The Impact of Virtual Exchanges on the Development of Sociolinguistic Competence in Second Language Spanish Learners: The Case of Voseo

Abstract

This study investigates how sociolinguistically informed instruction and virtual exchanges affect the use of the second-person singular pronouns (usted, tú, and vos) by adult second language learners of Spanish enrolled in a third-semester course at a four-year college. The results from written contextualized tasks and oral discourse completion tasks show that participants who engaged in virtual exchanges with native speakers from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador (experimental group) significantly improved their use of vos compared to those who did not participate in these exchanges (control group). Both groups increased their use of tú and vos over time, with notable differences between written and oral tasks. These findings provide empirical support for incorporating virtual exchanges into language learning curricula, demonstrating their effectiveness in teaching regional dialectal features such as voseo. Additionally, by focusing on the often-overlooked regionally variable pronoun vos, this study enriches the existing literature on Spanish language instruction and opens new avenues for research on dialectal variation and sociolinguistically informed pedagogy.

1. Introduction

The teaching and learning of certain sociolinguistic elements in the Spanish classroom have been debated (Geeslin & Long, 2014). One particular contentious issue is whether specific pronouns and their accompanying verbal and morphological forms, utilized only in certain geographical regions, should be included in the curriculum. A prime example of this debate centers on the second-person singular pronoun vos. Despite being used by one third of Spanish speakers worldwide (Morgan et al., 2017), this pronoun is frequently omitted from both curricula and textbooks, leaving it to individual teachers to decide whether or not to teach it.

In recent years, the understanding of how explicit teaching affects the use of the second-person singular pronoun vos has been limited (Salgado-Robles et al., in press). Because of this scarcity of research, a closer examination of the pedagogical strategies surrounding the explicit instruction of this form that lead to learners’ acquisition and use of the form where appropriate could shed light on the effectiveness of certain instructional practices and also inform curricular development.

The current study addresses this issue by examining the effect of telecollaboration on the use of the second-person singular pronouns. By exploring how these interactions influence the development of vos, this study aims to provide insight into the effectiveness of using telecollaboration with speakers who regularly employ vos on the development of vos by learners in intermediate Spanish courses.

2. Background

2.1. The Sociolinguistic Competence of Spanish Learners

Sociolinguistic competence refers to the ability of an individual to use language appropriately and effectively in diverse social contexts. It encompasses an understanding of social and cultural norms, alongside the skill to adapt language use based on factors such as the audience, setting, and purpose of communication. Sociolinguistic competence involves not only linguistic proficiency but also the knowledge of dialects, registers, politeness conventions, and other sociocultural aspects that shape communication (Geeslin & Hanson, 2023).

Labov (1966) defined sociolinguistic variation as the choice between one or more forms to fulfill the same or similar function, as interpreted by Geeslin and Garrett (2018), which indicates that “variation between forms can fall along two axes” (p. 18): vertical and horizontal. Vertical variation occurs when learners alternate between two or more forms, at least one of which is non-target-like (Rehner, 2002), while horizontal variation occurs when speakers choose between two or more forms that are target-like (Adamson & Regan, 1991). For instance, vertical variation would involve choosing between (usted) sabés and (usted) sabe, whereas horizontal variation would entail choosing between (tú) sabes, (vos) sabés, and (usted) sabe. The latter, the development of sociolinguistic competence by second language (L2) learners, informs the current study.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in L2 Spanish acquisition research focused on exploring learners’ ability to understand and produce variable L2 patterns in contextually sensitive ways. This involves examining the processes through which learners develop their sociolinguistic competence. However, the majority of studies investigating the sociolinguistic competence of Spanish second or heritage language learners focus on students who have had exposure to a Spanish-speaking environment during their academic studies. This area of research explores how learners can directly benefit from interactions with native speakers abroad. These studies aim to measure the factors contributing to this development, including both linguistic and extralinguistic variables (see George, 2022, for a comprehensive review of this research).

2.2. Dialectal Feature Under Investigation

Most of the U.S. Hispanic population, which exceeds 65 million Spanish speakers (including native, heritage, and second language speakers), originates from Latin America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024). This population of Spanish speakers is the second largest globally, following Mexico. In Latin America, a widespread characteristic among Spanish speakers is the use of vos as the second-person singular pronoun, prevalent across various countries and territories in the region. Morgan et al. (2017) used census data and official estimates and concluded that vos is used by 150 million voseantes in Latin America out of a Spanish-speaking population of 400 million, which represents that one third of Spanish-speakers use voseo.

