Wendy Ayres-Bennett is Professor of French Philology and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. She is Principal Investigator on the AHRC funded multi-disciplinary research project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies. John Bellamy is Lecturer in Linguistics, Manchester Metropolitan University. He has published extensively on language policy, youth linguistic practices, language attitudes and ideologies.

'The overall presentation is excellent, and each chapter is accompanied by a most useful comprehensive bibliography … The volume is to be recommended very highly to all colleagues with an interest in sociolinguistics, as well as to postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students looking for an introduction to general and specific issues relating to language standardization.' Martin Durrell, Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics

• Introduction Wendy Ayres-Bennett and John Bellamy; Part I. Revisiting Models and Theories of Language Standardization: 1. Modelling language standardization Wendy Ayres-Bennett; 2. Language standardization 'from above' Gijsbert Rutten and Rik Vosters; 3. Language standardization in a view 'from below' Stephan Elspaß; 4. Social cohesion and emerging standards of Hindi in a multilingual context Anvita Abbi; 5. Standardization in highly multilingual national contexts: the shifting interpretations, limited reach, and great symbolic power of ethnonationalist visions Friederike Lüpke; 6. Standardization of minority languages: nation-state building and globalization Minglang Zhou; Part II. Legitimacy, Authority and the Written Form: 7. Standard languages in the context of language policy and planning and language rights Douglas A. Kibbee; 8. State-appointed institutions: authority and legitimacy in the Spanish-speaking world Darren Paffey; 9. Grammars, dictionaries and other metalinguistic texts in the context of language standardization Nicola McLelland; 10. An industry perspective: dealing with language variation in Collins dictionaries Ian Brookes, Mary O'Neill and Merryn Davies-Deacon; 11. The role of literature in language standardization: the case of Italy Nicoletta Maraschio and Tina Matarrese; 12. Standardization, new speakers and the acceptance of (new) standards Michael Hornsby and Noel Ó Murchadha; 13. Creoles and variation Bettina Migge; Part III. Norms, Literacy and Education: 14. Language endangerment and standardization: perspectives from the fourth world Lynn Drapeau; 15. Indigenous languages, standardization, and curricular development: the case of the Māori language mathematics lexicon Tony Trinick and Stephen May; 16. Polynomic standards: the enactment of legitimate variation Alexandra Jaffe; 17. Standard languages and standardization in the context of bilingual education Robert Train and Claire Kramsch; 18. Setting standards for language learning and assessment in educational contexts: a multilingual perspective Antony John Kunnan and Nick Saville; Part IV. Beyond the National: Borders and Boundaries: 19. Transnational standards of languages: the rise and codification of national varieties Raymond Hickey; 20. Standardization across state boundaries: modern Ukrainian as a paradigmatic case Serhii Vakulenko; 21. Language modernization in the Chinese character cultural sphere: China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam Patrick Heinrich; 22. Linguistic norms, centre-periphery dynamics and the tension between uniformity and diversity in processes of standardization Josep Maria Nadal and Francesc Feliu; 23. When ethnic boundaries and language boundaries mismatch: standardization in Mayan languages in multilingual situations Sergio Romero; 24. The standardization of a stateless language Yaron Matras; Part V. Standardization in Late Modernity: Beyond Traditional Standardization: 25. Destandardization Tore Kristiansen; 26. Contemporary perspectives on language standardization: the role of digital and online technologies John Bellamy; 27. Standardization and new urban vernaculars Catherine Miller and Jacopo Falchetta; 28. Renegotiating language norms in minority contexts Noel Ó Murchadha; 29. Sign language standardization Ronice Müller de Quadros and Christian Rathmann.