This book is an attempt to provide a framework for the systematic study of the English language at tertiary institutions, and covers topics of language structure and meaning. It is intended as a support for the the study of language in use, language variation and language in society. Those topics were introduced in English in Perspective, a textbook for first-level courses published by Oxford University Press in 2003.

The aim of this book is to relate the study of language to its role in the life of individuals and societies. Accordingly, the various topics dealt with in the different chapters lead towards an independent language investigation introduced in the final chapter. This requires students to select an area of language in use and investigate it by applying their understanding of some aspect of languag study.

I am grateful to Professor Leonie Viljoen and my other colleagues in the English Teacher Education Unit at the University of South Africa for their support, and most especially to Felicity Home for her involvement in the project, and for her advice, encouragement and generous help over many years. Thanks also to Mitzi Anderson for kindly proofreading the manuscript and offering constructive suggestions, to Myles Hollo way and Peter Southey of The John Povey Institute, and to Nick and Renee Hlozek for their encouragement and support.