A critical understanding of second language acquisition from two sociolinguistic strands: The Variationist approach and the Investment Perspective

Chang Liu

doi:10.54475/jlt.2023.006

Authors

Chang Liu University of Cambridge https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2922-9234

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54475/jlt.2023.006

Keywords:

second language learning, sociolinguistic theory, variationist approach, investment perspective, identity

Abstract

This review explores how sociolinguistics expands our understanding of second language acquisition (SLA) by drawing upon two typical sociolinguistic strands: the variationist approach and the investment perspective. Accordingly, two empirical studies are used to illustrate the contributions of each strand, with Han’s (2019) study adopting a variationist approach and Sung’s (2020) study taking an investment perspective. Through a critical analysis, this paper argues that both theoretical strands contribute to the “social turn” of SLA by providing different insights into the social shaping of second language (L2) knowledge and learning, as well as the interplay between identity construction and L2 learning. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies are discussed at the end.

Author Biography

Chang Liu, University of Cambridge

Chang Liu is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, where she studied MPhil Research in Second Language Education. Prior to her master’s studies, she completed a BA in Education Studies from the University College London. Currently, her research interest lies in language investment, informal language learning, digital literacies, and social inequalities.
Email: cl868@cantab.ac.uk

References

Al-khresheh, M. H. (2016). A review study of contrastive analysis theory. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(6), 330-338. https://doi.org/10.20474/jahss-2.6.5

Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Georgetown University Press, 3240 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007.

Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual

review of applied linguistics, 35, 36-56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190514000191

Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2017). Language, identity, and investment in the twenty-first century. Language policy and political issues in education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02320-5_18-2

Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2018). Identity, investment, and TESOL. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.), TESOL encyclopaedia of English language teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/ 9781118784235.eelt0802

De Costa, P. I. (2010). Reconceptualizing language, language learning, and the adolescent immigrant language learner in the age of postmodern globalization. Language and Linguistics Compass, 4(9), 769-781. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00229.x

Drummond, R., & Schleef, E. (2016). Identity in variationist sociolinguistics. In The Routledge handbook of language and identity (pp. 76-91). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315669816.ch3

Duff, P. A. (1995). An ethnography of communication in immersion classrooms in Hungary. Tesol Quarterly, 29(3), 505-537. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588073

Duff, P. A. (2013). Identity, agency, and second language acquisition. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 428-444). Routledge.

Eckert, P. (2012). Three waves of variation study: The emergence of meaning in the study of sociolinguistic variation. Annual review of Anthropology, 41, 87-100. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145828

Eckert, P. (2016). Third wave variationism. In The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics (Oxford: Oxford University Press). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935345.013.2

Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The modern language journal, 81(3), 285-300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05480.x

Geeslin, K. (2020). Variationist perspective(s) on interlocutor individual differences. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 127-158). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.53.06gee

Hall, J. K. (1995). (Re)creating our worlds with words: A sociohistorical perspective of face-to-face interaction. Applied linguistics, 16(2), 206-232. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/16.2.206

Han, Y. (2019). Chinese L2 users as active social agents: Sentence final particles variation and identities. Applied Pragmatics, 1(1), 46-67. https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.00003.han

Holmes, J., & Wilson, N. (2017). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (5th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315728438

Kanno, Y., & Norton, B. (2003). Imagined communities and educational possibilities: Introduction. Journal of language, identity, and education, 2(4), 241-249. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327701JLIE0204_1

Joseph, J. (2004). Language and identity: National, ethnic, religious. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.2104/aral0728

Labov, W. (1963). The social motivation of a sound change. Word: Journal of the International Linguistic Association, 19(3). 273-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1963.11659799

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge university press. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/44675

Miller, J. (2004). 10. Identity and language use: The politics of speaking ESL in schools. In Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 290-315). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596483-013

Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Longman Publishing Group. https://www.academia.edu/14417937/Identity_and_language_learning_Gender_ethnicity_and_educational_change

Norton, B. (2013). Identity and language learning. Multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090563

Norton Peirce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL quarterly, 29(1), 9-31. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587803

Ortega, L. (2011). Second language acquisition (pp. 191-204). Routledge.

Pavlenko, A. (2002). Poststructuralist approaches to the study of social factors in second language learning and use. In V. Cook (Ed.), Portraits of the L2 User (pp. 275-302). Multilingual Matters.

Regan, V. (2013). Variation. In J. Herschensohn & M. Young-Scholten (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook for Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press. http://hdl.handle.net/10197/4698

Romaine, S. (2003). Variation. In C. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 409-435). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(1-4), 209-232. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.1972.10.1-4.209

Simpson, A. (2014). Sentence-Final Particles. In C.T. J. Huang, Y.H.A. Li, & A. Simpson (Eds.), The handbook of Chinese linguistics (pp. 156-179). New York: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584552.ch7

Sung, C. C. M. (2020). Cantonese learning, investments, and identities: Mainland Chinese university students’ experiences during cross-border studies in Hong Kong. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 26, 100415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2020.100415

Wamsley, J. C. (2019). Gendered Usage of Sentence-Final Particles in Mandarin Chinese. IULC Working Papers, 19(1).

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zhang, H., & Wang, N. (2016). Sociolinguistics and English teaching in China. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(4), 830. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0604.21

Zuengler, J., & Miller, E. R. (2006). Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds?. TESOL quarterly, 40(1), 35-58. https://doi.org/10.2307/402645