the implications this has for children’s education

[brian&me]

As with the earlier titles in this series, on spelling (Spell It Out) and punctuation (Making a Point), my aim in this book is exactly what its title and subtitle suggest: to explain how the subject of grammar has evolved since classical times to reach the position it is in today. All three books – to coin a phrase, S, P a[nd] G – bring to light the complex history of the English language, which is calling out for description at a point when our present-day sensibilities are struggling to grasp the realities of language variation and change, and the implications this has for children’s education.
Source: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, David Crystal

Does the pronoun “this” refer to “the complex history of the English language”？

 

[owlman5]

If I understood him correctly, Crystal intended it to refer to the fact that language changes over time.

 

[Hermione Golightly]

It seems so, because the rest is in a non-defining relative clause between commas. Not so crystal clear!

 

[lingobingo]

I agree with both replies.

Grammatically, as Hermione says, you could delete the non-defining clause and be left with:

the complex history of the English language … and the implications this has for children’s education.​

But more broadly, “this” can be understood as meaning the whole of what’s just been described:

the complex history of the English language, which is calling out for description at a point when our present-day sensibilities are struggling to grasp the realities of language variation and change, and the implications all this has for children’s education.​