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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. 260–288

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Chapter 10
Acquisition of sociolinguistic variation

The case of filled pauses in L2 Spanish

 | Indiana University
 | Graded — The American School of São Paulo
 | University at Albany, SUNY
Published online: 26 June 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.43.10sol
Abstract
This study explored filled pauses in second language (L2) Spanish from a sociolinguistic perspective. Eighty-two L2 learners and seven native Spanish speakers were recorded during three brief monologic tasks. Filled pauses (K = 2,707) were identified, labeled as lexical or phonological, and coded for several linguistic factors. Measurements for duration and formant values were taken from phonological filled pauses. The data underwent two stages of analysis: (1) examining the choice between phonological and lexical pauses and (2) analyses for each type. Results indicated an increase in lexical filled pauses and a shift in the vocalic quality of phonological filled pauses at higher learner proficiency levels. This research contributes new information to our overall understanding of L2 sociolinguistic variation and its development.
Article outline
  • Acquisition of sociolinguistic variation: The case of filled pauses in L2 Spanish
  • Background
    • L2 filled pauses
    • Sociolinguistic perspectives on filled pauses
  • Present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Tasks and procedures
    • Coding and analysis
  • Results
    • Lexical versus phonological filled pause use
    • Lexical filled pauses
    • Phonological filled pauses
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (49)
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