《美国社会语言学：理论学家与理论团队》是作者在其1995年完成的《北美语言学研究与理论团队》这本专著的基础上修订而成的。
《北美语言学研究与理论团队》考察了二战以后北美社会语言学产生发展的历史。本书的描述细致、表达睿智、论述一致，令人信服地表明那些丰富多彩、自然历史及其研究活动的探索，其间有直言论述、有悦目美景、有欢快感受，时而也有一些不尽如人意的经历。关心社会语言学思想基础的读者，对此都应当有所关注。
《美国社会语言学：理论学家与理论团队》一书，不但考察了诸如像语言交际民俗和民族文化语义学这样一些理论团队，同时也介绍了诸如像William Labov,Einar Haugen,Erving Goffman这样一些社会语言学家。

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
CHAPTER2
Theory Groups in Science
2.1 Groups and 'revolutions
2.2 Institutionalization
2.3 Invisible Colleges and specification of kuhn's model
CHAPTER 3
1950s Studies of Lexicons and Psychiatry
3.1 The Whorfian Vogue
3.2 Studies of Native American Linguistic Acculturation
3.3 Morris Swadesh and Lexicostatistics
3.4 Berkeley linguistics during the 1950s
3.5 Tragerian Explorations of 'Metalinguistics
3.6 The Natural History of an Interview Project
3.7 Gregory Bateson the Palo Alto School
3.8 Ray Birdwhistell's Study of Nonyerbal Communication
3.9 Pike's Unified Theory;and Burke's Dramaturgical Analysis
CHAPTER 4
Sociologies of Language
4.1 The Chicago School Conception of Language Between the World
4.2 Cosmopolian Communications
4.3 Stanley Lieberson
4.4 Joyce O.Hertzler
4.5 Johh Reinecke
4.6 Ralph Rieris
4.7 Catholic University Urban Sociolinguistics
CHAPTER 5
language Contact and Early Sociolinguistics
5.1 Einar Haugen
5.2 Uriel Weinreich
5.3 Joshua A.Fishman
5.4 Wallace E.Lambert
5.5 Roger Brown
5.6 Exemplars of Sociolinguistics avant la lettre
5.7 Summary
CHAPTER 6
The Ethnography of Speaking
CHAPTER 7
Related perspectives
CHAPTER 8
Ethnoscience
CHAPTER 9
1980s Uniersity of California Ethnolinguistics
CHAPTER 10
Midwestern Semiotics and Geogetown Pramatics
CHAPTER 11
Conclusions
An Appendix on Methods
Bibliography
Index