Date of Award
2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Modern Languages and Literatures
Abstract
There is a great deal of linguistic variety in the Spanish that is spoken throughout the world. Differences such as the use of vosotros, voseo, and seseo, are steadily employed in some areas, while other people groups express themselves in a totally different manner. Because such a wide range of linguistic nuances exist, textbook authors are faced with the difficult task of choosing which elements to include and which to exclude from their writings. In this study, I have examined 17 different beginning level textbooks for college students of Spanish with a particular focus on the teaching of the following elements: forms of address, pronunciation of the language, and grammatical structure such as direct object pronouns. I found that while some texts attempt to include linguistic variety, most tend to favor a more Castilian Spanish for forms of address, but yet a somewhat neutralized grammatical form and pronunciation of the language.
Recommended Citation
Gilmore, Nicole Joanne, "Twenty-One Countries, Millions of Native Speakers, and One Semester to Teach It All: Linguistic Variation in Entry Level College Textbooks for Spanish" (2009). Master's Theses. 521.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/521
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2009 Nicole Joanne Gilmore