The three-tiered system of second-person singular pronouns is employed in some parts of Latin America to denote the degree of respect or familiarity and consists of one formal pronoun, usted, and two informal pronouns, tú and vos (Real Academia Española & Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, 2023). In many geographic regions, vos may coexist with usted and tú. Usted conveys respect and distance; tú signifies a moderate level of familiarity without deep trust; and vos represents the greatest level of familiarity and solidarity. Voseo is widespread in at least eight Latin America countries: five in Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador) and three in South America (Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Furthermore, voseo is deeply embedded in everyday language and cultural identity and is present in various regional areas in many Latin American countries (e.g., Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru) (Benavides, 2003; Carricaburo, 2015; Lipski, 2007, 2023; Quesada Pacheco, 2013).

Table 1. Three-tiered system of verbal paradigm in Central American (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) Spanish (Benavides, 2003; Carricaburo, 2015; Lipski, 2007, 2023; Quesada Pacheco, 2013).

	Present Indicative	Imperative
usted	habla, come, escribe	hable, coma, escriba
tú	hablas, comes, escribes	habla, come, escribe
vos	hablás, comés, escribís	hablá, comé, escribí

displays the second-person singular regular verb paradigms. These are commonly used in three Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras1, and El Salvador. The main differences between the tú and vos verb forms is the stress on the final syllable for the vos form. With verbs that end in -ir, the vos form uses a different vowel in the final syllable -i compared to the tú form, which uses -e. Similarly, in the imperative, verbs that end in -ir use -i in the final syllable for vos.

Table 2. Three-tiered system of stem-changing verb paradigm in Central American (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) Spanish (Benavides, 2003; Carricaburo, 2015; Lipski, 2007, 2023; Quesada Pacheco, 2013).

	Present Indicative	Imperative
usted	niega, quiere, siente	niegue, quiera, sienta
tú	niegas, quieres, sientes	niega, quiere, siente
vos	negás, querés, sentís	negá, queré, sentí

illustrates the second-person singular stem-changing verbs also utilized in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The main difference between tú and vos verb forms is that vos forms do not exhibit the stem change like the tú forms do. The endings for the vos forms correspond to the ones in Table 1 for regular verbs.

There are three types of voseo: authentic voseo and two types of mixed voseo (Félix-Brasdefer, 2019, p. 222).

Some examples of authentic voseo are seen in (1):

(1)	Y vos, ¿cómo te llamás?
	Cerrá la puerta, no te quedés afuera.

Some examples of mixed pronominal voseo, where the pronoun vos is used with verbal morphology that belongs to tú, are shown in (2):

(2)	Y vos, ¿dónde vives?
	Cierra la puerta, vos.

Some examples of mixed verbal voseo, or when the pronoun tú (together with its forms te, ti, tu, and tuyo) is used with verbal morphology that belongs to vos, are shown in (3):

(3)	Y tú, ¿dónde vivís?
	Y tú, ¿te querés dormir con tus primos? o ¿preferís quedarte en tu casa?

2.3. Empirical Studies Examining Morphosyntactic Development by Spanish Language Learners

Research on the acquisition of morphosyntactic variation by L2 and heritage language (HL) Spanish learners abroad has focused on the production of clitics (Geeslin et al., 2010; Salgado-Robles, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2020), subject expression (Denbaum, 2020; Linford, 2016; Linford et al., 2018; Salgado-Robles, 2017), verb tenses (Geeslin et al., 2012; Geeslin et al., 2013; Kanwit & Solon, 2013; Whatley, 2013), and forms of address (George, 2018, 2019; George & Salgado-Robles, 2021; Hoffman-González, 2015; Pozzi, 2017; Pozzi et al., 2023; Reynolds-Case, 2013; Ringer-Hilfinger, 2013; Salgado-Robles & George, 2019, 2023; Salgado-Robles et al., in press).

In the realm of address form acquisition research, investigations conducted by Hoffman-González (2015), Pozzi (2017), and Pozzi et al. (2023) investigate the development and use of vos among university learners engaged in study abroad (SA) programs in Argentina. To the best of our knowledge, the forthcoming work by Salgado-Robles et al. marks the first study exploring the development and use of vos by high school students in a mixed Spanish classroom in the United States. Other studies on the acquisition of forms of address have concentrated on the informal second-person plural, vosotros, while studying in Spain (George, 2018; George & Salgado-Robles, 2021; Salgado-Robles & George, 2019, 2023).

Hoffman-González (2015) examines the use of vos by learners in a SA setting, focusing on seven Spanish learners (two Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent and five L2 learners of Spanish descent) during a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While the findings indicate a slight increase in vos usage during study abroad (with pre-study abroad production rates of 46.1% and post-study abroad rates of 59.6%, representing a 13.5% increase), the author attributes this modest change to tasks that did not effectively prompt the use of vos. Additionally, pre-study abroad interviews were conducted up to five weeks after the program began, and post-study abroad interviews were conducted several weeks after its conclusion. Furthermore, one of the tasks aimed at eliciting vos was administered towards the end of the interviews, possibly leading to participant fatigue, as suggested by the author.

