Over the last twenty years, sociolinguistic research on multilingualism has been transformed. Two processes have been at work: first, an epistemological shift to a critical ethnographic approach, which has contributed to a larger turn toward post-structuralist perspectives on social life. Second, the effects of globalization-transnational population flows, new communication technologies, transformations in the political and economic landscape-have sparked increasing concern about the implications of these changes for our understanding of the relationship between language and society.

Over the last twenty years, sociolinguistic research on multilingualism has been transformed. Two processes have been at work: first, an epistemological shift to a critical ethnographic approach, which has contributed to a larger turn toward post-structuralist perspectives on social life. Second, the effects of globalization-transnational population flows, new communication technologies, transformations in the political and economic landscape-have sparked increasing concern about the implications of these changes for our understanding of the relationship between language and society.