Learning ser and estar in a Spanish speaking country: How can instruction help?
Abstract
This article investigates the development of grammatical accuracy in the study abroad context by analyzing the written output of 20 learners of Spanish as a second language in Costa Rica. Following Ryan & Lafford’s (1992) initial research design; data were collected at three different time intervals; coding the total number of correct uses of two copula verbs; ser and estar; as well as the total number of obligatory contexts targeted. In accordance with the mentioned investigation; location proved to be more prone to error than condition; although the progressive estar did not present any difficulty for the learners. A U-shape pattern of development was found where estar was overused after one month of study abroad; and nearly the end of the semester abroad; a trend not documented before. A close analysis of the lexical combination of adjectives or nouns and estar partially explains the results obtained; as well as the variety of Spanish the learners were exposed to.
Keywords
study abroad; stages of acquisition; ser/estar; grammatical accuracy; written tasks
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PDFDOI: https://doi.org/10.22201/enallt.01852647p.2010.51.515
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