Introduction: Sociolinguistics and globalisation

An introduction to essays in a theme issue of Journal of Sociolinguistics titled "Sociolinguistics and Globalization" reviews the content of each contribution & assesses the extent to which it relates to each of four key concepts claimed to be useful in structuring sociolinguistic research with sensitivity to issues of globalization: commodification, disembedding, compression of time & space, & community interdependence. It is emphasized that the relation of sociolinguistics to globalization is not to be construed as an application of current trends in social theory in the role of a service discipline but arises internally within sociolinguistics, motivated by focus on linguistic bases of social inequality & social values of language variation. 27 References. J. Hitchcock