This textbook will be the foundational book in the successful Routledge English Language Introductions series. While standing as a sampler for the other volumes in the series as a whole, The English Language will be a resource book in the RELI model in its own right. It offers comprehensive coverage of the key aspects of the English language (such as meaning and structure), as well as providing an introduction to key disciplines of linguistics (historical, social and psycholinguistics) and also key areas in language study (such as language acquisition, standardisation and the globalisation of English). Adopting the usual flexible RELI structure, the four sections offer introductions, development and exploration of all the topics covered plus the classic readings in each area to extend knowledge further. With a wealth of real texts throughout and supported by a companion website, this book will be a distinctive text and essential resource for all introductory language and linguistics courses.