The volume brings together nearly 40 contributions from the eponymous international conference held at the University of Wuppertal in May 2001. The range of topics highlights the diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches in current international youth language research. The scope of the research aspects includes lexicon and phraseology, language styles, text types, language and style mixtures, as well as group interactions. It addresses fundamental and contemporary questions in sociolinguistics and empirical language research, variety linguistics and language change research, stylistics, lexicology and lexicography, communication and media studies, language didactics, and educational research. In an international comparison, it also reveals common developmental trends alongside the sociocultural differentiations within today's youth languages.