Chapter 1
Variation and second language acquisition
Recent developments and future directions
In addition to introducing the main themes of this volume, the chapter provides a brief overview of recent
developments in variationist studies of second language acquisition (SLA), including work on perception. We suggest that the
type of work included in this volume, which focuses on a range of features in diverse target languages in a wide variety of
social contexts, contributes to broadening the scope of both SLA research and sociolinguistics more generally. While the
importance of the social context for SLA has sometimes been dismissed, the studies included here offer abundant evidence that
such contexts must be considered if we are to fully understand how learners may achieve not only the ability to use language
correctly, but also appropriately.
Article outline
- Introduction
- 1.More (and more) languages and more (and more) varieties
- 2.Perception
- 3.New ways to count things up
- Broadening the scope of second language acquisition
- Conclusion
-
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Why Care?. In
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