ABSTRACT
This chapter considers research into linguistic variation in multi-ethnic and multilinguistic contexts. Although research discussed in Chapter 5 has shown the important effects of social networks on linguistic behaviour, other rural and urban studies such as Lippi-Green’s 1997 study (revised 2012) into issues surrounding Black English in America and Khan’s 2006 study in the UK, suggest that social psychological orientation, that is, attitudes towards the local community/region, have a stronger influence on linguistic behaviour. Moreover, such studies have generally focused upon the relationship between linguistic variation through linguistic variables, and correlated against non-linguistic variables such as those of socioeconomic class, gender and race.
