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Part of
Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
Edited by Diego Pascual y Cabo and Idoia Elola
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 27] 2020
► pp. 63–84

Chapter 3
Role of social interaction abroad in the L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation

The case of subject expression in the Dominican Republic

| Indiana University

Previous studies have concluded that second language learners (L2Ls) are capable of acquiring sociolinguistic variation. Since previous studies have found conflicting evidence on the effect that social interaction abroad has on the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation, the present study addresses this gap by including measures of this individual difference. Participants consist of students from a large US university who participate in a 6-week study abroad program in Santiago, Dominican Republic, compared to an at-home group. Participants completed a Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (SASIQ) and written contextualized tasks. The main purpose of the study is to examine whether students approach local norms of subject expression after studying abroad and what role social interaction abroad has in the acquisition process.

Keywords: sociolinguistic variation, study abroad, SLA, subject expression, social interaction
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Review of the literature
    • 2.1The acquisition of L2 variation
    • 2.2Subject expression
      • 2.2.1Subject expression in Spanish
      • 2.2.2Sociolinguistic research on subject expression in Spanish
      • 2.2.3Subject expression in Dominican Spanish
      • 2.2.4Subject expression in second-language Spanish
    • 2.3Social interaction abroad
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Materials and procedure
      • 4.2.1Language background questionnaire
      • 4.2.2Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (SASIQ)
      • 4.2.3Written Contextualized Task (WCT)
    • 4.3Coding
      • 4.3.1Dependent variable
      • 4.3.2Independent variables
        • 4.3.2.1Linguistic variables
        • 4.3.2.2Extralinguistic variables
    • 4.4Analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Frequency analysis
    • 5.2Regression of linguistic variables
    • 5.3Regression of social variables
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.27.03den
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