Pozzi (2017) explores the production of vos by L2 learners, involving 23 English speakers over a five-month semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through a multivariate analysis of more than 1200 tokens of tú and vos, the study reveals that learners utilized vos verb forms over 70% of the time by the end of their stay. Various factors, including social networks, proficiency level, mood, and task, significantly influenced this use. Particularly noteworthy is the finding that learners with stronger social networks tended to use vos verb forms more frequently, and those with higher proficiency levels employed these forms more than their lower-proficiency counterparts.

Pozzi et al. (2023) presents a case study on the pragmatic development of address forms in a US-based Spanish heritage speaker of Mexican descent, Juan, throughout an 11-week SA program in Argentina. Research instruments included a background questionnaire, pre- and post-program written elicitation tasks, four interviews, and 16 recordings of naturalistic interactions during host family dinners and service encounters. The results reveal a decrease in Juan’s use of vos during elicitation tasks, with no instances of vos observed in naturalistic recordings. However, there was an increase in his metapragmatic awareness, particularly concerning the social implications of address forms. These findings are linked to Juan’s bicultural identity formation, investment, and shifting involvement in the host community. The study underscores the importance of combining elicited and naturalistic data with qualitative insights and moving beyond normative models that solely compare heritage speakers’ pragmatic choices to those of monolingual native speakers.

Salgado-Robles et al. (in press) examine the development of the second-person singular pronouns (usted, tú, and vos) by 53 adolescent learners of Spanish, both HL and L2 speakers, participating in a beginner-level Early College Program in New York City. The results of the written Fill-in-the-Blanks Task and the Oral Discourse Completion Task show the increased usage of all three forms from the beginning to the end of the semester by both heritage and second language learners, with variations in task type (oral vs. written). These findings suggest the benefits of mixed classes containing both heritage and second language learners on the development of sociolinguistic competence for both types of learners and advocate for incorporating regional linguistic diversity at the beginner level.

In summary, these four studies provide the initial insights into the acquisition of a prevalent morphosyntactic characteristic of Latin American Spanish by American English-speaking Spanish students.

2.4. The Integration of Sociolinguistics into the Spanish Classroom

To deepen our comprehension of how educational input shapes the sociolinguistic competence of language learners, scholars have proposed approaches aimed at cultivating critical language awareness (CLA) (Loza & Beaudrie, 2022). There has been a persistent call from scholars for a sociolinguistically informed pedagogy in language classrooms, which enhances students’ critical awareness regarding language attitudes, ideologies, variation, and other aspects such as multilingualism (Leeman, 2014, 2018; Martínez, 2003). In the context of CLA, Geeslin and Long (2014) elaborate on the depth of knowledge required by instructors to incorporate sociolinguistics, offer practical advice for enhancing linguistic diversity in language instruction, and propose strategies for staying informed about current pedagogical methods and recent research developments.

Voseo is strikingly absent from the U.S. Spanish instructional curricula, which prevents language learners from being exposed to this form of address. Most secondary and postsecondary Spanish learners are unaware that voseo is widespread across Latin American countries, reflecting their rich linguistic diversity and cultural heritage. The inconsistency in U.S. education has been documented in the literature. What follows are studies about the presentation of vos in the 21st century Spanish classroom.

Pearson (2006) explores the incorporation of digital audio technology into a Spanish dialectology course to enhance students’ understanding of language variation, with a particular focus on voseo. Similarly, Uber (2008) discusses how forms of address convey relationships and social norms. Among individuals of similar social status, informal symmetrical treatment (the tú or the vos forms of address) signifies solidarity and intimacy. Conversely, in interactions between people of different social positions, asymmetric treatment (some use the tú/vos forms of address; others use the tú form only) highlights and maintains power differences. Formal symmetrical treatment (the usted form of address) can denote social distance, respect, or courtesy. Due to the complexity of voseo’s morphology and nuances for Spanish learners, Uber provides practical workplace advice. For example, non-native speakers should start with usted for all interlocutors, switching to tú or vos only when the interlocutor initiates informal address or explicitly suggests it. Likewise, Kingsbury (2011) engages students in analyzing excerpts from “Rosaura a las diez”, focusing on how different characters use usted, tú, and vos. This approach to dialect awareness in the classroom challenges students to rethink common assumptions about sociolinguistic variation. Kingsbury also suggests that students research voseo as an extension activity when studying Argentine literature.

