Assertion (A)
Statement: From a sociolinguistic point of view, mainstream SLA (Second Language Acquisition) studies remain asocial—the social import of learning to interact through language remains hidden.
Explanation: This statement suggests that mainstream SLA studies often overlook the social aspects of language learning. In other words, they may not adequately address how learning a language involves social interaction and the social meanings attached to language use.
Reason (R)
Statement: A sociolinguistic perspective focuses on the linguistic system as well as on a concern with specific items of pragmatic and discourse development and rejects the tendency of looking at language as a set of norms, at language diversity, and ideologies.
Explanation: This statement describes the focus of sociolinguistic perspectives. It emphasizes the importance of understanding language in its social context, including pragmatics (language use in context) and discourse development (how language is used in communication). It also contrasts this with views that see language strictly as a set of norms or ideologies.
Given this analysis:
(A) is correct in stating that mainstream SLA studies are seen as asocial in their approach.
(R) is not the correct explanation of why (A) is true. The reason (R) describes the focus of sociolinguistics, but it does not specifically clarify why mainstream SLA studies might be considered asocial.
Therefore, the correct choice is 3: (A) is correct but (R) is not correct.
Year-wise PYQs
