Bret Linford

Research on second language acquisition of regional variation shows that learners’ adoption of regionally variable forms depends on various (extra)linguistic factors (Schoonmaker-Gates, 2020). Only some regional features are adopted by L2 learners (Ringer‐Hilfinger, 2012). Explicit learner attitudes have been examined to understand this discrepancy (Schmidt, 2020). However, explicit attitudes may not align with implicit biases. This study investigates implicit biases toward the Peninsular Spanish interdental fricative, /θ/, among beginner-level L2 learners. An Implicit Association Test with auditory stimuli reveals a significant implicit negative bias against /θ/. Factors such as motivation for studying Spanish and explicit opinions about /θ/ constrain this bias. These findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between language attitudes, sociolinguistic competence, and L2 acquisition.

This study examines the second language (L2) development of variable /s/-weakening in the spontaneous speech of L2 learners of Spanish who studied abroad in either Dominican Republic, where /s/-weakening is widespread, or central Spain, where /s/-weakening is much less common. Learners’ realizations of /s/ were coded impressionistically and acoustically by measuring voicing, center of gravity, and duration. The results show that regardless of the study abroad location, students did not change the amount of sibilance they produced over time. However, they became more nativelike with respect to /s/-voicing and duration. Additionally, whereas some linguistic factors were found to significantly constrain /s/-weakening across groups, learners did not gain sensitivity to all factors that constrain native-speaker /s/-weakening. Findings suggest that exposure to /s/-weakening during a semester abroad is insufficient for learners to adopt this sociolinguistic variable and other social and cognitive factors likely mitigate its integration into the L2 learners’ phonological systems.

In face-to-face spoken interactions, language learners must construct a meaningful message consistent with the L2 grammar, articulate it comprehensibly, and manage the aspects of oral communication that reflect speaker identity, interlocutor identities, and the characteristics of the interactional context. A lack of sociolinguistic competence can lead to a failure to convey formality, politeness, solidarity, friendship, and group membership, and this will negatively affect the communicative outcome. The current chapter examines the social and situational information one conveys through linguistic variants in speech, offering a state-of-the-art account of empirical research, including a discussion of pressing issues in the field, such as the roles of lexical frequency, geographic variation, and language attitudes, as well as the pedagogical implications of this research.

Input is a central, driving component in nearly all theories of second language acquisition, but little is known about the relationship between the instructor-provided input to which classroom second language learners are exposed and attested patterns of acquisition. Our study investigates this relationship through an examination of instructors’ Spanish subject expression in oral and written classroom input, as well as their subject expression during three sociolinguistic tasks. Our analysis of five native-speaking instructors’ subject expression, a variable structure, revealed several common patterns across input modes, such as the distribution of the three most common subject forms, as well as subtle differences in the factors constraining use across input modes and tasks. Findings are discussed in relationship to what is known about the acquisition of Spanish subject forms by second language learners, and implications and areas for future research are outlined.

This paper investigates the effect of lexical frequency on third-person subject form variation by native and highly-advanced non-native speakers of Spanish. In line with previous research, verb tokens which represented 1% or more of the total tokens were categorized as frequent whereas all others were categorized as infrequent. We also coded for six other linguistic variables: number, referent specificity, semantic class, morphological regularity, TMA, and switch reference. The findings revealed that lexical frequency did not have an independent effect on third-person subject form variation and in only one case did high lexical frequency appear to activate the effect of another linguistic factor. We discuss our results alongside findings of previous research and offer directions for future research.