General Appropriateness in Spanish

PRACTICAL IDEAS AND RESOURCES

Resources in this section curated by: Illena Trebont

Strategies for Learning Pragmatics in Spanish | Article

Based on empirical research about Spanish pragmatics, this website provides comprehensive information and instruction about various speech acts in Spanish such as apologies, complement sequences, leave taking, etc. The website provides students with interactive activities and videos to aid their comprehension.

A Brief Guide to Regional Variation of the Forms of Address (Tú, Vos, Usted) in Spanish | Article

Most Spanish learners in the US learn to use tú, usted, y ustedes as second person pronouns. However, many people in the Spanish speaking world use the pronouns vos y vosotros. This article summarizes which pronouns are used in which regions and the pragmatic connotations in different countries. 

Manners in Spanish – The Basics of Being Polite in Spanish-Speaking Cultures | Article

This article describes how Spanish linguistic politeness differs from English and gives learners guidance about how to greet people, use titles, and speak on the phone. It also gives students some advice about speech acts that can differ from English such as making requests.

ACADEMIC RESOURCES ON APPROPRIATENESS IN SPANISH

Resources in this section curated by: Illena Trebont

Gironzetti, & Koike, D. (2016). Bridging the gap in Spanish instructional pragmatics: from theory to practice/Acortando distancias en la enseñanza de la pragmática del español: de la teoría a la práctica. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 3(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/23247797.2016.1251781 

This article describes several challenges related to teaching Spanish pragmatics in a classroom setting, including the issue of deciding which pragmatic concepts to teach and how to teach them. It also summarizes six studies that discuss some of the recent developments in the field of L2 pragmatics. This article also provides information about the development of pragmatic competence in heritage learners as well as students who are studying Spanish in a study abroad context.

Van Compernolle, Gomez-Laich, M. P., & Weber, A. (2016). Teaching L2 Spanish Sociopragmatics Through Concepts: A Classroom-Based Study. The Modern Language Journal (Boulder, Colo.), 100(1), 341–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12318 

This study introduces a model for teaching Spanish pragmatics called “Concept-Based Pragmatics Instruction,” which involves introducing the concepts of social distance, power, and self-presentation in Spanish classrooms before teaching linguistic forms that demonstrate these concepts. This model was implemented in a college level Spanish class in order to teach students how to appropriately use “tú” and “usted.” Researchers found that after receiving instruction about the three pragmatic concepts, students had more sociopragmatic knowledge and were able to apply it when making decisions about when to use each of these pronouns.