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 role of individual characteristics in the acquisition of Spanish copula choice

The case of Korean learners

| San José State University
The present study examined individual patterns of use of variable Spanish copula choice by advanced-level Korean learners. Participants were nine native speakers of Korean enrolled in fourth-year Spanish courses at a South Korean university. To examine variable copula use, learners participated in a sociolinguistic interview and picture book description task from which all pre-adjectival contexts were identified and the distribution (i.e., range and frequency) of copula forms was examined. To examine individual patterns of use, learners completed a background questionnaire and Spanish grammar task. Results revealed that advanced-level Korean learners produced primarily ser, estar, and developmental omission in pre-adjectival contexts, and there was a positive relationship between higher rates of estar and four of the five individual characteristics examined.
Keywords: Spanish copula, L2 Spanish, variationist approach, individual differences
References

References

Águilar-Sánchez, J.
(2014) Formal instruction and language contact in language variation: The case of ser and estar + adjective in the Spanishes of Limón, Costa Rica. In K. Geeslin & M. Díaz-Campos (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 9–25). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Alderson, J. C., Clapham, C., & Steel, D.
(1997) Metalinguistic knowledge, language aptitude and language proficiency. Language Teaching Research, 1, 93–121. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Andersen, R.
(1990) Models, processes, principles, and strategies: Second language acquisition inside and outside the classroom. In B. VanPatten & J. F. Lee (Eds.), Second language acquisition-foreign language pedagogy (pp. 45–78). Clevendon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S.
(1996) Language testing in practice: Designing and developing useful language tests. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2010) Language assessment in the real world. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bayley, R., & Langman, J.
(2004) Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. IRAL-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 42, 303–318. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Birdsong, D.
(1992) Ultimate attainment in second language acquisition. Language, 68, 706–755. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Briscoe, G. G.
(1995) The acquisition of ser and estar by nonnative speakers of Spanish (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J.
(Eds.) (2012) Third language acquisition in adulthood. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Canale, M., & Swain, M.
(1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1–47. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cardoso, W.
(2011) The development of coda perception in second language phonology: A variationist perspective. Second Language Research, 27, 433–465. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, G. N., & Pelletier, F. J.
(Eds.) (1995) The generic book. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B., & Jessner, U.
(Eds.) (2001) Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, A. C., Lu, H. C., & Giannakouros, P.
(2008) The uses of Spanish copulas by Chinese-speaking learners in a free writing task. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11, 301–317. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cortés-Torres, M.
(2004) ¿Ser o estar? La variación lingüística y social de estar más adjetivo en el español de Cuernavaca, México [Linguistic and social variation in estar plus adjective in the Spanish of Cuernavaca, Mexico]. Hispania, 87, 788–795. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
De Paola, T.
(1978) Pancakes for breakfast. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books.Google Scholar
Díaz-Campos, M., & Geeslin, K. L.
(2011) Copula use in the Spanish of Venezuela: Is the pattern indicative of stable variation or an ongoing change? Spanish in Context, 8, 73–94. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R.
(2004) Individual differences in second language learning. In A. Davies & C. Elder (Eds.), The handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 525–551). Malden, MA: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fafulas, S.
(2013) First and second-language patterns of variation: Acquisition and use of simple present and present progressive forms in Spanish and English (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Falk, J.
(1979) Ser y estar con atributos adjetivales [Ser and estar with attributive adjectives]. Uppsala, Sweden: Alqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
Fernández, J., & Tapia, A. M. G.
(2016) An appraisal of the Language Contact Profile as a tool to research local engagement in study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1, 248–276. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Foote, R.
(2009) Transfer in L3 acquisition: The role of typology. In Y.-K. I. Leung (Ed.), Third language acquisition and universal grammar (pp. 89–114). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Freed, B. F., Dewey, D. P., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, R.
(2004) The language contact profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 349–356. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K. L.
(1999) The second language acquisition of copula choice in Spanish and its relationship to language change (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K.
(2000) A new approach to the second language acquisition of copula choice in Spanish. In R. Leow & C. Sanz (Eds.), Spanish applied linguistics at the turn of the millennium: Papers from the 1999 Conference on the L1 & L2 Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese (pp. 50–66). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L.
