Cover not available

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. 203–229

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 8
Sociopragmatic variation and identity construction in L2 Spanish

An analysis of context and group membership

 | University of South Carolina
 | University of South Carolina
Published online: 26 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.43.08scu
Abstract
To better understand how L2 learners navigate multilingual and/or multicultural contexts, this chapter examines the (co)construction of identity among L2 speakers when interacting among each other, in the target language, as members of the same L2 group, versus when interacting with native speakers of the target language. Using the variationist framework, we demonstrate how group membership with interlocutors, native-language speaking status, and situational context affect varying patterns of language play and how L2 learners construct a unique speaker identity that is autonomous from the norms of their own native language and from those of the target-language culture. We find that L2 identity construction is fluid, varying according to the situational and sociopragmatic context in which an L2 learner interacts.
Article outline
  • Background
    • L2 sociopragmatic variation and group identity
    • L2 language play: Humor, smiling, and self-deprecation
  • The current study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Materials
      • STAMP test
      • Background questionnaire
      • Board game: Pandemic
    • Procedure
      • Phase I
      • Phase II
      • Phase III
    • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Phase I: At-home; all L2 learners (before Eva’s study abroad program)
      • Session I: −Power, +Distance (Deference)
      • Session II: +Power, +Distance (Hierarchical)
      • Session III: +Power, −Distance (Hierarchical)
    • Phase II: In Spain, Eva playing with native speakers
      • Session I: +Power, +Distance (Hierarchical)
      • Session II: −Power, +Distance (Deferential)
      • Phase III: In Spain (L2-only group and native-speaker-only group)
        • L2 Session: −Power, −Distance (Solidarity)
  • Discussion
    • Research question #1
    • Research question #2
    • Research question #3
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (34)
References
ACTFL. (2012). ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012. White Plains, NY: ACTFL.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barron, A. (2005). Variational pragmatics in the foreign language classroom. System, 33(3), 519–536. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barron, A., & Schneider, K. P. (2009). Variational pragmatics: Studying the impact of social factors on language use in interaction. Intercultural Pragmatics, 6(4), 425–442. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bateson, G. (1953). The position of humor in human communication. In H. von Foerster (Ed.), Transactions of the Ninth Conference on Cybernetics (pp. 1–47). Macy Foundation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, N. (2015). We are not amused: Failed humor in interaction. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, N., & Attardo, S. (2010). Failed humor: Issue in non-native speakers’ appreciation and understanding of humor. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7, 423–447. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bennett, M. J. (1986). A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(2), 179–196. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the Intercultural Experience (pp. 21–71). Intercultural Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boxer, D., & Cortés-Conde, F. (1997). From bonding to biting: Conversational joking and identity display, Journal of Pragmatics, 27, 275–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bravo, D. (1996). La risa en el regateo : estudio sobre el estilo comunicativo de negociadores españoles y suecos [Doctoral dissertation, Stockholm University]. Retrieved from [URL]
Brecht, R. D., Rivers, W. P., Robinson, J. P., & Davidson, D. E. (2017). Professional language skills: Unprecedented demands and supply. In T. Brown & J. Bown (Eds.), To advanced proficiency and beyond: Theory and methods for developing superior second language ability (pp. 171–184). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cantos-Delgado, C. & Maíz-Arévalo, C. (2023). “I hear you like bad girls? I’m bad at everything”: A British-Spanish cross-cultural analysis of humour as a self-presentation strategy in Tinder profiles. The European Journal of Humour Research, 11(3), 31–53. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colcher, D. (2022). Corrective feedback and the ideological co-construction of expertise. In L. Czerwionka, R. Showstack, & J. Liskin-Gasparro (Eds.), Contexts of co-constructed discourse: Interaction, pragmatics, and second language acquisition (pp. 68–90). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Czerwionka, L. (2021). Using the L2 to express intercultural competence. In M. R. Menke & P. A. Malovrh (Eds.), Advancedness in second language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities, (pp. 273–298). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Czerwionka, L., Showstack, R., & Liskin-Gasparro, J. (Eds.) (2022). Contexts of co-constructed discourse: Interaction, pragmatics, and second language applications. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. (2020). Variationist perspective(s) on interlocutor individual differences. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 128–157). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). Sophisticated language use in context: The contributions of variationist approaches to the study of advanced learners of Spanish. In M. R. Menke & P. A. Malovrh, (Eds.), Advancedness in second language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities (pp. 219–243). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., Gudmestad, A., Kanwit, M., Linford, B., Long, A., Schmidt, L., & Solon, M. (2018). Sociolinguistic competence and the acquisition of speaking. In R. A. Alonso (Ed.), Speaking in a second language (pp. 1–25). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., & Hanson, S. (2022). Sociolinguistic approaches to communicative competence. In M. Kanwit & M. Solon (Eds.), Communicative competence in a second language (pp. 40–59). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., with Long, A. (2014). Introduction to sociolinguistic variation. Sociolinguistics and second language acquisition: Learning to use language in context (pp. 27–47). New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gumperz, J. (1992). Contextualization and understanding. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 229–252). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hay, J. (1995). Only teasing! New Zealand English Newsletter, 9, 32–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: Selected readings (pp. 269–293). Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malovrh, P. A., & Moreno, N. (2018). Meeting the demands of globalization: One goal of ISLA research. In P. A. Malovrh & A. G. Benati (Eds.), The handbook of advanced proficiency in second language acquisition (pp. 199–218). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Menke, M. & Malovrh, P. A., (Eds.) (2021). Advancedness in second language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities. John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malovrh, P. A., & Moreno, N. (2023). Second language identity: Awareness, ideology and assessment in higher education. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Priego-Valverde, B., Bigi, B., Attardo, S., Pickering, L., & Gironzetti, E. (2018). Is smiling during humor so obvious? A cross-cultural comparison of smiling behavior in humorous sequences in American English and French interactions. Intercultural Pragmatics, 15(4), 563–591. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sampietro, A. (2019). Emoji and rapport management in Spanish WhatsApp chats. Journal of Pragmatics, 143, 109–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. H. (2012). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach (3rd ed.).Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shively, R. (2018). Learning and using conversational humor in a second language during study abroad. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2005). (Im)politeness, face and perceptions of rapport: Unpackaging their biases and interrelationships. Journal of Politeness Research, 1, 95–119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trudgill, P. (1972). Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change in the urban British English of Norwich. Language in Society, 1(2), 179–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue