Sociolinguïstiek in de Onderwijspraktijk een Discussiebijdrage met een Praktische Suggestie

This paper suggests that the orientation of sociolinguistics is becoming less practical. The initially practical orientation of sociolinguistics, which was almost programmatic in nature, gave rise, notably among teachers, to certain expectations concerning the educational relevance and practical utility of sociolinguistic insights and sociolinguistic research. These expecta-tions are not in accordance with the fact that sociolinguistics is increasingly developing into a descriptive discipline which has hardly any educational significance. As a consequence sociolinguistics often keeps itself apart from education. We try to explain this state of affairs, considering social developments and the related development of sociolinguistics as a discipline. Finally we consider the possible contribution of sociolinguistics towards educational practice in general. More specifically we describe a series of lessons which has been developed on the basis of sociolinguistic insights. These lessons have been tried out in the classroom.