Exploring the use of corpus tools for teaching language variation to L2 Spanish majors

Abstract

Discussing language variation in introductory linguistics courses is a given in helping university students understand that speakers and communities use language differently. For Spanish majors/minors in the US, such content can be explored in linguistics courses taught in Spanish. However, little research has been done on pedagogy for teaching Hispanic linguistics in this context. Following an action-based design, this study contributes to research on linguistics pedagogy by exploring how students in four sections of an introductory Spanish linguistics course reacted not only to the topic of social and/or structural variation but also to the use of corpus tools in exploring this topic.