As is well-known, the term "Applied Linguistics" has acquired, in the literature, both a narrow and a broad interpretation. In its narrow interpretation, the term has come to refer to the application of the results of theoretical linguistic research to the teaching and learning of foreign and second languages. In its broad interpretation, on the other hand, "Applied Linguistics" refers to the application of linguistic research to the solution of practical, educational and social problems of all types. In the title of this book, Applied Sociolinguistics, (used here, we believe, for the first time), the term "applied" is employed in the second, wider sense. This book is an attempt to present information on the ways in which sociolinguistic findings and sociolinguistic insights can be and have been of assistance in the tackling of real-world problems.