The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Competence in a Study Abroad Context,2009

Review

This book is a real eye opener for anyone who would equate conjugating verbs and memorizing noun genders with ‘learning’ a second language. Regan et al. offer a stunning demonstration that effective communication hinges on acquiring the sociolinguistic competence to interpret (and produce) the many choices among variant linguistic structures that native speakers make regularly in their everyday interactions. Exemplifying with the controversial Year Abroad experience, the authors provide a first detailed account of how this is achieved. Their results should be required reading for educators, planners and policymakers, as well as linguists of all stripes.Shana Poplack, FRSC, Distinguished University Professor of Linguistics, University of Ottawa, CanadaThis exciting new book represents a significant leap forward for research on the effects of study abroad on second language acquisition. It focuses on the sociolinguistic competence of second language learners in a university setting, an unexplored dimension of this research strand. The volume offers a careful documentation and analysis of the crucial role played by a one-year stay in France on the acquisition of key aspects of sociostylistic variation in the spoken French of advanced-level students of French as a Second Language. Second language researchers, programme planners, and teachers will undoubtedly find this volume an insightful and useful resource.Raymond MougeonThis book makes a contribution to the growing literature on study-abroad programs by focusing on the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in learning a non-native language by means of immersion. It provides valuable information about SLA in the study-abroadcontext, one that is favored by the European Union authorities in their attempt to promote language learning among the citizens ofits member states. This book constitutes invaluable endorsement for the study-abroad programs. especially providing convincing evidence for a widely-held belief that spending a year abroad favors l 2 speakers’ linguistic and sociolinguistic development.Ruben Chacon-Beltran, Journal of Sociolinguistics.

About the Author

Vera Regan is Professor of Sociolinguistics at University College Dublin.. Her research focuses on variationist sociolinguistic approaches to Second Language Acquisition. She is Associate Member of the Centre for Research on Language Contact (CRLC), York University, Canada. Chair, Research Committee of the Association of French Language Studies, former President of the European Second Language Association, former President of the Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland, winner of the Prix du Quibec, Senior Fellow of Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences, holder of two Fulbright Research Fellowships, Chevalier des Palmes Acadmiques. Her current research is on migration and the Polish diaspora in France and Ireland.
Martin Howard is Lecturer in French at University College, Cork, Ireland. A former President of the Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland, he is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the European Second Language Association (EUROSLA), and Treasurer of the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS). He is a former Government of Ireland Research Fellow and was a recipient of the Prix du Quubec. His research focuses on Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and Canadian Studies. He has published on (socio)linguistic variation in relation to both native speaker and learner French, as well as on the acquisition of temporality.
Isabelle Leme is Assistant Lecturer in the Department of French at St Patrick’s College in Ireland. Her research focuses on Second Language Acquisition, as well as on Canadian Studies. She is currently the Secretary of the Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland. She is also on the Committee of the Association for French Language Studies and the Association of Applied French (AFA).