Chapter in:
Advancedness in Second Language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities
Edited by Mandy R. Menke and Paul A. Malovrh
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 31] 2021

Sophisticated language use in context

The contributions of variationist approaches to the study of advanced learners of Spanish

| Indiana University
This chapter describes the contributions of variationist approaches to the study of advancedness in second language (L2) Spanish. We offer a brief overview of the variationist perspective on language and language use, reviewing how variationist approaches have been applied to the study of L2 Spanish. We then explore the application of variationist approaches to the study of advanced L2 learners of Spanish. Specifically, we highlight three key contributions of these approaches to the study of advancedness related to (1) characterizing advanced L2 Spanish production in context, (2) measuring interpretive abilities in advanced L2 Spanish, and (3) understanding the relationship between advancedness and the L2 Spanish classroom. For each contribution, we highlight existing work and discuss directions for future research areas.
Keywords: variationist approaches, advancedness, language use in context, communicative competence, language variation
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