Sociolinguistic Theory presents a critical synthesis of sociolinguistics, centering on the study of language variation and change. Synthesizes the most important descriptive and theoretical findings concerning linguistic variation from the last forty years. Provides an integrated framework for studying language variation and its social significance. Expands on the first edition's discussion of communicative competence and developmental sociolinguistics. Is written by one of the world's foremost scholars in the field of variation studies and includes data from his own work.