Learner Acquisition of Dialect Variation in a Study Abroad Context: The Case of the Spanish [θ]

The present study aims at analyzing the acquisition of dialect variation by native English-speaking university students who study Spanish for a semester in Spain. The selected variable is the phoneme /theta/ (theta). The goal is to assess learner awareness, opinion, and use of [theta]. Data were elicited through a set of oral and written tasks conducted with 15 university students prior to, during, and after attending their study abroad program in Madrid. Although post-study abroad learners demonstrated high awareness of native speaker use of this dialect feature compared to pre-study abroad learners, this did not seem to determine their use of [theta]. Data suggested that (non) acquisition varies according to the dialect employed by the native speaker(s) with whom students are in contact before and after living abroad.