This edited volume brings together leading authors in the field of sociolinguistics who explore the sociolinguistic implications of spelling, punctuation and other graphic aspects of writing. Data is drawn from a wide range of languages and communicative contexts, ranging from schoolrooms to internet discussion boards. The focus is on the way that spelling as a practice and as a focus of ideological debate relates to social, political and cultural systems, both reflecting and sometimes creating identities as well as relationships of both equality and inequality.