SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE VARIATION IN MULTILINGUAL SOCIETIES

Sociolinguistics is a subfield of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and society. In multilingual societies, language variation is a common phenomenon that can have significant social and cultural implications. This article explores the role of sociolinguistics in understanding language variation in multilingual societies. It discusses the factors that influence language variation, such as social status, identity, and power, and how they interact with language use. The article also examines the implications of language variation for language planning and policy, as well as for language education and literacy.

Keywords: sociolinguistics, language variation, multilingual societies, social status, identity, power, language planning, language policy, language education, literacy.