Sociolinguistics, the study of the interaction of language and society, has had a major impact on linguistics for the last half-century. However, this prominent branch of the language sciences has had little contact with the field of communication disorders. Clinical Sociolinguistics, a collection of newly commissioned articles written by top scholars, is a major advance in bringing the two fields together.


Part I includes chapters that outline findings from sociolinguistic research and point to the relevance of such findings for practicing speech-language pathologists. Topics discussed include bilingualism, code-switching, language planning, and a detailed look at African American English. Part II contains chapters that specifically demonstrate how these research paradigms can be applied to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment in the clinical situation.