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Carol A. Klee is a Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Minnesota. She specializes in Spanish language contact, sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and second language acquisition.

Broadly defined, sociolinguistics is the study of language and society. Over the past fifty+ years sociolinguists have revealed insights into language that are valuable for language teachers to consider. As both a sociolinguist and a language teacher, my top three, which I’ll elaborate on below, are the following:

1. Variation and change are an inherent part of language.
2. Variation is one way that humans denote their membership in different social groups.
3. From a sociolinguistic perspective, one dialect of a language —including the standard variety— is not “better” than another.

Variation and change are an inherent part of language.

Language change occurs continuously and can be observed even in a relatively short timeframe. For example, variation between “traditional” forms and newer ones —such as the “correct” use of whom vs. who as in Whom/Who are you calling? or were vs. was in “If I were/was you…” —typically draws the attention of prescriptivists, who try to lay down standards of “correctness” and slow down language change. Ideally, language teachers should be aware of the ways that the language we teach is changing and make certain that the grammar forms introduced in class reflect current, rather than “archaic,” norms.

Variation is one way that humans denote their membership in different social groups.

Languages vary across geographical boundaries, resulting in different dialects (e.g. Quebecois French vs. Parisian French or the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires vs. Mexico City). As language teachers, we should make sure that students are exposed to different regional varieties of the L2 through well-designed listening activities.

Variation also occurs across different social groups and provides a way to indicate group membership. Below are several examples: 

• Teenagers typically speak differently than their parents in their use of slang words (“that’s dope”) and in their pronunciation and/or intonation (e.g., the more frequent use of “uptalk” or rising intonation in declarative sentences in American English). Teenage slang changes constantly and is one way that teenagers convey in-group vs. out-group status.
• Differences have been noted between women’s and men’s speech. In some languages, such as Japanese, the differences are reflected in the grammar and lexicon, while in other languages the differences may be somewhat more subtle, such as the more frequent use of diminutives by women in some varieties of Spanish or the more frequent use of “uptalk” by females than males in the U.S.
• Variation can also be used to signal differences across social classes. In our native language we pick up linguistic markers of social class membership in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. In an L2 we often don’t have sufficient knowledge of what linguistic features signal social differences; this is something that usually requires deep cultural knowledge and superior or distinguished level language proficiency.
• Language varies stylistically —much like clothing — to reflect a particular social setting. Speaking in a more formal setting —such as giving a speech at graduation— requires different vocabulary, different grammatical structures and more careful pronunciation than an informal conversation at the beach. As language teachers, we can design activities that require language learners to begin to note these differences in the speech of native speakers. At beginning levels, they can notice how people greet each other in formal vs. informal situations and how greetings differ based on the age and/or gender of the speakers. At more advanced levels, they can focus on differences in pronunciation, grammar and discourse structure.

Standard varieties of a language are not intrinsically better than non-standard or stigmatized dialects.

Sociolinguistics are “descriptivists,” i.e. they describe the way that people speak, and regard any variants that speakers use as acceptable, regardless of whether they are nonstandard (such as, “I don’t have none”). Value judgments of particular forms as correct vs. incorrect are considered social, rather than linguistic, judgments.

Given this perspective, what varieties or dialects we should teach our students? Ideally, the variety selected will depend on the students’ reasons for studying the language, but it is also essential to take into account the communicative behavior that is considered most appropriate for foreigners in a given community. In many communities a foreigner is expected to speak a relatively formal variety of the language and the use of non-standard linguistic forms by foreigners can sound inappropriate to the ears of native speakers. In addition, because non-standard varieties of the L2 are often markers of group identity, outsiders who try to use them can be seen as condescending or as violating group integrity. In other words, in the classroom we should guide learners to acquire an appropriate variety of the L2 and at the same time raise their awareness of regional and social language variation. For heritage speakers, we should encourage maintenance of their home variety, even if it is considered non-standard, as it is the most appropriate variety within their community. In addition, heritage learners will benefit from the acquisition of formal registers in their home language and from awareness of sociolinguistic insights on language.