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From theory to research: Contextual predictors of “estar + adjective” and the study of the SLA of Spanish copula choice*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

DANIEL WOOLSEY
DANIEL WOOLSEY*
Affiliation:
Hope College
*
Address for correspondence: Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Hope College, 257 Columbia Avenue, Holland, MI 49423, USA[email protected]
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Abstract

The current study addresses the challenge of investigating the SLA of estar with adjectives when highlighting two specific contextual meanings: comparisons within an individual frame of reference and speaker reactions as a result of immediate experience with the referent. Estar is examined within these contexts using a picture-description task and a contextualized preference task specifically designed to create clear and unambiguous contexts of comparison and immediate experience. One hundred and eleven English-speaking Spanish students at four different levels of proficiency participated in the research. Findings from the study are examined in relation to recent predictive models as well as future directions for the study of the SLA of Spanish copula choice.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 11 , Issue 3: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, BILINGUALISM AND COPULA CHOICE IN SPANISH , November 2008 , pp. 277 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Kimberly L. Geeslin for her invaluable guidance and feedback throughout the conceptualization and realization of this project. Also, my sincere thanks to the three anonymous reviewers for their insights and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. Any errors are, of course, my own.

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