(572) THE ACQUISITION OF SPANISH L2 PRAGMATICS DURING A STUDY-ABROAD EXPERIENCE

摘要

This study examines the development of pragmatics by Spanish foreign language learners whoparticipated in a four-week summer study abroad program at a language institute in Costa Rica.Participants were provided with definitions and some examples of pragmatics and sociolinguisticcompetence at the beginning of their foreign stay. They were asked to report situations in which theyacquired appropriate pragmatic norms for the local culture following interaction and the making of anylinguistic faux pas. At the end of their stay students submitted “Sociolinguistic Reports” in the form ofjournal narratives. These narratives revealed acquisition mainly in the area of speech conventions thatdiffered from those learned via home country language training including second person address.Errors due to transfer of knowledge, such as the realization that calques involving first language (L1)transfer often proved to be embarrassing, and errors due to grammatical rules involving genderagreement and verbal morphology were also noted. Results showed that, with awarenessheighteninginput enhancement, second language (L2) pragmatic features are noticed and alsoshowed which L2 pragmatic norms are acquired by learners at various levels during a short-term studyabroad experience.