Cover not available
Part of
Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish
Edited by Sara L. Zahler, Avizia Y. Long and Bret Linford
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 37] 2023
► pp. 174–201

Chapter 6
Study abroad in the Southern Cone

Forms of address and social networks

| Soka University of America

In Chile and Argentina, voseo (the pronoun vos and/or its verb forms) is used as one of the primary forms of address for the second person singular. For students who embark on a study abroad (SA) program, recognizing or using these forms can be challenging since it requires a high degree of metalinguistic awareness (Pozzi, Escalante & Quan, 2019). This SA pilot study aims to understand the (1) learning of voseo by second language (L2) learners in Argentina and Chile; (2) the nature of sojourners’ social networks; and (3) whether social networks are linked to the development of voseo. To shed light on these issues, six Spanish L2 learners were recruited after completing a semester-long SA program. Results suggest that social networks can at least partially inform the learning of voseo.

Keywords: social networks, study abroad, second language acquisition, voseo, Southern Cone
Article outline
  • Background
  • Voseo
  • Social networks
  • The study
    • Participants and program information
    • Materials and procedures
      • Listening task
    • Semi-structured interview
  • Results
    • Cameron’s social network and voseo
    • Kiyomi’s social network and voseo
    • Nini’s social network and voseo
    • Thomas’ social network and voseo
    • Harumi’s social network and voseo
    • Daisuke’s social network and voseo
  • Discussion
  • Future research and limitations
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.37.06cam
References
Aguilar Stewart, J.
(2010) Using e-journals to assess students’ language awareness and social identity during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 43, 138–159. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker-Smemoe, W., Dewey, D. P., Bown, J., & Martinsen, R. A.
(2014) Variables affecting L2 gains during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 47, 464–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Belz, J. A. and Kinginger, C.
(2003) Discourse Options and the Development of Pragmatic Competence by Classroom Learners of German: The Case of Address Forms. Language Learning, 53, 591–647. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Belz, J. A., & Kinginger, C.
(2002) The cross-linguistic development of address form use in telecollaborative language learning: Two case studies. Canadian Modern Language Review/Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 59, 189–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benavides, C.
(2003) La distribución del voseo en Hispanoamérica. Hispania, 86, 612–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bishop, K., & Michnowicz, J.
(2010) Forms of address in Chilean Spanish. Hispania, 93, 413–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bortoni-Ricardo, S. M.
(1985) The urbanization of rural dialect speakers. A sociolinguistic study in Brazil. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Castañeda, M. E., & Zirger, M. L.
(2011) Making the most of the “new” study abroad: Social capital and the short-term sojourn. Foreign Language Annals, 44, 544–564. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cook, H.
(2008) Socializing Identities through Speech Style: Learners of Japanese as a Foreign Language. Bristol, UK: Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewey, D. P., Belnap, R. K., & Hillstrom, R.
(2013) Social network development, language use, and language acquisition during study abroad: Arabic language learners’ perspectives. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 22, 84–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewey, D. P., Bown, J., & Eggett, D.
(2012) Japanese language proficiency, social networking, and language use during study abroad: Learners’ perspectives. Canadian Modern Language Review, 68, 111–137. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Di Silvio, F., Donovan, A., & Malone, M. E.
(2014) The effect of study abroad homestay placements: Participant perspectives and oral proficiency gains. Foreign Language Annals, 47, 168–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dodsworth, R., & Benton, R. A.
(2017) Social network cohesion and the retreat from Southern vowels in Raleigh. Language in Society, 46, 371–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du, H.
(2013) The development of Chinese fluency during study abroad in China. The Modern Language Journal, 97, 131–143. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Edwards, W. F.
(1992) Sociolinguistic behavior in a Detroit inner-city black neighborhood. Language in Society 21, 93–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández Mallat, V.
(2011) El ‘voseo mixto verbal’ de hablantes chilenos en Montreal: Estudio de caso en un contexto de contacto dialectal. Boletín de Filología de la Universidad de Chile, 46, 35–58. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández-Mallat, V.