Shenk (2014) provides a comprehensive examination of vos variants and how educators can incorporate them into the classroom. She advocates for the inclusion of vos in teaching primarily for sociolinguistic reasons, aligning her argument with the ACTFL’s world-readiness standards for language learning, which encompass five key areas: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. In terms of communication and community goals, students enhance their communication skills by learning to recognize and appropriately respond to voseo. Furthermore, presenting evidence-based sociolinguistic information on language variation helps establish connections, as this awareness enriches students’ understanding of other disciplines through the foreign language. Within the culture and comparison goals, students gain insights into the relationships and practices associated with the pronouns usted, tú, and vos within a community, and they can compare these with how formality, intimacy, and solidarity are expressed in their native language. To achieve this, Shenk suggests a series of activities aimed at increasing students’ sociolinguistic awareness in the Spanish classroom. She concludes that it is essential to start teaching vos in Spanish classrooms, or at least give it more attention, to better prepare students for communication in the diverse Spanish-speaking world. Additionally, Cameron (2017) notes that despite the millions of vos speakers, “the twentieth century did not see a single article published in Hispania that suggested incorporating instruction on voseo into the language classroom” (p. 67). He also points to increasing trends in SA destinations and immigration to the U.S. from voseante regions. These factors highlight the need to include voseo into the twenty-first-century Spanish curriculum.

Moreover, LeLoup and Schmidt-Rinehart (2018) conducted a survey involving 177 U.S. Spanish teachers and 560 U.S. college students to assess the treatment of vos in Spanish language textbooks and instruction at the postsecondary level in the U.S. Their findings revealed that voseo is largely ignored in textbooks, not taught by educators, and consequently not learned by students. To address this issue, they provide specific recommendations for curricular and instructional improvements. Similarly, Griffin (2019) thoroughly examines the presentation of voseo in various Spanish textbooks used at the postsecondary level, concluding that vos is rare and nearly absent in most textbooks despite being used in more than half of Spanish-speaking countries. Griffin argues for the integration of this informal second-person singular form in the classroom, citing the number of U.S. college students studying abroad in voseante regions, the immigrant population from Central American countries in the U.S., and the millions of voseo speakers throughout Latin America as key reasons. In line with the findings of LeLoup and Schmidt-Rinehart (2018) and Griffin (2019), Potvin (2022) presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 30 Spanish textbooks published over the last four decades to verify the presence of voseo. Given its minimal representation, Potvin offers arguments from linguistic, acquisitional, and pedagogical perspectives to support its inclusion in textbooks.

These studies emphasize the significance of understanding and being knowledgeable about dialectal variation, such as the inclusion of voseo in Spanish classroom instruction and curricula, as a crucial element for students to cultivate their sociolinguistic and, consequently, communicative competence. Furthermore, embracing a CLA approach in language education, as advocated by Beaudrie and Loza (2023), can foster “inclusive and transformative learning spaces for their students” (p. 154).

2.5. The Effects of Virtual Exchange on Language Learning

Although the term “virtual exchange” (VE) is relatively recent, the concept itself has been around for a while. In foreign language education, VE is often referred to as telecollaboration (Dooly & O’Dowd, 2018) or online intercultural exchange (O’Dowd & Lewis, 2016) and entails “connecting language learners in pedagogically structured interaction and collaboration” (Dooly & O’Dowd, 2018, p. 14). VEs (also known as service provider VE or SPVE, Klimanova & Vinokurova, 2020; Marull & Kumar, 2020; Tecedor & Vasseur, 2020), such as those facilitated by Boomalang, Conversify, LinguaMeeting, or, inter alia, TalkAbroad, are conversational platforms that enable students to engage in synchronous interactions with native speakers of the target language. These online platforms allow individual students or small groups of students to interact with native speakers for up to 45 minutes at a time. These exchanges typically involve structured interactions guided by educational goals and often include tasks that promote language practice, cultural understanding, and collaborative learning. Specifically, LinguaMeeting’s main features include connecting language learners with native speakers (or trained language coaches), ensuring coaches work closely with the material used in partnered schools for the discussions to be closely tied to the content of the course, providing feedback to instructors on learners’ performance, tracking attendance, and recording sessions, among other capabilities.

Recent studies have explored the impact of VEs on language learning, highlighting their benefits for language proficiency, cultural competence, and student engagement. Cuervo Carruthers (2017) investigated how intermediate-level college Spanish students’ attitudes toward the Spanish language and culture improved through structured online conversations with native speakers on the TalkAbroad platform. This positive shift in perceptions was mirrored in the findings of Mathieu et al. (2019), who, through the use of TalkAbroad in Spanish and French courses, demonstrated that students’ engagement in authentic exchanges not only enriched their cultural knowledge but also enhanced their intercultural competence by exposing them to diverse cultural products, practices, and perspectives.

Similarly, Sama and Wu (2019) observed that integrating VEs into an intermediate Italian course fostered significant gains in oral proficiency, fluency, and affective learning outcomes. They found that a combination of classroom instruction, virtual practice, and reflection promoted learner autonomy and self-regulation, encouraging a willingness to embrace new challenges. This trend of increased engagement and positive language outcomes was further supported by Klimanova and Vinokurova (2020), who explored beginner Russian learners’ readiness for intercultural exchanges via LinguaMeeting, emphasizing the platform’s potential to facilitate meaningful language interactions.

