Cover not available
Part of
Spanish Language and Sociolinguistic Analysis
Edited by Sandro Sessarego and Fernando Tejedo-Herrero
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 8] 2016
► pp. 177–196

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

| Doane College

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.

Keywords: second language acquisition, social networks, study abroad
Published online: 25 May 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.8.07pop
References
Aguilar Stewart, J
(2010) Using e-journals to assess students’ language awareness and social identity during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 43(1), 138-159. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Allen, H.W., & Herron, C
(2003) A mixed-methodology investigation of the linguistic and affective outcomes of summer study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 36(3), 370-385. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Amuzie, G.L., & Winke, P
(2009) Changes in language learning beliefs as a result of study abroad. System, 37, 366-379. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bacon, S
(2002) Learning the rules: Language development and cultural adjustment during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 35(6), 637-646. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blom, J.P., & Gumperz, J.J
(1972) Social meaning in linguistic structures: Code-switching in Norway. In J.J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics: The ethnography of communication. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Brecht, R., & Robinson, J.L
(1993) Qualitative analysis of second language acquisition in study abroad: The ACTR/NFLC project. NFLC Occasional Papers. Washington, DC: National Foreign Language Center.Google Scholar
Davidson, D.E
(2007) Study abroad and outcomes measurements: The case of Russian. The Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 276-280. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díaz-Campos, M
(2004) Context of the learning of Spanish second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 249-273. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006) The effect of style in second language phonology: An analysis of segmental acquisition in study abroad and regular-classroom students. In D. Eddington (Ed.), Selected Proceedings of the 7th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages (pp. 26-39). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Du, H
(2013) The development of Chinese fluency during study abroad in China. The Modern Language Journal, 97(1), 131-143. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freed, B
(1995) Language learning and study abroad. In B. Freed (Ed.), Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 3-34). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freed, B.F., Dewey, D.P., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, R
(2004) The language contact profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 349-356. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K., & Gudmestad, A
(2011) The acquisition of variation in second-language Spanish: An agenda for integrating studies of the L2 sound system. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5, 137-157.Google Scholar
George, A
(2014) Study abroad in Central Spain: The development of regional phonological features. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 97-114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hualde, J.I
(2005) The sounds of Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Isabelli-García, C
(2004) A case study of the factors in the development of Spanish linguistic accuracy and oral communication skills: Motivation and extended interaction in the study abroad context. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Study abroad social networks, motivation and attitudes: Implications for second language acquisition. In M. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231-258). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(2010) Acquisition of Spanish gender agreement in two learning contexts: Study abroad and at home. Foreign Language Annals, 43(2), 289-303. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C
(2004) Alice doesn't live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity reconstruction. In A. Pavlenko & A. Blackledge (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (1 ed.; pp. 219-242). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kinginger, C., & Farrell, K
(2004) Assessing development of meta-pragmatic awareness in study abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 19-42.Google Scholar
Knouse, S.M
(2012) The acquisition of dialectal phonemes in a study abroad context: The case of the Castilian theta. Foreign Language Annals, 45(4), 512-542. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurata, N
(2004) Communication networks of Japanese language learners in their home country. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 14(1), 153-179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J.P
(2002) Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. In Kaplan, R.B. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L
(2008) Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lindseth, M.U
(2010) The development of oral proficiency during a semester in Germany. Foreign Language Annals, 43(2), 246-268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marqués-Pascual, L
(2011) Study abroad, previous language experience and Spanish L2 development. Foreign Language Annals, 44(3), 565-582. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Milroy, L
(1987) Language and social networks (2nd ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2002) Social networks. In J.K. Chambers, P. Trudgill, & N. Schilling-Estes (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Milroy, J., & Milroy, L
(1985) Linguistic change, social network and speaker innovation. Journal of Linguistics, 21(2), 339-384. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ringer-Hilfinger, K
(2012) Learner acquisition of dialect variation in a study abroad context: The case of the Spanish [θ]. Foreign Language Annals, 45(3), 430-446. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Segalowitz, N., & Freed, B
(2004) Context, contact and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in “at home” and “study abroad” contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 173-199. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serrano, R., Tragant, E., & Llanes, A
(2012) A longitudinal analysis of the effects of one year abroad. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 68(2), 138-163. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vann, R
(1996) Pragmatic and cultural aspects of an emergent language variety: The construction of Catalan Spanish deictic expressions. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Texas, Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, S
(1998a) Study abroad from the participants' perspective: A challenge to common beliefs. Foreign Language Annals, 31(1), 23-39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1998b) On the nature of immersion during study abroad: Some participant perspectives. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 4(2), 121-138.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 9 other publications

Camus, Pablo
2023. Chapter 6. Study abroad in the Southern Cone. In Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 37], ► pp. 174 ff. DOI logo
Corbett, Cecily
2019. Short-term accommodation as a function of addressee language proficiency. Spanish in Context 16:2 ► pp. 173 ff. DOI logo
George, Angela & Anne Hoffman-González
2019. Dialect and identity. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 4:2 ► pp. 252 ff. DOI logo
Grammon, Devin
2021. Consequential choices: A language ideological perspective on learners' (non‐)adoption of a dialectal variant. Foreign Language Annals 54:3 ► pp. 607 ff. DOI logo
Grammon, Devin
2023. Chapter 2. Limited gains, restricted access. In Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 37], ► pp. 54 ff. DOI logo
Isabelli-García, Christina, Jennifer Bown, John L. Plews & Dan P. Dewey
2018. Language learning and study abroad. Language Teaching 51:4 ► pp. 439 ff. DOI logo
Linford, Bret, Alicia Harley & Earl K. Brown
2021. SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF /S/-WEAKENING IN A STUDY ABROAD CONTEXT. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 43:2 ► pp. 403 ff. DOI logo
Pope, Joshua
2023. Chapter 5. Individual differences in the adoption of dialectal features during study abroad. In Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 37], ► pp. 147 ff. DOI logo
Schoonmaker-Gates, Elena
2024. Dialect-specificity and learners’ L2 perceptual resilience after study abroad. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.