Register and Forms of Address in Costa Rica

Sociolinguistic Realities and Pedagogical Implications

Bibliographic Data

ID8935849
AuthorsBarbara C Schmidt-Rinehart (Ashland University), Barbara C Schmidt‐Rinehart (Ashland University, corresponding author), Jean W Leloup (United States Air Force Academy)
Year2017
Volume50
Issue1
Pages159-176
Publication date2017-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueForeign Language Annals (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-718X • E-ISSN: 1944-9720
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/flan.12247
OpenAlexW2592177926
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

This article reports the findings of sociolinguistic research investigating the use of second-person singular pronouns in Costa Rica. The study was carried out onsite and involved 132 interviewees from all seven provinces of the country. These subjects reacted to scenarios in which they had to choose their preferred pronoun of use (usted, vos, or tú) when engaging with a variety of categories of interlocutors. Subjects then commented on the reasons for their preference/usage. The pronoun usted (Ud.) was overwhelmingly in evidence throughout the country, and the vos was also noticeably present in many cases. With both pronouns, context as well as other variables played a role in Spanish speakers’ pronoun selection. The pronoun tú was an extremely distant third and did not appear at all in the speech for many interlocutors. Given the prevalent paradigm of teaching tú in U.S. Spanish language classrooms and the near absence of vos, this study has important ramifications for Spanish instructors. Informing students of these patterns of pronoun use and including vos in the curriculum to some degree, particularly at higher levels, is recommended

Context (archaeology · Curriculum · Geography · Linguistics · Pedagogy · Personal pronoun · Pronoun · Reflexive pronoun · Selection (genetic algorithm · Subject pronoun · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies

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