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Article published In: Spanish in Context
Vol. 19:2 (2022) ► pp.337–360

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The benefits of social interaction and proficiency for foreign language acquisition of Spanish conventional expressions

Evidence from foreign language Spanish learners

 | Minnesota State University-Mankato
Published online: 27 September 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.18029.den
Abstract
Several studies have examined the second language acquisition of English conventional expressions (CEs) in the study abroad context. However, there is a lack of studies that investigate Spanish CEs and CEs in general in the at-home context. This study examines the foreign language acquisition of Spanish CEs in the at-home context and the effect of proficiency and Spanish social interaction outside of the classroom. Three levels of learners (3rd semester, 5th semester, and graduate level) (N = 32) and a Spanish speaker comparison group (N = 10) completed an oral discourse completion task, a recognition task, and a social interaction questionnaire. Results showed that social interaction in Spanish leads to better recognition of conventional expressions and that proficiency is a significant predictor of production of these expressions. Results have pedagogical implications, including the importance for instructors to provide input of expressions related to a variety of contexts.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Review of literature
    • 2.1L2 Acquisition of CEs
    • 2.2Empirical studies of CEs
      • 2.2.1Recognition
      • 2.2.2Cultural transfer and sociocultural adaptation
      • 2.2.3Intensity of interaction and proficiency
    • 2.3Social interaction
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Materials and procedure
      • Production task
      • Recognition task
      • Social interaction questionnaire
      • Background questionnaire
    • 3.3Analysis
      • 3.3.1Production task
      • 3.3.2Recognition task
      • 3.3.3Social interaction
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Recognition results
    • 4.2Production results
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Discussion of results
    • 5.2Pedagogical implications
  • Notes
  • References
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Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen, Llorenç Comajoan-Colomé, Sabrina Mossman & Enrique Rodríguez Sánchez
2025. Regional pragmatic variation in the use of conventional expressions at three Spanish-speaking sites. Lingua 326 ► pp. 104021 ff. DOI logo
Edmonds, Amanda & Aarnes Gudmestad
2025. From stay-abroad research to SLA theory. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 10:2 ► pp. 155 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Fengming & Xiaoying Liles
2025. Regional variation in conventional expressions: a comparative study of Mandarin in Mainland China and Taiwan. Lingua 326 ► pp. 104035 ff. DOI logo

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