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Robert Bayley & Dennis R. Preston (eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation. (Studies in bilingualism, 10.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: Benjamins, 1996. Pp. xviii, 317. Hb $79.00.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 1999

Elaine Tarone
Affiliation:
English as a Second Language, ILASLL, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [email protected]

Abstract

Preston's Preface identifies a gaping hole in the domain of SLA research: a “relative neglect ... of the insights to be gained from the quantitative study of interlanguage variation” (p. xiv). The book is intended to remedy that defect by providing (a) a clear rationale for the use of quantitative sociolinguistic methods to study interlanguage variation; (b) seven exemplary studies which use multivariate analysis of linguistic variation for this purpose; and (c) a practical, step-by-step manual on how to use VARBRUL computer programs to analyze variable interlanguage data. Readers of this book should come away with a very clear idea of why and when this sort of analysis should be done, and how to use this powerful tool in analyzing their own data.

Type
REVIEWS
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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