Metrolingualism : Language in the City

In their new book, Pennycook and Otsuji introduce the notion of ''metrolingualism'': the use of language in urban contexts by people of differing linguistic backgrounds. Due to increasing urban diversity, the use of language within cities is changing. The authors explore language and linguistics within a number of contemporary situations, including markets, the kitchen and construction sites. Using different global cities as examples, the book engages with current debates about multilingualism and develops a new way of thinking about language. This text will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics.

This book is about language and the city. Pennycook and Otsuji introduce the notion of ‘metrolingualism’, showing how language and the city are deeply involved in a perpetual exchange between people, history, migration, architecture, urban landscapes and linguistic resources. Cities and languages are in constant change, as new speakers with new repertoires come into contact as a result of globalization and the increased mobility of people and languages.

Metrolingualism sheds light on the ordinariness of linguistic diversity as people go about their daily lives, getting things done, eating and drinking, buying and selling, talking and joking, drawing on whatever linguistic resources are available. Engaging with current debates about multilingualism, and developing a new way of thinking about language, the authors explore language within a number of contemporary urban situations, including cafés, restaurants, shops, streets, construction sites and other places of work, in two diverse cities, Sydney and Tokyo. This is an invaluable look at how people of different backgrounds get by linguistically.

Metrolingualism: Language in the city will be of special interest to advanced undergraduate/postgraduate students and researchers of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics.