The effects of Learning-Service on the acquisition of regional variation by Spanish learners in a context of immersion: The case of Valladolid leismo

After two decades of research on the impact of immersion on learners of Spanish, questions pertaining to the degree of exposition to the local community and the acquisition of patterns of language variation common to a particular community remain unanswered. This article explores the extent to which two groups of learners of Spanish acquire variable structures of language specifically, the leismo phenomenon-while participating in two types of a four-month study abroad immersion program in Valladolid (Spain). The results indicate that the learners that have a greater contact with the target community incorporate considerably the non-standard forms into their sociolinguistic competence. This study contributes to add further knowledge about the acquisition of regional variation, and to open a new chapter in the effects of international service-learning in the interlanguage development.