This book provides a clear and comprehensive overview of sociolinguistics and the pragmatics of oral communication in Spanish. It is a thoroughly updated revision of the first edition, which was published in 2001 and received critical acclaim. While maintaining the same structure as the first edition, the second edition will include revised Ejercicios de Reflexion along with new comprehension checks and new suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter; these revisions and additions will enhance its appeal as a classroom text. Among the significant substantive revisions are more attention to the relation of pragmatics to sociolinguistics, a new section on applied sociolinguistics and the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language, updated information on statistical modeling programs for studying linguistic variables, expanded coverage of the overt versus null pronomial subject variable, a new emphasis on pragmatics in chapter five, and a new section on Spanglish. The entire book will be updated in relation to scholarship published since 2001. Additional attention to the definition of key concepts and terms will be provided throughout the volume.