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Access Type
Open Access
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Hispanic Literatures & Linguistics
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
January 2007
Month Degree Awarded
May
Keywords
Sociocultural Theory, Language, Personality, Study Abroad, Emotion, Discourse
Abstract
This research focuses on second language acquisition during a study abroad experience and the developments or modifications in the personality of a language learner’s L1 and L2 discourses through the acquisition of a new expressive voice. Ideas concerning language and mind, cultural frameworks and sociocultural theory will be utilized to investigate how second language learners interpret their understandings of their expressive voice in their first language (American English) and in their second language (Castilian Spanish). This study draws from areas of investigation in applied linguistics, sociocultural theory, and linguistic anthropology, and has at its base the idea that specific grammatical and syntactical structures and the indexicality of a language make unique statements about the perceived realities of the speakers. With resurgence in the study of language and mind, this study brings together the above-mentioned fields, using discourse analysis in ethnographic research to look at how language learners in a study abroad experience learn and make assumptions about their language use.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/298606
First Advisor
Eduardo Negueruela