Research at the intersection of second language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation has grown into a robust field, fostering dialogue between social and cognitive approaches to linguistics. Given the evidence from earlier studies that learners acquire and notice patterns of variation, the main interest now lies in the mechanisms and factors that drive acquisition. This volume compiles state-of-the-art research on this topic. Taking a decidedly multidisciplinary approach, the volume provides a venue for studies featuring varied methods, languages, and data sources.
The first section of this volume addresses the intersection of child language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation. Chapter 2 by Loïc Liégeois offers longitudinal evidence that schwa elision in French is less frequent among caregivers in child-directed speech, but usage increases over time until it reflects adult norms. Eline Zenner & Dorien Van De Mieroop report comparable results for Belgian Dutch in chapter 3, with caregivers tending to use standard forms of address in softer (i.e. indirect) control acts. Chapter 4 by Naomi L. Shin focuses on the discourse-pragmatics interface among English-Spanish bilingual children, proposing a frequency-based explanation for variation patterns in the acquisition of subject pronoun expression.
Several contributions also examine child language acquisition in multilingual communities. For instance, in chapter 5, Bernadette Kushartanti, Hans Van de Velde, & Martin Everaert observe that school-age children in Jakarta acquire social and grammatical constraints simultaneously. Chapter 6 by Irmtraud Kaiser & Gudrun Kasberger concentrates on perception rather than production, finding that in Bavarian-speaking Austria, children show a preference for Standard German from ages seven or eight onward, which might be attributed to schooling. Similarly, in chapter 7, Véronique Lacoste reports high rates of vowel lengthening in word-final syllables in English among Jamaican schoolchildren, in a way that mirrors teacher production.
Turning to second language acquisition in adulthood, in chapter 9, Rebecca Lurie Starr & Tianxiao Wang follow two L2 Mandarin-speaking politicians from 1966 to 1992 and observe an increase in their use of standard forms across the twenty-six-year cycle, particularly in the period overlapping with a governmental campaign promoting the use of Mandarin. Chapter 10 by Rozenn Gautier & Jean-Pierre Chevrot addresses the study abroad context and describes the longitudinal development of two distinct variables in L2 French: one driven by its sociolinguistic value (ne deletion) and the other responding to frequency-based patterns (optional liaison).
The volume likewise explores the burgeoning subfield of second dialect acquisition. In chapter 11, Andrea Ender proposes that L2 German speakers in Switzerland have an awareness of the dialect-standard continuum, rarely mixing the codes and instead primarily choosing one as a marker of identity. Chapter 12 by Jeff Siegel argues that dialects can index not only ethnic or regional identity, but also national identity, using Australian English as an example. The volume concludes with chapter 13, wherein Carla L. Hudson Kam offers evidence for the indexical value of sociolinguistic variation using a miniature artificial language.
In sum, the volume efficiently provides a state of affairs for the field, offering numerous avenues for future research and encouraging collaboration among diverse disciplines that share a common interest in the social meaning of language and its acquisition.
