The Sociolinguistic Competence Of Immersion Students

This book reports the findings of an extensive research project on the acquisition of the native norms of spoken French variation by French immersion students who have learnt their second language primarily in an educational context. The project focused on a range of phonetic, lexical and grammatical sociolinguistic variants documented in studies of contemporary first language varieties of spoken French, and assessed the extent to which the students master the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors which govern variant choice. The book also discusses pedagogical strategies to improve the students' mastery of spoken French variation. The book represents an important contribution to an under-researched aspect of advanced Second Language Acquisition in an institutional setting.

Drawing on cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of a range of sociolinguistic variables in L2 French, this volume explores the relationship between 'study abroad' and the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation patterns by the advanced second language learner. Within a variationist paradigm, the findings illuminate a number of issues in relation to the role of speaker identity, gender, and L2 exposure and contact.

"First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2015"--Title page verso.

This book provides the first examination of sociolinguistic competence and the acquisition of native-like variability in an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) context. It presents data from email exchanges between Swiss speakers (with German, French and Italian mother tongues) to allow for a greater understanding of which features of discourse are source language-related and which are learning-related.

Kinberg (educational studies, Knox College) defines and describes the topic of immersion programs from five perspectives. Together, these provide information on theory and practice, strengths and weaknesses, history and potential for the future, and national and international ideas about the use of immersion programs in the teaching of second languages to speakers of English. ^ c. Book News Inc.

This book investigates the acquisition of sociolinguistic knowledge in the early elementary school years of a Mandarin-English two-way immersion program in the United States. Using ethnographic observation and quantitative analysis of data, the author explores how input from teachers and classmates shapes students’ language acquisition. The book considers the different sociolinguistic messages conveyed by teachers in their patterns of language use and the variety of dialects negotiated and represented. Using analysis of teacher speech, corrective feedback and student language use, the author brings together three analyses to form a more complete picture of how children respond to sociolinguistic variation within a two-way immersion program.

This state-of-the-art volume offers a comprehensive, accessible, and uniquely interdisciplinary examination of social factors’ role in second language acquisition (SLA) through different theoretical paradigms, methodological traditions, populations, contexts, and language groups. Top scholars from around the world synthesize current and past work, contextualize the central issues, and set the future research agenda on second language variation, including languages studied or taught less commonly. This will be an indispensable resource to scholars and advanced students of SLA, applied linguistics, education, and other fields interested in the social aspects of language learning in research practice and instruction.

For millions of individuals all over the world, speaking in a second language is a daily activity. It is therefore important that research in applied linguistics should contribute empirically to the study of second language spoken interaction. The aim of this volume is to make such a contribution by providing research-based insights into current approaches to the teaching and learning of this skill. Two key dimensions define the papers included here−their novelty and scope. First, the book provides a novel approach to the study of speaking in a second language by combining recent findings in usage-based linguistics with current issues in teaching. Second, the chapters cover a range of theoretical perspectives, including sociolinguistic and interactional competence, gestures, dynamic systems theory and code-switching. The volume offers a contemporary analysis of research in second language speaking that will be of interest to researchers, graduate students, teachers and other professionals working in the fields of communication and applied linguistics.