The article discusses the importance of sociohistorical context which is the foundation of variation studies in sociolinguistics. The studies on variation in spoken and signed languages are reviewed with the discussion of geographical and social aspects which are treated as external factors in the formation and maintenance of dialects and those…

The article illustrates a sociolinguistics of language vitality that accounts for "minority" and unofficial languages across multiple localities in dispersed communities of multilingual speakers of Zambia where only seven out of seventy-three indigenous languages have been designated official and "zoned" for use in specified…

A significant body of research has begun to explore the association between language and identity, a relationship that becomes more complex when considering multilingual communities. Important for this field, a number of studies have examined the interrelation between language and identity in the Cuban population in the USA, a case in which…

Using data from Arizona, United States, the present study seeks to further our understanding of lone other language items (LOLIs) in bilingual discourse and their status as either borrowings or codeswitches by measuring the degree of incorporation that can indicate a LOLI's status as a borrowing or codeswitching. To accomplish this aim, nouns from…

Political theorists, generally non-experts in the language sciences, whose principal aim is often to advance normative theories on desirable states of affairs within liberal democratic states, tend to deal with language as a stable nominal category, as something that one "has" or "doesn't have", that can be labeled as one…

Linguistic landscapes have proven to be intriguing foci of sociolinguistic research in and of themselves, given language in public spaces indexes broader sociolinguistic processes, struggles, and policies. This paper, however, trials linguistic landscape as a methodological tool for research that solicits and analyses metalinguistic talk --…

Based on a larger ethnography (Li, 2017. Social Reproduction and Migrant Education: A Critical Sociolinguistic Ethnography of Burmese Students' Learning Experiences at a Border High School in China. (PhD), Macquarie University. http://www.languageonthemove.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/LI_Jia_Social_reproduction_and_migrant_education.pdf) and…

This study examines the attitudes of German-speaking pupils towards Sorbian-language education and the problems these pupils indicate as an obstacle to becoming bilingual through educational settings. Based on the research carried out in the Upper Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen/Budyšin (Germany) combining a statistical survey, in-depth…

In the popular mind, constructing a language has always been seen as an odd activity, one that seems to fly in the face of "natural" language dynamics. It is, nonetheless, a very old activity, and attention to its various stages is an important part of the study of linguistic history--and, indeed, of modern scientific development. The…

Language vulgarism can be heard in the lyrics of many Indonesian "dangdut" songs in terms of words, phrases, and clauses to portray women as either the instigators or objects of sexuality. The objectives of the study are to see: vulgar language that present in "dangdut" song lyrics as the pedagogical evidence of gender…

Drawing on Vygotsky's insights on the sociocultural origins of development, we examine the French homestay as a site for learning, with a focus on the dinner table. Based on audio recordings of mealtime interactions, interviews, and field notes, we present two case studies of French language learners and their host families. "Amelia"…

This study investigated and analyzed the use of rhetorical appeals, and the presence of hedges, and boosters in the argumentative essays of ESL learners. It is aimed at exploring the linguistic differences between male and female writers in terms of how they put forward their claims in an argument and how they appeal to their audience. The study…

Linguistic landscape studies increasingly focus on the variables that intertwine to generate the meaning of texts on display. International tourist resorts, largely multilingual, reveal how languages in signage combine and respond to the sociolinguistic profile of their readership. However, these settings have received scant attention in the…

Focusing on developments in research on language education policy, this introduction to the thematic special issue begins with a sketch of the new problem space emerging at the intersection of intensified transnational mobility, expanding economic neo-liberalisation and institutionalised of multilingualism. It then identifies situated practice,…

Echolalia is a linguistic phenomenon common in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This study examined the relationship between demand complexity and immediate echolalia in 4 students with an autism diagnosis in a university-based academic setting. Mastered and novel antecedent verbal demands that required an intraverbal response were…