Marull and Kumar (2020) extended this line of inquiry to online Spanish courses at the post-secondary level, finding that the majority of students reported improvements in language abilities and cultural understanding through a series of 12 LinguaMeeting sessions, which offered practical applications of linguistic skills in real-world scenarios. Concurrently, Tecedor and Vasseur (2020) focused on the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among Spanish learners, noting that VEs effectively integrated cultural content and supported ICC growth, although some ethnocentric tendencies persisted, underscoring the need for tailored instructional approaches.

In exploring critical cultural awareness, Warner-Ault (2020) demonstrated how TalkAbroad conversations helped intermediate Spanish students reflect on their cultural identities and values, leading to improved oral proficiency and cultural understanding. Fernández-Cuenca and Muller (2021) built upon these findings by showing that task type and preparation significantly influenced engagement levels in virtual sessions, particularly in terms of vocabulary acquisition and personal development.

The importance of VEs for fostering intercultural competence was also highlighted by Varo Varo (2021), who, through online meetings between advanced Spanish conversation students and their Colombian counterparts, observed growth in all ICC areas despite some limitations in quantitative gains. Finally, García (2023) illustrated how integrating cultural standards into a Spanish course via LinguaMeeting enabled students to connect cultural practices and perspectives, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of intercultural dynamics.

Collectively, these studies reveal that VEs provide a valuable platform for language learners to deepen their linguistic and cultural competencies, fostering a more holistic approach to language education that transcends the traditional classroom setting. VEs enable participants to encounter diverse dialects, enhancing their grasp of regional pronunciations, lexical variations, and idiomatic expressions, promoting greater respect for linguistic diversity. Previously, educators faced challenges providing such opportunities due to limited access to native speakers. However, VEs have made this feasible, offering a practical and affordable alternative, particularly for learners unable to pursue full-immersion SA experiences due to personal or financial constraints (Henshaw & Hetrovicz, 2023). Given the scant knowledge about the impact of teaching vos in the Spanish classroom, this study seeks to bridge this gap by benefitting from telecollaboration and integrating VEs into the curriculum.

2.6. Research Questions

Based on the literature review highlighting the limited understanding of the impact of teaching vos in the Spanish classroom, this study aims to address two primary research questions:

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Research Question 1: How do the singular forms of address (usted, tú, and vos) differ from Time 1 (T1) to Time 2 (T2) in two types of tasks by participants?

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Research Question 2: How does the production of the singular forms of address (usted, tú, and vos) by the experimental group (EG), who had access to VE with Spanish native speakers, differentiate from the control group’s (CG’s) performance longitudinally (T1 vs. T2)?

3. Method

3.1. Participants

Fifty-eight American English-speaking Spanish students were recruited from two third-semester Spanish classes at a four-year college in the United States. Participants were divided into two groups based on the assessment method of their Spanish oral skills. The EG (N = 30; 12 male and 18 female) engaged in five 30-minute VEs throughout the semester with coaches from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador via the LinguaMeeting platform, while the CG (N = 28; 10 male and 18 female) did not engage in the virtual conversations and instead had their oral skills assessed through an interview at the end of the semester. All participants completed an online consent form, a background questionnaire, and a placement test designed by the department.

Formal classroom instruction comprised three 90-minute sessions per week spanning the entire 16-week semester. These sessions were led by the same instructor, who had received training in communicative and sociolinguistic methods for teaching Spanish (Geeslin & Long, 2014; Loza & Beaudrie, 2022). The instructor, a native of Central America, typically used the voseo form of speech.

Both the EG and CG received instruction on when and how to use vos in contextually appropriate situations according to Central American Spanish, as shown in Table 1 and Table 2. To reinforce this instruction, students engaged in various structured communicative activities that required them to apply vos in contextually appropriate places to demonstrate their understanding. For the EG, these activities began after their first VE session.

Once the students grasped the concept and the instructor felt more comfortable with their progress, the instructor began using vos with both the EG and CG. Although students were encouraged to use vos with each other during these activities, no data were collected on whether they continued to do so in informal conversations outside of class. For the EG, this also applies to conversations outside of the VEs.

3.2. Elicitation Tasks

To measure the participants’ sociolinguistic competence in the use of the three-tiered system (usted, tú, and vos), all participants completed two distinct tasks. What we will refer to as the written task consisted of a written contextualized task and what we will refer to as the oral task consisted of an oral discourse completion task. In an effort to minimize the possible effect of language exposure on the participants’ responses and to avoid affecting the participants’ verb use, each task was administered on different days starting first with the written task and ending with the oral task. Both tasks were completed at the beginning of the semester (week 3) and at the end of the semester (week 15).

