ABSTRACT
Most of the ‘dead ends’ discussed in Chapter 1 are rooted in our unfortunate inability to recognize that languages always exist in a multitude of forms. We see them as single objects, like rocks, but they are in fact more like sandy beaches, rain clouds or galaxies: collections with no one central point and no sharply defined borders. Our misperception leads to firmly held beliefs about how language(s) may be used and abused, and to intractable positions when these beliefs are questioned or threatened. But it’s a palpable fact that we don’t all speak the same way, even when we happen to share what we regard as the same language. The variation in and between languages has profound but often hidden consequences for the whole spectrum of enterprises we call applied linguistics, only some of which have begun to be understood and revealed. In this chapter we look more closely at the notion of language variation and varieties, asking how some of them come to be regarded as ‘standard’ while others are viewed as ‘non-standard’ or even ‘incorrect’. We’ll also address the distinction between native and non-native varieties of a language, and issues of language authority and linguistic insecurity. Implicit in all this are underlying issues of power, prestige and identity, making language variation one of the thorniest issues applied linguists deal with.
