Teachers’ Perspectives on the Instruction and Acquisition of Dialectal Second-Person Pronouns and Conjugations in the U.S. L2 Spanish Classroom

Despite the fact that more than 65 million Spanish speakers across Latin America use vos as the informal second-person singular pronoun instead of tú, vos remains underrepresented in U.S. Spanish curricula. Meanwhile, vosotrxs, the informal second-person plural pronoun used exclusively in Spain, is regularly included in textbooks. This study qualitatively examines how postsecondary Spanish instructors navigate these pronouns and their conjugations, particularly in relation to their perceptions of students’ learning outcomes and future communication needs. Through a comparative analysis of interview data from 32 participants, we find that instructors are more likely to address vosotrxs than vos. Even those who personally use vos outside the classroom avoid it in their teaching, citing concerns about potential confusion and a perceived lack of relevance for students’ future communication. This study highlights a persistent gap between instructors’ stated commitment to regional linguistic diversity and the reality of Spanish language instruction: while instructors affirm that incorporating dialectal variation would enhance students’ linguistic and cultural competence, minoritized features like vos remain largely absent from the curriculum.