The written task designed for the current study is based on similar ones used in Geeslin (2003), Gudmestad (2006), Geeslin and Gudmestad (2008), Geeslin et al. (2010), Geeslin et al. (2012), Gudmestad and Geeslin (2013), and Neumann and Kanwit (2020) to study the acquisition of Spanish copula choice, subjunctive, mood contrasts, direct object pronouns, perfective past time reference, future time expression, and commands, respectively. It was designed to ensure a balanced distribution of the combination of all categories of each of the independent variables included in the study: the speaker’s Spanish dialectal variety; the interlocutor’s Spanish dialectal variety; the degree of intimacy between speakers; and the informality of conversation. These independent extralinguistic variables were taken from previous research on native speaker use of vos (Benavides, 2003; Michnowicz & Place, 2010; Michnowicz et al., 2016; Schmidt-Rinehart & LeLoup, 2022; Uber, 2011). The written task shown in Figure 1 required participants to read a total of five prompts and then choose their preferred option from three related items for each prompt.

Luis, a Salvadorian barber, asks Edwin, who is also from El Salvador, the following question:

A. Luis: ¿Y tenés planes para estas vacaciones, Edwin? ___ Prefiero la frase A

B. Luis: ¿Y tiene planes para estas vacaciones, Edwin? ___ Prefiero la frase B

C. Luis: ¿Y tienes planes para estas vacaciones, Edwin? ___ Prefiero la frase C

Items contained three possible answers, differing only in the form of address (i.e., formal vs. informal). Based on the context, each piece of dialog was supposed to be completed by selecting either the usted, tú or vos verb form, while the remaining tokens were expected to be completed with other persons (yo, ella, ustedes, etc.) used as fillers. The written task was completed by each participant on a computer in the language lab. Participants were allotted a maximum of nine minutes to complete each of the five short conversations. Deliberately, the system prevented participants from revisiting previous conversations for editing. It took participants between 35 and 45 minutes to complete this task.

The oral task designed for the current investigation is based on similar ones employed in studies by Salgado-Robles and George (2019), George and Salgado-Robles (2021), Salgado-Robles and George (2023), and Salgado-Robles et al. (in press) to study the acquisition of vosotros versus ustedes distinction by heritage Spanish learners abroad, the long-term impact of a sojourn abroad on heritage Spanish learners’ vosotros versus ustedes use, the relationship between external factors and the development of regional variation (vosotros versus ustedes) by L2 learners of Spanish in Spain, and the learning of the usted, tú, and vos forms of address by L2 and HL learners in mixed Spanish classes, respectively. The oral task required participants to respond to five written scenarios, each containing nine situations, and record their answers with a digital recorder. Each scenario consisted of three valid and six invalid (distractor) situations. All participants read the prompts in their first language (L1) (English) and responded in their L2 (Spanish) at two different points in time (week 3 and week 15) during the semester. Each participant completed the oral task on a computer in the language lab. Participants were given a maximum of one minute to read the prompt and respond to the situation to the best of their ability. Intentionally, the system prevented participants from revisiting previous questions for editing. It took participants between 35 and 45 minutes to complete this task.

An example of a scenario, along with its corresponding situations used in the oral task, is provided below and shown in Figure 2:

“Samuel, a native of Cuba, and Victoria, a native of Guatemala, are international students at a university in the US. Lupita, in the center, is from Mexico and serves as Samuel and Victoria’s host mother. The three of them are spending time together during breakfast.”

A. Lupita asks Samuel and Victoria if they know about the history of their host university.

B. Samuel tells Lupita that his favorite baseball team is The Yankees.

C. Samuel asks Lupita how long she has been hosting international students.

D. Victoria tells Lupita that she and Samuel love her house.

E. Samuel asks Victoria and Lupita how much they know about Cuba.

F. Lupita asks Victoria what she likes to have for breakfast.

G. Lupita asks Samuel and Victoria if they have previously visited the United States.

H. Victoria tells Samuel that she and Lupita love going shopping.

I. Victoria receives a WhatsApp video call from her cousin Lourdes, who is also from Guatemala. During the call, she asks Lourdes if she would like to visit her for winter break.

In this scenario, the expected use of usted was in situation C (Samuel, an international student from Cuba, asking his host mother a question); the expected use of tú was in the question asked by Lupita to Victoria (situation F); and the expected use of vos was in situation I (when Victoria, when talking with her cousin Lourdes on a WhatsApp video call, follows the norms of the majority of speakers in Guatemala to use vos between two people of equal status, such as family members or close friends). The distractors are A-B, D-E, and G-H, situations where none of the three second-person singular forms (usted, tú, or vos) were anticipated.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Analysis

Scores for each task were calculated, assigning a score of 1 when the expected pronoun was used and 0 for the unexpected pronoun. The tasks were divided into oral and written categories, each containing five instances where a second-person singular pronoun could be used. The Shapiro–Wilk test was performed to assess the normality of the data statistically. With p > 0.05, the data were determined to be non-normally distributed. Consequently, non-parametric tests were conducted: the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare differences in pronoun use over time within the same group, and the Kruskal–Wallis H (Mann–Whitney U) test was used to compare differences in pronoun usage between the CG and EG.

4.2. Results

Table 3. Forms of address used by each group at each time by task type.

