Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Language and Multilingualism in Institutions

Abstract

Sociolinguistic research from variationist and ethnographic perspectives is still in many ways oriented to answering certain key questions which are, on the one hand, about variation and change within the language system (Labov, 1972, 2000, 2007) and, on the other hand, about language as a cultural practice that is connected to local productions of meaning and interpretation (Duranti, 1997; Verschueren, 2008). It is also well known that disciplinary agendas in Linguistics-including Sociolinguistics-have not adequately dealt with the connection of language and society. They have not developed adequate theoretical frameworks for going beyond strict correlations of social and contextual factors with language forms, nor with the ways in which interactional and conversational practices construct social and institutional realities. Today, the study of multilingualism provides a domain of enquiry where ideas and concepts from sociology, politics, economics and anthropology provide key references for the sort of knowledge we need to take into account in order to understand the various ways language is connected to complex social processes.

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