The benefits of social interaction for the second language acquisition of voseo in Medellín Spanish

Abstract This article examines the second language acquisition of second person singular forms of address (2PS) among 22 learners of Spanish studying in Medellín, Colombia, whose first languages include Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, and Vietnamese. The 2PS system of Medellin consists of three 2PS, ustedeo , tuteo , and voseo . Participants completed a discourse completion task, a written contextualized task, a matched guise task, a social interaction questionnaire, and a Spanish proficiency test. Results are compared to those of native speakers from Medellín in order to examine whether learners approach local norms and what the effects of social interaction, Spanish proficiency, and implicit language attitudes are on their acquisition of 2PS. Findings show that for the most part, learners do not use voseo in a native-like way. However, social interaction with native speakers of the local variety aids in the acquisition of vos . Learners report not using voseo because they do not know how to use it and because they do not see it as useful. In contrast, learners who do use voseo affirm that they do so because they like to sound like the natives from Medellín and connect with the local culture. These findings show the role of voseo as a window into the L2 acquisition of sociopragmatic competence and their dialectal attitudes towards Paisa Spanish.