		Experimental Group		Control Group
Pronoun	Task Type	Time 1	Time 2	Time 1	Time 2
		Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
usted	Written	0.3793 (0.49)	0.7655 (0.43)	0.3407 (0.48)	0.6741 (0.47)
	Oral	0.4138 (0.49)	0.7586 (0.43)	0.3037 (0.46)	0.5111 (0.50)
tú	Written	0.6069 (0.49)	0.7379 (0.44)	0.4963 (0.50)	0.7407 (0.44)
	Oral	0.4483 (0.50)	0.7586 (0.43)	0.3556 (0.48)	0.6741 (0.47)
vos	Written	0.0897 (0.29)	0.6000 (0.49)	0.0815 (0.27)	0.2889 (0.45)
	Oral	0.0000 (0.00)	0.3448 (0.48)	0.0000 (0.00)	0.1556 (0.36)

displays the mean and standard deviation of the usage of the three pronouns at both points in time and on both tasks for the EG and CG.

In

Table 4. Mann–Whitney U test results for between-group comparisons (EG vs. CG).

Form of Address	Task Type	Time	U Statistic	p-Value
Usted	Written	T1	10,165	0.503
		T2	10,682.5	0.089
	Oral	T1	10,865	0.056
		T2	12,210	<0.001
Tú	Written	T1	10,870	0.063
		T2	9760	0.958
	Oral	T1	10,695	0.115
		T2	10,615	0.117
Vos	Written	T1	9867.5	0.809
		T2	12,832.5	<0.001
	Oral	T1	9787.5	1
		T2	11,640	<0.001

, p-values below 0.05 mean that the use of the pronoun on that task was significantly different between the CG and EG.

Significant differences were found between the EG and CG for the use of usted during the oral task at Time 2, with the EG using usted more frequently. Additionally, at Time 2, the EG produced vos more often than the control group in both written and oral tasks.

Table 5. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results for within-group comparisons (T1 vs. T2).

Group	Task Type	Form of Address	W Statistic	p-Value
Experimental	Written	Usted	207	<0.001
Group		Tú	336	<0.01
		Vos	212.5	<0.001
	Oral	Usted	607.5	<0.001
		Tú	248	<0.001
		Vos	0	<0.001
Control	Written	Usted	140	<0.001
Group		Tú	270	<0.001
		Vos	180	<0.001
	Oral	Usted	245	<0.001
		Tú	455	<0.001
		Vos	0	<0.001

shows the W statistic and the p-value for pronoun usage in both tasks by each group. A p-value less than 0.05 means that the change in pronoun usage over time was significant.

When examining changes over time, significant differences in the usage of usted, tú, and vos were observed in both written and oral tasks for both the EG and CG. In both groups, the use of usted decreased in written tasks but increased in oral tasks. Additionally, both groups showed an increase in the use of tú and vos across both types of tasks.

4.3. Discussion

The first research question deals with differences in the task type (oral vs. written) by the two groups on the production of the singular forms of address (usted, tú, and vos) at T1 and T2. When significant differences were found—such as with usted at Time 2 during the oral task and vos at Time 2 on both tasks—the EG produced the expected outcomes significantly more often than the CG. Although the higher use of usted remains unexplained, the likely reason for the increased use of vos in the EG is their exposure to VE coaches who used vos, whereas the CG only had a teacher who employed vos. The additional practice with native voseante speakers likely contributed to the EG’s significantly higher increase in the use of vos over time in both tasks. It should be noted that the CG also increased their use of vos in both tasks over time.

The second research question examines the usage of the singular forms of address (usted, tú, and vos) over time to see if there are differences between the two groups (EG and CG). The usage of all but one pronoun during one task (usted on the written task) significantly increased over time on both tasks for both groups. The significant increase in the expected uses of tú and vos on both tasks by both groups was likely due to classroom instruction. It is difficult to explain why the expected use of usted decreased over time for both groups on the written task and yet increased on the oral task.

This study, which examined the effect of VEs on learners’ use of the second-person singular pronouns usted, tú, and vos, revealed significant improvements in the EG that engaged in VEs compared to the CG that did not. The results of this study underscore the importance of incorporating VEs in language learning curricula to enhance the use of vos according to the level of formality required by the communitive context. Furthermore, these findings highlight the potential of VEs as an accessible alternative to SA programs, which are often cost-prohibitive or impractical for many students. By providing meaningful interaction with native speakers in an authentic context, VEs help bridge the gap between classroom instruction and real-world language use. This aligns with recent scholarship on digital approaches to linguistic and cultural immersion, which advocates for home-based immersion through technology to foster global connections and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in language education (Granda, 2023).

