Sociolinguistic Variation and Acquisition in Two-Way Language Immersion

This book provides an exciting addition to research on the crucial question of when and how children acquire sociolinguistic norms in the early stages of language use. Starr’s investigation focusses on both teacher and student talk in a two-way language immersion class, providing a multi-pronged approach to the crucial question of how teacher input may effect student output in negotiating the complexities of sociolinguistic variation. This rigorous yet accessible book will be invaluable for sociolinguists, acquisitionists and educators, and is set to be a key text for students working in these areas.

* Jennifer Smith, University of Glasgow, UK *

Focusing on a Mandarin-English two-way immersion school, Starr meticulously analyzes in this book the issue of accents of both languages. She innovatively combines applied linguistic and sociolinguistic research and brings our attention to sociolinguistic variations in bilingual classrooms. Scholars in both sociolinguistics and second language acquisition should read this book – as well as teachers and parents who work with bilingual children!

* Wenhao Diao, University of Arizona, USA *

Written in an articulate and engaging manner, Rebecca Starr’s innovative study shows how first graders in a Mandarin-English two-way language immersion program negotiate between languages and dialects in interesting and complex ways. Rich in qualitative and quantitative analyses of sociolinguistic variation in the use of language patterns, the book’s fascinating findings contribute significantly to our understanding of childhood bilingualism in general and heritage Chinese development in particular.

* Virginia Yip, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong *

The ongoing polemic nature of the instruction or impermissibility of sociolinguist
variation in the classroom reinforces the book’s importance. The increased awareness of nonstandard varieties is an important step towards the acceptance of variation and the elimination of the stigma accompanying such varieties. Starr’s work will be of interest to all who work with speakers of various dialects of any language, including variationists, sociolinguists, and language teachers.

-- Farrah Neumann, University of Pittsburgh, USA * Language in Society Vol. 47, Issue 1, February 20