(2003) A comparison of copula choice: Native Spanish speakers and advanced learners. Language Learning, 53, 703–764. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2011a) Variation in L2 Spanish: The state of the discipline. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 4, 461–518. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K.
(2011b) The acquisition of variation in second language Spanish: How to identify and catch a moving target. In M. Díaz-Campos (Ed.), The handbook of Hispanic sociolinguistics (pp. 303–319). Malden, MA: Wiley. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K. L.
(2014) The acquisition of the copula contrast in second language Spanish. In K. L. Geeslin (Ed.), The handbook of Spanish second language acquisition (pp. 219–234). Malden, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
(2018) Variable structures and sociolinguistic variation. In P. A. Malovrh & A. G. Benati (Eds.), The handbook of advanced proficiency in second language acquisition (pp. 547–565). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K. L., & Gudmestad, A.
(2008a) Variable subject expression in second-language Spanish: A comparison of native and non-native speakers. In M. Bowles, R. Foote, S. Perpiñán, & R. Bhatt (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the Second Language Research Forum (pp. 69–85). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
(2008b) Comparing interview and written elicitation tasks in native and non-native data: Do speakers do what we think they do? In J. Bruhn de Garavito & E. Valenzuela (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 10th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 64–77). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
(2008c) 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
(2010) An exploration of the range and frequency of occurrence of forms in potentially variable structures in second-language Spanish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 433–463. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012, October). Individual patterns of verb selection: The case of future-time expression in L2 Spanish. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Second Language Research Forum. Pittsburgh, PA.
Geeslin, K. L., & Guijarro-Fuentes, P.
(2005) The acquisition of copula choice in instructed Spanish: The role of individual characteristics. In D. Eddington (Ed.), Studies in the acquisition of the Hispanic languages: Papers from the 6th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages (pp. 66–77). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Second language acquisition of variable structures in Spanish by Portuguese speakers. Language Learning, 56, 53–107. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2008) Variation in contemporary Spanish: Linguistic predictors of estar in four cases of language contact. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11, 365–380. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K. L., Linford, B., Fafulas, S., Long, A., & Díaz-Campos, M.
(2013) The L2 development of subject form variation in Spanish: The individual vs. the group. In J. Cabrelli Amaro, G. Lord, A. de Prada Pérez, & J. E. Aaron (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 16th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 156–174). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L., & Long, A. Y.
(2015) The development and use of the Spanish copula with adjectives by Korean-speaking learners. In I. Pérez-Jiménez, M. Leonetti, & S. Gumiel-Molina (Eds.), New perspectives on the study of ser and estar (pp. 293–323). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Granena, G., & Long, M. H.
(2013) Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains. Second Language Research, 29, 311–343. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gudmestad, A.
(2012) Acquiring a variable structure: An interlanguage analysis of second language mood use in Spanish. Language Learning, 62, 373–402. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2014) Variationist approaches to second language Spanish. In K. L. Geeslin (Ed.), The handbook of Spanish second language acquisition (pp. 80–95). Malden, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Gudmestad, A., & Geeslin, K.
(2013) Second-language development of variable future-time expression in Spanish. In A. M. Carvalho & S. Beaudrie (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 6th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics (pp. 63–75). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Guijarro-Fuentes, P., & Geeslin, K.
(2006) Interpretation of Spanish copula choice by Portuguese near-native speakers. In C. Abello-Contesse, R. Chacón-Beltrán, M. D. López-Jiménez, & M. M. Torreblanca-López (Eds.), Age in L2 acquisition and teaching (pp. 193–209). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Guntermann, G.
(1992) An analysis of interlanguage development over time: Part II, ser and estar. Hispania, 75, 1294–1303. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gutiérrez, M. J.
(1994) Ser y estar en el habla de Michoacán, México [Ser and estar in the speech of Michoacán, Mexico]. México, DF: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Hulstijn, J. H.
(2012) The construct of language proficiency in the study of bilingualism from a cognitive perspective. Bilingualism, 15, 422–433. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kanwit, M.