The results of the current study align with previous research emphasizing the multifaceted nature of sociolinguistic competence, as defined by Geeslin and Hanson (2023), and the importance of contextually appropriate language use (Labov, 1966; Geeslin & Garrett, 2018). By demonstrating that VEs enhance learners’ ability to employ vos according to the communicative context, this research contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the integration of sociolinguistic elements into language instruction. This supports the assertion that sociolinguistic competence is not merely about linguistic proficiency but is also about understanding and adapting to social and cultural norms (Regan, 2010).

This study’s findings regarding the increased use of vos in the EG resonate with previous findings on the importance of sociolinguistic variation and the need for explicit instruction in regional dialects. As noted by Morgan et al. (2017) and Benavides (2003), voseo is a widespread and culturally significant feature in many Latin American countries. The significant improvement in the use of vos among EG participants highlights the effectiveness of VEs in exposing learners to authentic language use and enhancing their sociolinguistic competence. This is consistent with research suggesting that direct interaction with native speakers can significantly impact learners’ acquisition of regional language features (George, 2022).

The findings also align with empirical studies on the acquisition of morphosyntactic variation by L2 Spanish learners (Geeslin et al., 2010; Salgado-Robles, 2011, 2014, 2018). The significant increase in the use of vos by the EG, as observed in both written and oral tasks, underscores the role of interaction and exposure in developing morphosyntactic competence. This parallels the findings of Hoffman-González (2015) and Pozzi (2017), who reported the increased use of vos among learners studying abroad in Argentina. While previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of study abroad for acquiring sociolinguistic variation, the findings of this study suggest that VEs can provide similar advantages for learners who do not have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a target language community. By engaging in structured interactions with native speakers, students can develop sociolinguistic competence without the financial and logistical barriers associated with study abroad. Granda (2023) highlights the role of VEs in fostering authentic language use and sociolinguistic awareness, emphasizing that as global events continue to disrupt traditional SA programs, technology-based linguistic immersion offers a more accessible and equitable alternative for language learning.

This study’s results strongly support the integration of sociolinguistic elements, such as voseo, into Spanish curricula, as advocated by scholars like Leeman (2014, 2018) and Shenk (2014). The significant improvements in the use of vos among EG participants suggest that incorporating VEs can effectively bridge the gap between classroom instruction and real-world language use. This aligns with recommendations for a sociolinguistically informed pedagogy that enhances students’ critical language awareness (Loza & Beaudrie, 2022; Martínez, 2003).

5. Conclusions

5.1. Summary of Key Findings

This study investigated the impact of VEs on the development of sociolinguistic competence, specifically focusing on the use of the second-person singular pronouns usted, tú, and vos among American English-speaking Spanish learners. The results demonstrated that participants in the EG, who engaged in VEs with native speakers from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, showed significant improvements in the use of vos compared to the CG. Both groups increased their use of tú and vos over time, with notable differences between written and oral tasks. The findings suggest that VEs are an effective pedagogical tool for enhancing learners’ sociolinguistic competence in using regional dialectal features.

5.2. Study Contributions

This study provides empirical evidence supporting the integration of VEs into language learning curricula, highlighting their effectiveness in teaching regional dialectal features like voseo. Second, the study describes the importance of incorporating authentic language use and interaction with L1 speakers in the classroom. Finally, by focusing on the often-overlooked regionally variable pronoun of vos, this study enriches the existing literature on Spanish language instruction and opens avenues for future research on dialectal variation and sociolinguistically informed pedagogy.

5.3. Limitations and Future Directions

This study highlights several avenues for future research to further explore the development of variable features by L2 learners. Future research could determine the long-term impact of VEs with voseante speakers on the accurate use and awareness of the second-person singular pronouns, examining how this affects overall sociolinguistic competence. Expanding the sample size to include participants from various proficiency levels and from other institutions, particularly in contexts with a large presence of voseante speakers, could provide even more insight into the development of sociolinguistic competence.

Future studies could incorporate different or additional tasks, especially those that simulate more naturalistic settings, to address the observed differences in task type. Exploring various types of interactions, such as classroom activities that necessitate the use of the three pronouns under study, and analyzing instructional strategies for teaching these forms, could reveal their impact on learners’ sociolinguistic competence. Additionally, examining teachers’ use of vos and its relationship to student use could provide valuable insights.

Incorporating qualitative data through interviews with students and teachers could enrich future research by providing perspectives on the use of vos, including perceptions and attitudes toward its use. While the VEs in this study included speakers from three countries where vos is used, future research could broaden this to include speakers from other voseante regions.

5.4. Concluding Insights

The use of VEs with voseante speakers enhances the appropriate use of vos in L2 learners along with classroom instruction. These findings support the integration of VEs into the curriculum even from an early level, such as first-year instruction of the language. By exposing learners to authentic linguistic input in meaningful interactions, VEs provide a crucial bridge between formal instruction and real-world language use, reinforcing sociolinguistic competence. Additionally, incorporating VEs into language curricula ensures that students who may not have access to immersive SA experiences can still develop regional linguistic variation, making language learning more equitable and inclusive.