(2020) Forms of address in interaction: Evidence from Chilean Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics, 161, 95–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
George, A.
(2014) Study abroad in central Spain: The development of regional phonological features. Foreign Language Annals, 47, 97–114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldoni, F.
(2013) Students’ immersion experiences in study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 46, 359–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Helincks, K.
(2010) La variación estilística y social del voseo chileno. Un estudio sociolingüístico cuantitativo y cualitativo basado en géneros televisivos. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Universiteit Gent, Gent, Belgium.
(2012) La variación social y estilística del voseo chileno en diferentes géneros tele- visivos. Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana, 19, 185–211.Google Scholar
Hoffman-González, A. C.
(2015) Language use or non-use in study abroad as an indicator of community membership (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Iino, M.
(2006) Norms of interaction in a Japanese homestay setting: Toward a two-way flow of linguistic and cultural resources. In M. A. Dufon & E. E. Churchill (Eds), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp.151–176). Bristol, UK: Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Isabelli-Garcia, C.
(2004) A case study of the factors in the development of Spanish linguistic accuracy and oral communication skills: Motivation and extended interaction in the study abroad context. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.Google Scholar
Isabelli-García, C.
(2006) Study abroad social networks, motivation, and attitudes: Implications for SLA. In M. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231–258). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kapovic, M.
(2007) Fórmulas de tratamiento de dialectos en español; fenómenos de voseo y ustedeo. Hieronymus, 1, 65–87.Google Scholar
Kennedy, K. M.
(2012) What we don’t learn in the classroom: The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence during study abroad (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California, Davis, CA.
Kinginger, C.
(2008) Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, Special issue, 92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Language Learning and Study Abroad: A Critical Reading of Research. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C., & Farrell, K.
(2004) Assessing development of meta-pragmatic awareness in study abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 19–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kluge, B.
(2005) Las fórmulas de tratamiento en un corpus chileno. In V. Noll, K. Zimmermann, & I. Neumann-Holzschuh (Eds.), El español en América: Aspectos teóricos, particularidades, contactos (pp. 169–188). Madrid, Spain: Iberoamericana Vervuert. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knight, S. M., & Schmidt-Rinehart, B. C.
(2002) Enhancing the homestay: Study abroad from the host family’s perspective. Foreign Language Annals, 35, 190–201. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knouse, S. M.
(2012) The acquisition of dialectal phonemes in a study abroad context: The case of the Castilian theta. Foreign Language Annals, 45, 512–542. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kramsch, C. J.
(1985) Classroom interaction and discourse options. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7, 169–183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurata, N.
(2004) Communication networks of Japanese language learners in their home coun- try. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 14, 153–179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Language choice and second language learning opportunities in learners’ social networks. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lippi-Green, R.
(1989) Social network integration and language change in progress in a rural alpine village. Language in Society, 18, 213–234. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lipski, J. M.
(1994) Latin American Spanish. London, UK:Longman.Google Scholar
Lybeck, K.
(2002) Cultural identification and second language pronunciation of Americans in Norway. The Modern Language Journal, 86, 174–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marijuan, S., & Sanz, C.
(2018) Expanding boundaries: Current and new directions in study abroad research and practice. Foreign Language Annals, 51, 185–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martinsen, R. A.
(2010) Short-term study abroad: Predicting changes in oral skills. Foreign Language Annals, 43, 504–530. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McManus, K., Mitchell, R., & Tracy-Ventura, N.
(2014) Understanding insertion and integration in a study abroad context: The case of English-speaking sojourners in France. Revue francaise de linguistique appliquee, 19, 97–116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Milroy, J., & Milroy, L.
