Looking back at the past 15 years in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the authors select and discuss several important developments. One is the impact of various sociocultural perspectives such as Vygotskian sociocultural theory, language socialization, learning as changing participation in situated practices, Bakhtin and the dialogic perspective, and critical theory. Related to the arrival of these perspectives, the SLA field has also witnessed debates concerning understandings of learning and the construction of theory. The debate discussed in this article involves conflicting ontologies. We argue that the traditional positivist paradigm is no longer the only prominent paradigm in the field: Relativism has become an alternative paradigm. Tensions, debates, and a growing diversity of theories are healthy and stimulating for a field like SLA.

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This is a report of a study of social marking in second language pronunciation. In particular, it tested out Trudgill's (1981) suggestion that sounds that are most likely to undergo sociolinguistic variation, that is, that may become social markers, are those that Labov (1972a, 1972b), calls stereotypes. This study sought to determine whether there were certain aspects of English pronunciation that native Spanish speakers would, at some level of awareness, associate with American English/American identity. The speakers were asked to perform several tasks, including a mimic of an American speaking Spanish with an American accent (following Flege & Hammond, 1982). Among the results, speakers displayed a tacit awareness of English-Spanish sound distinctions (in particular, allophonic differences) in performing the mimic (supporting Flege & Hammond, 1982). Additionally, some of the alterations they were very conscious of held as stereotypes of American English. Support was found for Trudgill's (1981) suggestion.

In line with situated learning perspectives, this article explores the notion of learners’ access to participation in social practices. While agreeing with the premise that access to participation in communities of practice is foundational for learning, we problematize simplistic notions of access by investigating how it is sometimes sought after, appropriated, controlled, and resisted among English language learners in a high school sheltered civics class. In closely analyzing an extended interaction from this class, we found that a student's lack of English proficiency, rather than enhanced proficiency, led to her gaining central participation in a classroom practice. However, the access she gained did not result in meaningful or empowering participation for her. We also found that resistance to particular modes of participation can lead to more central participation for learners, but the desirability of that access depends on the linguistic capital one can claim in particular practices. Finally, we found that the inclusion of peripheral/marginal members is often constitutive of others’ ability to negotiate linguistic capital for themselves in classroom practices. We believe these aspects of access and participation implicate a larger “access paradox” (Janks, 2004) that second language researchers must acknowledge in seeking to understand learning processes.