The sociolinguistics of writing in a global context: Objects, lenses, consequences

In this paper, we argue that writing has largely been ignored as a significant empirical object of study in sociolinguistics. Pointing to the consequences of the specific ways in which writing has been positioned historically within sociolinguistics, we discuss the need to re‐imagine writing as an object of study and problematize the dominant lenses through which writing is understood and analyzed. We draw on recent work to illustrate three key challenges that need to be addressed: firstly, to move beyond a default position on writing in terms of ‘standard’ and ‘error’; secondly, to extend the analytic gaze beyond a monomodal orientation towards writing; and thirdly to avoid the privileging of single moments and sites of production. We conclude by giving an overview of the papers in the special issue and the ways in which they seek to reorient sociolinguistics towards the study of writing.