A Theoretical Review: Sociolinguistics in Second Language Education

Abstract

Divergent thoughts are always explored in education from time to time, with a view to building a better society and economy. Time to time, many renovations take place in educational policy and system, yet medium of instruction likely remains same because language is the key channel through which education, culture and social inclination are also imparted. No doubt, language is the primary mode to engage human activities similarly it educates about the social setup and needs. The culture of a society always is reflected through language and respectively language reveals the particular society’s culture and custom. Therefore, the term sociolinguistics is coined under language study. The students consider the second language learning is a paper in their selected discipline, they never see L2 is as language learning. The formal language education gives good knowledge on language and linguistics, but the students involve in real-life they face lot of challenges to communicate or understand the social need. There is a gap between society and formal language education, because the classroom exposure alone is not enough to develop one’s language efficacy. The existing language syllabus for L2 is likely based on the four skills and there is no inclusion of pragmatics and sociolinguistics aspects in it. Education should go with the social order and state of affairs. The present paper attempts to study the possible insights on sociolinguistics with relevant to the existing L2 education.