The Selection of the Spanish Subjunctive: Its Analysis and Development in Second Language Learners

Abstract

This study examines the difficulties that adult learners of Spanish experience in acquiring the subjunctive mood. In formal instruction contexts and for those whose native language is English, the subjunctive presents a particular challenge because learners rely on poor models to develop hypotheses for its use. The experimental design of this study involved twenty-four speakers distributed in intermediate and advanced levels of Spanish as a second language, and a control group including twelve native speakers of Spanish. In addition to this, data collection involved two research instruments: a controlled production task and a comprehension test based on acceptability judgments. The results show that learners experience difficulties due to the representation of semantic factors associated with the Spanish subjunctive. They also develop different stages in the acquisition of the subjunctive that may be shaped by instruction.