ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines usage-based linguistics (UBL) and argues that current epistemological developments see usage-based approaches to second language acquisition (UB-SLA) converge on the concept of language as a tool for social action and hold its learning to be fundamentally rooted in people’s social and interactional realities. I discuss central epistemologies and research methodologies in UBL and UB-SLA, leading to the development of an interactional usage-based approach to SLA. En route, I will consider how UB-SLA relates to a variationist sociolinguistic perspective on SLA. I end by proposing a way forward for an interactional usage-based approach to SLA with implications for professional practice.
