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Speaking in a Second Language
Edited by Rosa Alonso Alonso
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 17] 2018
► pp. 1–24

Chapter 1
Sociolinguistic competence and the acquisition of speaking

| Indiana University
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
| University of Pittsburgh
| Grand Valley State University
| Texas Tech University
| San Diego State University
| University at Albany, SUNY , SUNY

In face-to-face spoken interactions, language learners must construct a meaningful message consistent with the L2 grammar, articulate it comprehensibly, and manage the aspects of oral communication that reflect speaker identity, interlocutor identities, and the characteristics of the interactional context. A lack of sociolinguistic competence can lead to a failure to convey formality, politeness, solidarity, friendship, and group membership, and this will negatively affect the communicative outcome. The current chapter examines the social and situational information one conveys through linguistic variants in speech, offering a state-of-the-art account of empirical research, including a discussion of pressing issues in the field, such as the roles of lexical frequency, geographic variation, and language attitudes, as well as the pedagogical implications of this research.

Article outline
  • Introduction and overview
  • Linguistic variation and speaking in learner grammars
    • L2 speaking and the acquisition of sociolinguistically-variable sounds
    • L2 speaking and the acquisition of sociolinguistically variable morphosyntactic structures
  • Current issues in sociolinguistic competence and speaking
    • L2 speaking and the role of lexical frequency
    • L2 speaking and the role of geographic variation
    • L2 speaking and the role of language attitudes
  • Pedagogical implications
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.17.01gee
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