(2017) What we gain by combining variationist and concept-oriented approaches: The case of acquiring Spanish future-time expression. Language Learning, 67, 461–498. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kanwit, M., Geeslin, K. L., & Fafulas, S.
(2015) Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain. Probus, 27, 307–348. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Killam, J.
(2011) An interlanguage analysis of differential object marking in L2 Spanish (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Labov, W.
(1972) Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Leonetti, M.
(1994) Ser y estar: Estado de la cuestión [Ser and estar: State of the issue]. Barataria, 1, 182–205.Google Scholar
Linford, B. G.
(2016) The second-language development of dialect-specific morpho-syntactic variation in Spanish during study abroad (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Long, A. Y.
(2016) The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence by Korean learners of Spanish: Development and use of the copula, subject expression, and intervocalic stops (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Long, A. Y., & Geeslin, K.
(2018) Spanish second language acquisition across the globe: What future research on non-English speaking learners will tell us. Hispania, 100, 205–210. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Luján, M.
(1981) Spanish copulas as aspectual indicators. Lingua, 54, 165–209. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mesa Alonso, M., Domínguez Herrera, M., Padrón Sánchez, E., & Morales Aguilera, N.
(1993) Ser y estar: Consideraciones sobre su uso en español [Ser and estar: Considerations on their use in Spanish]. Islas, 104, 150–156.Google Scholar
MTELP Series by CaMLA
(2014) Michigan test of English language proficiency. Retrieved from http://​www​.cambridgemichigan​.org​/institutions​/products​-services​/tests​/placement​-progress​/mtelp​-series/
Navas Ruiz, R.
(1963) Ser y estar: Estudio sobre el sistema atributivo del español [Ser and estar: A study of the Spanish attributive system]. Salamanca, Spain: Acta Salamanticensia.Google Scholar
Ortiz López, L.
(2000) La extensión de estar en contextos de ser en el español de Puerto Rico: ¿Evolución interna o contacto de lenguas? [The extension of estar in contexts of ser in the Spanish of Puerto Rico: Internal evolution or language contact?] Boletín de la Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española, 98–118.Google Scholar
Preston, D. R.
(1993) Variation linguistics and SLA. Second Language Research, 9, 153–172. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(1996) Variationist perspectives on second language acquisition. In R. Bayley & D. R. Preston (Eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation (pp. 1–45). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez-Gelpi, A.
(1995) The acquisition of ser and estar among adult native English speakers learning Spanish as a second language (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Ryan, J. M., & Lafford, B. A.
(1992) Acquisition of lexical meaning in a study abroad environment: Ser and estar and the Granada experience. Hispania, 75, 714–722. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Salazar, M.
(2007) Está muy diferente a como era antes: “Ser” and “estar”+ adjective in New Mexico Spanish. In K. Potowski & R. Cameron (Eds.), Spanish in contact: Policy, social and linguistic inquiries (pp. 343–353). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Silva-Corvalán, C.
(1986) Bilingualism and language change: The extension of estar in Los Angeles Spanish. Language, 62, 587–608. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Tarone, E.
(1995) A variationist framework for SLA research: Examples and pedagogical insights. In F. R. Eckman, J. Mileham, D. Highland, R. R. Weber, & P. W. Lee (Eds.), Second language acquisition: Theory and pedagogy (pp. 255–272). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Trimble, J.
(2013) Acquiring variable L2 Spanish intonation in a study abroad context (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.Google Scholar
Vañó-Cerdá, A.
(1982) Ser y estar + adjetivos: Un estudio sincrónico y diacrónico [Ser and estar + adjectives: A synchronic and diachronic study]. Tübingen, Germany: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
VanPatten, B.
(1985) The acquisition of ser and estar in adult second language learners: A preliminary investigation of transitional stages of competence. Hispania, 68, 399–406. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(1987) The acquisition of ser and estar: Accounting for developmental patterns. In B. VanPatten, T. Dvorak, & J. Lee (Eds.), Foreign language learning: A research perspective (pp. 61–75). New York, NY: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Whatley, M.
(2013) The acquisition of past tense variation by L2 Learners of Spanish in an abroad context. In J. Cabrelli Amaro, G. Lord, A. de Prada Pérez, & J. E. Aaron (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 16th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 190–205). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar