Teaching a Second or Additional Dialect

Abstract

The term "dialect" refers to varieties of the same language that differ from each other in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, and that are associated with particular geographic regions or social groups. The learning of a second or additional dialect is referred to here as second dialect acquisition (SDA). SDA is concerned mainly with three broad types of dialects: national, regional, and social. A national dialect is a way of speaking a language that is characteristic of a particular country - for example, Canadian, American, and Australian English and European and Brazilian Portuguese. With regard to English, an important subtype of national dialect is World Englishes, such as Indian, Singapore, and Philippine English.