Robert Bayley & Dennis R. Preston (eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation. (Studies in bilingualism, 10.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: Benjamins, 1996. Pp. xviii, 317. Hb $79.00.

1999 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 478-480
Author(s):  
Elaine Tarone
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Computer Programs ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Relative Neglect ◽  
Clear Idea

Preston's Preface identifies a gaping hole in the domain of SLA research: a “relative neglect ... of the insights to be gained from the quantitative study of interlanguage variation” (p. xiv). The book is intended to remedy that defect by providing (a) a clear rationale for the use of quantitative sociolinguistic methods to study interlanguage variation; (b) seven exemplary studies which use multivariate analysis of linguistic variation for this purpose; and (c) a practical, step-by-step manual on how to use VARBRUL computer programs to analyze variable interlanguage data. Readers of this book should come away with a very clear idea of why and when this sort of analysis should be done, and how to use this powerful tool in analyzing their own data.

INTRODUCTION

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Wesche ◽  
T. Sima Paribakht
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Lexical Development ◽  
Present Collection ◽  
Relative Neglect ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

In the 12 years since Studies in Second Language Acquisition published its first thematic collection on L2 lexical issues, “The use and acquisition of the second language lexicon,” edited by S. Gass (1987), the centrality of lexical development in second language acquisition has received ever increasing recognition from researchers (see, for example, volumes by Arnaud & Béjoint, 1992; Coady & Huckin, 1997; Haastrup, 1991; Haastrup & Viberg, 1998; Harley, 1995, 1996; Hatch & Brown, 1995; Huckin, Haynes, & Coady, 1993; Meara, 1992; Nation, 1990; Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997; Schreuder & Weltens, 1993; Tréville, 1993; Tréville & Duquette, 1996). The 1987 collection was a leading foray into new territory, following a period of relative neglect of the lexicon in SLA. The issues taken up by its authors were quite diverse, ranging from the organization and components of the L2 lexicon, to aspects of acquisition such as cross-linguistic influence, restructuring, and rate, to L2 lexical-use issues such as retrieval and access. Since that time, a large body of L2 research and theory has developed around these and other topics, and it has become possible to deal comprehensively with single core issues in L2 lexical acquisition from multiple perspectives. The current collection is one such attempt, offering a set of related papers on the topic of incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition. Unlike the 1987 collection, which argued for recognition of the importance of the lexicon in a field dominantly concerned with the acquisition of syntax, the authors of the present collection assume the central importance of lexical acquisition.

Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Howard ◽  
Raymond Mougeon ◽  
Jean-Marc Dewaele
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Functional Value ◽  
Research Findings

While the focus on sociolinguistic and sociopragmatic variation is relatively new, linguistic variation continues to be an important issue that SLA research has grappled with. By linguistic variation, one understands the learner’s variable use of two or more L2 forms to express the same functional value, where one or all forms are nonnative. This chapter focuses on type II variation and presents an overview of the research findings that illuminate the challenge to the learner of developing sociolinguistic and sociopragmatic competence in the L2. While the application of sociolinguistic variationist methods to the study of type II variation has been relatively recent in SLA research, such methods have also been fruitfully used by some SLA researchers in relation to type I variation.

Variationist Sociolinguistics

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bayley
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Variationist Sociolinguistics ◽  
Ethnographic Observation ◽  
Recent Developments

The central ideas of variationist sociolinguistics are that an understanding of language requires an understanding of variable as well as categorical processes, and that the variation witnessed at all levels of language is not random. Rather, linguistic variation is characterized by orderly or “structured heterogeneity.” In addition, synchronic variation is often a reflection of diachronic change. This chapter reviews representative studies and outlines the main assumptions underlying the variationist approach. It presents an example of variationist analysis, using the well-known case of variation between Spanish null and overt subject personal pronouns. Then, the chapter considers a number of relatively recent developments in variationist sociolinguistics including the expansion of the variationist paradigm into new areas such as second-language acquisition and sign linguistics, as well as recent work that combines ethnographic observation and quantitative analysis.

Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Variation

Language ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 434
Author(s):  
Susan Meredith Burt ◽  
Robert Bayley ◽  
Dennis R. Preston
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Variation
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