Chapter 6. Study abroad in the Southern Cone

Abstract

In Chile and Argentina, voseo (the pronoun vos and/or its verb forms) is used as one of the primary forms of address for the second person singular. For students who embark on a study abroad (SA) program, recognizing or using these forms can be challenging since it requires a high degree of metalinguistic awareness (Pozzi, Escalante & Quan, 2019). This SA pilot study aims to understand the (1) learning of voseo by second language (L2) learners in Argentina and Chile; (2) the nature of sojourners’ social networks; and (3) whether social networks are linked to the development of voseo. To shed light on these issues, six Spanish L2 learners were recruited after completing a semester-long SA program. Results suggest that social networks can at least partially inform the learning of voseo.