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Advancedness in Second Language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities
Edited by Mandy R. Menke and Paul A. Malovrh
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 31] 2021
► pp. 489–502

Chapter 21
Looking ahead

Future directions for research on advancednesss and instructional practice in second language Spanish

ORCID logo | University of South Carolina
ORCID logo | University of South Carolina
The present concluding chapter provides an overview of the main results yielded by the empirical research included in the present volume. It further explores our understanding of advanced proficiency in Spanish as a second/foreign language by identifying challenges in defining advancedness, as well as challenges in defining the advanced learner, in terms of linguistic development and socially situated language use. In doing so, the present volume establishes directions for future research and generates questions for practitioners to consider as they design foreign-language courses and curricula targeting advanced-level proficiency. Future directions for research and instructional practice are contextualized according to definitions, challenges, and possibilities, as we consider advancedness in L2 Spanish.
Keywords: advancedness, advanced learners, research directions, second language curriculum
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Defining advanced language use and the advanced language user
    • What does advanced language ‘look like’?
    • What is the profile of the advanced learner?
  • Challenges in defining, facilitating, and investigating advancedness
    • Disparities between formal and informal assessment
    • Limitations of formal assessment
    • Instructional and institutional limitations
    • Social inequity
    • Research methodology
  • Possibilities and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 February 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.31.21mal
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