I received a review copy from the author. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

As someone with only a rudimentary knowledge of linguistics (as in, I am currently taking an introductory college course and do not have prior knowledge), I had quite a bit of trouble keeping up with the concepts presented here — especially as key terms and theories are not explained; or if they are, it's later on in the book and/or in terms of other jargon — and it didn't help that there were some errors in the writing itself. From what I could understand in this book, I also noticed some technical-writing mistakes that I encountered a lot as a writing tutor, especially pertaining to quotes of straight facts (i.e., which would be better incorporated if paraphrased and analyzed, instead of directly quoted and then restated) and general organization; it wasn't always clear how each case study was connected to the main thesis.

I applaud English-language learners, I honestly do (it's a really difficult language to master, with all its exceptions and various influences!) but precision of language is so important in a theory-based work like this one. The topic matter is fascinating, but I'm honestly not sure I was able to understand or retain much at all.