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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. 230–259

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Chapter 9
Dialectal variation in secondary Spanish classrooms in the United States

A sociolinguistically informed pedagogical approach to teaching and learning the usted, tú, and vos forms of address

 | City University of New York
 | University of Calgary
 | University of Connecticut
Published online: 26 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.43.09sal
Abstract
This study examines the development of the second-person singular pronouns (usted, tú, and vos) by adolescent learners of Spanish, both heritage- and second-language speakers, participating in a beginner-level Early College Program located on the East Coast of the United States. Learners received input and instruction on all three pronouns through a sociolinguistically informed pedagogical approach. The results of the written fill-in-the-blank task and the oral discourse completion task show increased usage of all three forms from the beginning to the end of the semester by both learner groups with variations by task type (oral vs. written). These findings suggest benefits of the pedagogical approach and the addition of vos in beginner-level Spanish courses for second and heritage language learners.
Article outline
  • Background
    • The sociolinguistic competence of Spanish learners
    • Dialectal feature under investigation
    • Empirical studies examining morphosyntactic development by Spanish language learners
    • The integration of sociolinguistics into the Spanish classroom
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Explicit instruction of vos
    • Elicitation tasks
    • Data coding and analysis
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
    • Summary of key findings
    • Study contributions
    • Limitations and future directions
    • Concluding insights
  • References
References (58)
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