Introduction: Language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation

Sociolinguistic Variation and Second Language Acquisition: Insights from Advanced Learners of French

The study of a range of sociolinguistic variables in second language acquisition research has allowed a number of trends to be identified concerning the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation by the L2 learner. Based on quantitative analyses, this article considers such trends in relation to the variable use of the liaison in French interlanguage by a group of classroom learners in Ireland. W...

The acquisition of sociolinguistic variation: looking back and thinking ahead

Although developmental sociolinguistics is a relatively under-researched field, several studies have described children’s use of sociolinguistic variables and some have suggested theoretical accounts for the learning mechanisms underpinning their acquisition. Taking a historical point of view, this paper aims firstly to provide an exhaustive review of the studies focused on phonological variabl...

Style and Sociolinguistic Variation

Language Iconicity from Sociolinguistic Perspective

This paper offers a definition of language iconicity. And it studies it from a fresh perspective--sociolinguistics. The paper discusses it from the following five sections: social class corresponds to language diversity; traditional concept corresponds to word order iconicity and syntactic iconicity; intimity or estrangement corresponds to lexicalization; regional varieties correspond to differ...

Ethnicity and Sociolinguistic Variation in San Francisco

California’s San Francisco Bay Area has long been one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the United States, and ethnicity is an integral aspect of any research on language use in the region. This article gives a brief social history of San Francisco with respect to settlement patterns since the 1850s’ gold rush, paying particular attention to Chinese Americans, who are argued to play an es...