Sociolinguistic Theory presents a critical synthesis of sociolinguistics, centering on the study of language variation and change.
- Synthesizes the most important descriptive and theoretical findings concerning linguistic variation from the last forty years.
- Provides an integrated framework for studying language variation and its social significance.
- Expands on the first edition's discussion of communicative competence and developmental sociolinguistics.
- Is written by one of the world's foremost scholars in the field of variation studies and includes data from his own work.