World Englishes and sociolinguistic variation

Abstract

This article discusses the connections between world Englishes and sociolinguistic variation. It begins with an overview of the field of sociolinguistic variation, and also highlighting contemporary approaches to world Englishes, with specific reference to the sociolinguistic realities (in the Kachruvian sense) of Outer Circle contexts. The article then proceeds to examine language variation studies with a focus on vernacular language practices and the growing use of corpus approaches. It then presents the contributions to this special issue on world Englishes and sociolinguistic variation, before considering possible future directions for research.