This important contribution to the sociolinguistics of Asian languages breaks new ground in the study of language standards and standardization in two key ways: in its focus on Asia, with particular attention paid to China and its neighbours, and in the attention paid to multilingual contexts. The chapters address various kinds of (sometimes hidden) multilingualism and examine the interactions between multilingualism and language standardization, offering a corrective to earlier work on standardization, which has tended to assume a monolingual nation state and monolingual individuals. Taken together, the chapters in this book thus add to our understanding of the ways in which multilingualism is implicated in language standardization, as well as the impact of language standards on multilingualism.

The introduction, Chapter 6 and Chapter 8 are free to download as open access publications under a CC BY NC licence. You can access them here:
Introduction: https://zenodo.org/record/5749388#.YaiwuNDP3cs
Chapter 6: https://zenodo.org/record/5749522#.Yaiw-9DP3cs
Chapter 8: https://zenodo.org/record/5749586#.Yai0RNDP3cs

This volume makes an essential contribution to the critical task of decolonizing sociolinguistics, by making the discipline more inclusive and representative. The case studies – drawn from south, southeast, east, and inner Asia – broaden the scope of sociolinguistic knowledge and stimulate important theoretical developments in our understanding of language standardization. * Gerald Roche, La Trobe University, Australia *
This valuable book adds depth and breadth to the understanding of language standardization and variation by providing much-needed Asian perspectives. Complex issues such as equity, diversity and cultural revitalisation in the interplay of dominant and minoritized languages are explored in scholarly and accessible chapters that enrich the literature and inform policy. * Bob Adamson, University of Nottingham Ningbo China *
This volume situates the study of language standardization and variation firmly in multilingual contexts and provides case studies from both major and minoritized Asian languages. In doing so, it opens up exciting new perspectives on linguistic norms and variation, and tests traditional models and assumptions about standardization, which have hitherto too often been based on monolingual ideologies and European languages. * Wendy Ayres-Bennett, University of Cambridge, UK *

Nicola McLelland is Professor in German and History of Linguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include language standardization, multilingualism, the history of language learning and teaching, and the history of linguistics.

Hui Zhao is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, Chinese sociolinguistics, multilingualism and language variation.