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In:Spanish Language and Sociolinguistic Analysis
Edited by Sandro Sessarego and Fernando Tejedo-Herrero
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 8] 2016
► pp. 177–196

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The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad

 | Doane College
Published online: 25 May 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.8.07pop
Research shows that students who study abroad (SA) gain in communicative and discourse skills more than their at-home (AH) counterparts (Freed, 1995). However, such advantages are not automatic. For example, evidence of SA phonological advantages over AH is clear at times (e.g. Díaz Campos, 2006) while not in others (e.g. Geeslin & Gudmestad, 2011). This study adds to the conversation about phonological acquisition during SA and posits that learner social networks (Milroy, 1987) are key in such acquisition. It examines the realizations of [θ] in four English native speakers who spent one year in Madrid. Two used [θ] consistently while the other two did not. The participants’ social networks can be used, in part, to explain the discrepancy.
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