Linguistic Attitudes Among Antioquian (Colombia) Teachers: Vos and Its Role in Education

Abstract

Vos is regularly used in paisa (of Antioquia) Spanish, although written vos is considered non- normative. Recent research shows an augmented presence of written vos in public domains (Weyers 2016a, 2016b), which is viewed favorably by a majority of paisas (Weyers, forthcoming). So, what do Spanish teachers in Antioquia think about vos? Here we study the linguistic attitudes and self-assessed use of vos among a cross-section of paisa Spanish teachers. Quantitative and qualitative data from 61 online surveys show that over 60% of paisa Spanish teachers hold a favorable opinion of vos. Specifically: 1) since vos is a marker of paisa identity, it is valued as a cultural expression; 2) 54% of paisa teachers consider written vos “correct” for some academic text types; 3) vos is not considered less “correct” than tú in the Spanish classroom; 4) vos is more common in university settings than in high school, where usted is regularly used; and 5) over two-thirds of Spanish teachers include vos in their grammar instruction irrespective of its appearance in their course materials. Might vos become more normative in Antioquia? The results suggest that there is no identifiable barrier to impede its evolution.