The current study analyzes vowel quality production across the lexical factors of cognate status and timing of word introduction, the linguistic factor of vowel position (pre-tonic, tonic, or post-tonic), and individual factors including age of acquisition of Spanish and length of study abroad. Participants were 29 intermediate second language Spanish learners who completed an oral text reading task.

This book demonstrates the positive impact of using film and audiovisual material in the language classroom. The chapters are evidence-based and address different levels and contexts of learning around the world. They demonstrate the benefits of using moving images and films to develop intercultural awareness and promote multilingualism, and suggest Audiovisual Translation (AVT) activities and projects to enhance language learning.

A growing body of evidence suggests that second or foreign language learners stand a lot to gain from mastering a variety of multiword units, such as idiomatic expressions and collocations. Although most of the research on this formulaic dimension of language and its relevance for language learners has so far dealt with English, there are solid grounds for believing that formulaicity is part and parcel of natural languages in general, and that pedagogues should therefore give due attention to multiword units also in other target languages than English, such as Spanish.

This study examines the effects of word frequency and typographical enhancement (i.e., words in bold) on the learning of single words in Spanish L2 reading activities in a classroom setting. Learners read a text in which target words appearing in bold occurred one, five or 10 times. A parallel text was also provided in which those same words appeared un-bolded. Students were tested three times on both spelling and meaning of the target words: before, immediately after and two weeks after the reading activity.

Este trabajo recoge los primeros resultados del proyecto COSOPRAG Nórdico, un cuestionario de hábitos sociales sobre variación sociopragmática entre la lengua de enseñanza (español) y la nativa (danés, sueco) aplicado a estudiantes de español en Escandinavia. Los datos se comparan con un grupo de control (estudiantes españoles). Analizamos respuestas sobre el comportamiento comunicativo en situaciones de consejos y críticas, lo cual supone un posible riesgo para la imagen social de los interlocutores.

Rooted in socio-constructivism, the present article investigates the effects of type of collaborative translation on Spanish L2 development, triangulating data from task performance, learning outcomes, and learners? perceptions. Thirteen dyads of college students participated in a within-subjects repeated-measures experimental study, translating authentic texts in two ways: collaborating from the get-go and after working alone first.

El presente estudio se centra en investigar los efectos de la instrucción en estrategias sobre la competencia en comprensión auditiva de estudiantes hongkoneses de español. Los participantes en el estudio estaban organizados en dos grupos ?el experimental y el de control? con idénticas características, necesidades, materiales y oportunidades de escucha. En el primero, se implementó un programa de instrucción centrado en el desarrollo de estrategias de aprendizaje para la comprensión auditiva.

This study explores the impact of direct and indirect feedback on the improvement of Spanish past aspect (imperfect/preterit) in writing activities in a third-semester Spanish course. Ninety learners were divided into three groups: direct feedback, indirect feedback, and control (no feedback). Learners completed a pretest, a posttest, and a delayed posttest. Although it remains unclear which type of feedback is more effective, results indicate that both types improved preterit?imperfect performance.

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The present study reports on the impact of pedagogical intervention on the second language (L2) pragmatic development of seven L2 learners of Spanish during a short-term study abroad (SA) experience in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During pre-departure orientation, the students received 90 minutes of explicit instruction about requests. In the course of their time abroad, the students were given strategic tasks designed to draw their attention to pragmatic features of the host community. Using role plays to measure the effects of the intervention, we compared our students?