tools of language study, including elicitations, grammaticality judgments, participant observation, discourse analysis, and corpus analyses.

Chapter 6 explores how language development is an important site for learning about language and social issues. First, we provide a brief timeline of language development and how infants and children progress through the stages of development. Then we discuss language socialization and how it differs from culture to culture: we provide case studies from the US, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Mexico to show how children from each of these cultures are interacted with while they are pre-linguistic. Following that, we discuss the so-called “word gap” and how it is based on claims that are not founded and not replicable. Finally, we discuss literacy socialization in the US and how scholars show that how we are socialized into literate society varies along racial and socioeconomic lines.

In an effort to strengthen linguistic foundations in L2 endeavors and inspire closer interaction and mutual benefit for the allied disciplines, the Conclusion brings together the primary takeaways of the book, proposes future directions for study, and poses remaining questions for those research veins.

This chapter shares the effects of a multi-year project to integrate explicit pronunciation instruction into the curriculum of intermediate Spanish courses at a liberal arts undergraduate university. The pedagogical materials incorporate foundational linguistic principles, such as awareness of the expert unconscious knowledge of a speaker’s native language, an appreciation of the linguistic diversity present across cultures, and a scientific approach to creating and testing hypotheses about how a language works as part of L2 language learning. The authors and researchers found effects in L2 learning beyond the scope of these specific topics: students made connections from pronunciation to other areas of the grammar; students used their expert native language knowledge to recognize patterns in the L2; students demonstrated increased appreciation for dialectical diversity, including heritage speaker productions; and students demonstrated greater comfort with using the L2 more frequently and in more contexts. The chapter closes with a discussion of the benefits to instructors as well as some recommendations for how to incorporate linguistic foundations in other language classes.

This chapter surveys the scholarship on linguistics in education and analyzes the status of linguistics in language education master’s programs. Using the National Center for Education Statistics’ Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) system to define the data field, we searched the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System for institutions conferring degrees between 2011-2020 for CIP code 13.14, the designation for master’s programs in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. From this list, we analyzed available curricula for both MA/MS TESOL degree and MA/MS in elementary, secondary, or adult education language teacher training. Considering programs across 255 institutions, we analyzed linguistics courses as required, elective, or not present. Results reveal that linguistics is integrated at variable rates. Focusing on four core subdisciplines, TESOL fares better: Introductory linguistics was required 69% of the time, sociolinguistics 41.5%, syntax/grammar 53%, and second language acquisition (SLA) 70%. A more dismal picture appears for the other language education group: Introductory linguistics was required 6% of the time, sociolinguistics 6%, syntax/grammar 4%, and SLA 12%. This study demonstrates that language teachers require more robust linguistics education to better equip them for serving language learners’ needs.

Chapter 2 provides a thorough definition of “language” and a broad overview of the field of linguistics and its primary subfields.

Chapter 1 introduces the concept of linguistics and the linguists who study it, as well as the idea of language varieties, dialects, and idiolects. We provide readers with tips on how to use the book and a short summary of the rest of the toolkit.

Chapter 11 focuses on legal issues surrounding language use and language use in different aspects of law enforcement. For example, we discuss the ramifications of transcribers not being familiar with different and/or stigmatized language varieties and how witnesses giving testimony can incorrectly be perceived as lacking credibility when jurors do not use the same language variety. We include case studies on housing access in the US, trial testimony in the US and Canada, and taking victims’ statements in Brazil. We also discuss English-only policies used in some workplaces throughout the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Chapter 9 details the interactions between language use, gender, and sexuality throughout many different language communities. To begin, we discuss different gender concepts from grammatical gender to biosocial gender, and then pronoun use – including neopronouns and singular “they.” Following that, we discuss features that are typically associated with feminine vs. masculine language according to various researchers as well as features that can be used to signal different sexualities to other members of the same group.

Chapter 12 details how language can be used to promote conflict and peace and how language can also become associated with national identity. We illustrate these topics with case studies on the creation of Esperanto, the history of English, teaching Ebonics in California, and Native American boarding schools, among others.

Chapter 8 highlights language use in education, including some of the ways language users are discriminated against for using so-called “non-standard” language varieties and how the myth of a standard language disadvantages children and language learners from many different backgrounds. We also discuss how educational settings can be used to promote certain types of language use and to revitalize languages, including case studies on language nests in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Hawaii, and the northern reaches of Scandinavia.

Chapter 10 discusses how language can be used for economic gain and some of the related myths about economics and language. We provide case studies on how certain types of names are discriminated against on resumes, the language used to describe coffee, and how language can be used to evoke different socioeconomic classes – for example, streets having Spanish names in upper-class white English-speaking communities.

Chapter 7 discusses how language and computer use interact and some of the problems that can occur when relying on natural language processing and machine learning. We discuss some of the benefits and challenges of automatic parsing, how algorithms are applied and can alter what gets shown in searches, and more. We provide several examples of AI generation gone wrong and encourage caution when using large language models, but also how knowledge about linguistics and how language works can inform our own use of language-based technology.