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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. 204–228

Chapter 7
Short-term study abroad and dialect acquisition

An analysis of the personal pronoun ustedes with second person plural verb and indirect object pronoun constructions by L2 learners of Spanish in Andalucía

| University of Mississippi
| City of DallasTexas
| University of Mississippi
The growth in the popularity of studying abroad has led to the proliferation of programs of various lengths, among which is the short-term study abroad (SA), typically lasting around one month. Much needed investigation remains regarding the effectiveness of short-term SA programs, and this study aims to understand the level of effectiveness through the lens of dialect feature acquisition. Specifically, in southwestern Andalucía, there exists a phenomenon in which local speakers of Spanish employ the 3rd person plural pronoun ustedes with 2nd person plural morphosyntactic realizations. The current study examines whether adult second-language learners become sensitive to these regional variants through a one-month SA program. Results show individual variation with more proficient learners moving toward the regional norm.
Keywords: short-term study abroad, dialectal acquisition, Andalucía, forms of address, vosotros, ustedes, morpho-syntax
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background of the variable
  • 3.Previous research on pronominal forms of address and study abroad in Spain
  • 4.Current study
    • 4.1Research questions
    • 4.2Participants
    • 4.3Instrument and data collection
    • 4.4Analysis and coding
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Ustedes + 2pl and 3pl verbal morphology
    • 5.2A ustedes + 2pl and 3pl indirect object pronouns
    • 5.3Group versus individual patterns of variation among NSs and learners
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.37.07faf
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