Short description:

Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition is a comprehensive textbook that bridges the gap between the fields of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, exploring the variety of ways in which social context influences the acquisition of a second language. It reviews basic principles of sociolinguistics, provides a unified account of the multiple theoretical approaches to social factors in second languages, summarizes the growing body of empirical research, including examples of findings from a wide range of second languages, and discusses the application of sociolinguistics to the second language classroom. Written for an audience that extends beyond specialists in the field, complete with summary tables, additional readings, discussion questions, and application activities throughout, this volume will serve as the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate students of second language acquisition and instruction, and will also be of interest to researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, second language instruction and sociolinguistics.

Long description:

Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition is a comprehensive textbook that bridges the gap between the fields of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, exploring the variety of ways in which social context influences the acquisition of a second language. It reviews basic principles of sociolinguistics, provides a unified account of the multiple theoretical approaches to social factors in second languages, summarizes the growing body of empirical research, including examples of findings from a wide range of second languages, and discusses the application of sociolinguistics to the second language classroom. Written for an audience that extends beyond specialists in the field, complete with summary tables, additional readings, discussion questions, and application activities throughout, this volume will serve as the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate students of second language acquisition and instruction, and will also be of interest to researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, second language instruction and sociolinguistics.

'This book provides a thorough examination of the role of social factors in second language acquisition, clearly demonstrating the importance of sociolinguistic perspectives in the field of second language acquisition as well as in the second language classroom. It is an outstanding resource for students and scholars interested in the impact of social factors on learner language.' ? Carol Klee, Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies, University of Minnesota, USA

'With this publication, the authors make an invaluable contribution to the research and literature in second language acquisition, complementing traditional cognitive and pedagogical treatments with a properly sociolinguistic approach and, in so doing, bring new perspectives that promise to reinvigorate the discipline.' ? Almeida Jacqueline Toribio, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

'Geeslin and Yim Long?s book is a very pleasant and interesting read which suits the intended audience, i.e. ''readers with backgrounds in second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, speech and hearing sciences, anthropology, linguistics, and education'' (xix). It will be a valued resource for all teachers, teachers? educators, researchers and students of applied linguistics who wish to rethink and learn more about the importance of sociolinguistic perspectives in the field of second language acquisition and instruction, and who have so far lacked such a contribution.' - Valeria Buttini-Bailey, Universität Basel, The LINGUIST LIST

Table of Contents:

Section I: Principles of sociolinguistic variation and second language acquisition  Section II: Approaches to the study of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition  Section III: Implications of research on the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in second languages