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In:Research at the Intersection of Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics: Studies in honor of Kimberly L. Geeslin
Edited by Megan Solon, Matthew Kanwit and Aarnes Gudmestad
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 43] 2025
► pp. 116–142

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Chapter 5
Acquiring sociolinguistic competence

A comparison of subject pronoun expression in L2 and L3 Spanish

 | University of Wyoming
 | California State University, Monterey Bay
 | University of California, Davis
 | Michigan State University
 | University of California, Davis
Published online: 26 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.43.05esc
Abstract
This paper compares the acquisition of subject pronoun expression in written Spanish by first-language (L1) speakers of English learning Spanish as a second language and L1 speakers of Chinese learning Spanish as a third language. A mixed-effects regression indicated that learners’ choices between null and overt forms are constrained by many of the factors that affect native (i.e., expert) Spanish speakers: switch reference, reflexivity, person/number, and verb type. Although both groups of speakers decreased their rates of overt pronouns over time, Chinese L1 speakers began to use significantly fewer pronouns after two quarters of Spanish study, but English L1 participants did not demonstrate significant drops until quarter 5. We also noted more individual variability in Chinese-speaking participants.
Article outline
  • Literature review
    • SPE in Spanish
    • SPE in Mandarin Chinese
    • Acquisition of SPE
      • Acquisition of SPE in Spanish
      • Acquisition of SPE in Mandarin Chinese
      • Acquisition of SPE: Relationship between L1, L2, and L3
  • Research questions
  • Methods
    • Corpus
    • Participants
    • Coding
      • Switch reference
      • Grammatical person/number
      • Ambiguity of the verb
      • Tense/Mood/Aspect (TMA)
      • Semantic verb class
      • Reflexivity
      • Clause type
      • First language
      • Course level
    • Analysis
  • Results
  • Discussion and implications
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (75)
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