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

The effects of study abroad on interlanguage development

A concept-oriented analysis of advanced Spanish majors’ direct object expression

| University of South Carolina
| Texas Tech University
The present study provides a concept-oriented analysis of direct object expression among advanced-level learners in classroom-only versus classroom+study abroad contexts. In doing so, it compares linguistic analysis at a morphological stage of development in different learning contexts using quantitative analysis across three levels of study abroad exposure. Results show that, while all learners are considered institutionally advanced, only those with the greatest level of study abroad exposure show evidence of morphological analysis and multifunctionality of forms in oral production. Such findings highlight limitations of traditional definitions of advanced performance by identifying specific individual differences based on learning context, and also challenge the pedagogical expectations of L2 learners reaching a morphological stage of linguistic analysis through classroom exposure alone.
Keywords: advanced L2 Spanish, object pronouns, concept-oriented approach, study abroad, morphological development
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