(1978) Belfast: Change and variation in an urban vernacular. In Peter Trudgill (ed.), Sociolinguistic patterns in British English (pp. 19–36). London, UK: Arnold.Google Scholar
Milroy, L.
(1987) Language and social networks (2nd ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2002) Social networks. In J. K. Chambers, P. Trudgill, & N. Schilling-Estes (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change (pp. 549–572). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Milroy, L., & Llamas, C.
(2013) Social Networks. In J. K. Chambers & N. Schilling (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change (pp. 407–427). Oxford, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Milroy, L., & Margrain, S.
(1980) Vernacular language loyalty and social network. Language in Society, 9, 43–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pope, J.
(2016) The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal feature during study abroad. In S. Sessarego & F. Tejedo-Herrero (Eds.), Spanish language and sociolinguistic analysis (pp. 177–196). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pozzi, R.
(2017) The Acquisition of Regional Features during a Semester Abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Unpublished doctoral doctoral dissertation). University of California, Davis, CA.
Pozzi, B., Escalante, C., & Quan, T.
(2019, March). The pragmatic development of heritage speakers studying abroad in a non-heritage country. In 2019 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL). AAAL.Google Scholar
Quan, T., Pozzi, R., Kehoe, S., & Menard-Warwick, J.
(2018) Spanish heritage language learners in study abroad across three national contexts. In C. Sanz & A. Morales-Front (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of study abroad research and practice (pp. 436–451). New York, NY: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reynolds-Case, A.
(2013) The value of short-term study abroad: An increase in students’ cultural and pragmatic competency. Foreign Language Annals, 46, 311–322. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rivadeneira, M.
(2007) Voseo verbal en Chile. Análisis descriptivo a partir de medios de comunicación audiovisual. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
(2009) El voseo en medios de comunicación de Chile. Descripción y análisis de la variación dialectal y funcional. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Rivadeneira, M., & Clua, E. B.
(2011) El voseo chileno: Una visión desde el análisis de la variación dialectal y funcional en medios de comunicación. Hispania 94, 680–703. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rivadeneria, M.
(2016) Sociolinguistic variation and change in Chilean voseo. In M. I. Montoya & S. Rivera-Mills (Eds.), Forms of Address in the Spanish of the Americas (pp. 87–117). Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rouse, P.
(2010) The new ‘voseo culto’: An exploration of the complexity of familiar address in Chilean Spanish. (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA.
Salgado-Robles, F.
(2011) The acquisition of sociolinguistic variation by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Salgado-Robles, F., & George, A.
(2019) The Sociolinguistic Impact of Service-learning on Heritage Learners Sojourning in Spain: Vosotros versus Ustedes. Heritage Language Journal, 16, 71–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmidt-Rinehart, B. C. and Knight, S. M.
(2004) The Homestay Component of Study Abroad: Three Perspectives. Foreign Language Annals, 37: 254–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schreffler, S. L.
(1994) Second-person singular pronoun options in the speech of Salvadorans in Houston, Texas: Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 13, 101–119.Google Scholar
Schumann, J. H.
(1978) The relationship of pidginization, creolization and decreolization to second language acquisition. Language Learning, 28, 367–379. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shiri, S.
(2015) The homestay in intensive language study abroad: Social networks, language socialization, and developing intercultural competence. Foreign Language Annals, 48, 5–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Torrejón, A.
(1986) Acerca del voseo culto de Chile. Hispania, 69, 677–683. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010a) El voseo en Chile: Una aproximación diacrónica. In M. Hummel, B. Kluge, & M. E. Vázquez (Eds.), Formas y fórmulas de tratamiento en el mundo hispánico (pp. 413–427). Mexico City/Graz: El Colegio de México/Karl- Franzens-Universität Graz.Google Scholar
(2010b) Nuevas observaciones sobre el voseo en el español de Chile. In M. Hummel, B. Kluge, M. E. Vázquez Laslop (Eds.), Formas y fórmulas de tratamiento en el mundo hispánico (pp. 755–769). Mexico, DD: El Colegio de México.Google Scholar
Vande Berg, M., Connor-Linton, J., & Paige, R. M.
(2009) The Georgetown consortium project: Interventions for student learning abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 18, 1–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar