A study of address patterns: Spanish informal and formal forms Tú and Usted, L2 learners' difficulties in the interpretation of Spanish address forms

Abstract

Sociolinguistic rules governing choice of pronouns of address are notoriously difficult in Spanish, despite the fact that the number of variants is rather limited: the more formal Usted versus the more informal tú. Children with Spanish as their first language learn to use these pronouns of address appropriately as part of their socialization process. The learning curve is much steeper for instructed learners of Spanish. A considerable body of research confirms that native speakers’ selection of pronouns of address is not only determined by grammatical rules, but more importantly, by multiple contextual factors: the identity of the speaker and the listener in the dialogue, the relation and sociocultural level between the interlocutors, age, gender, nationality, the context of the communication, formal or informal, and the linguistic message. This study reported here is modeled upon the sociolinguistic surveys of native Spanish speakers carved out by Lambert and Tucker (1976). However, I was interested in administering their survey to L2 learners of Spanish, specifically Beginning learners who most likely have spent little to no time in a Latin American culture. Where do L2 learners fit in the continuum of native speakers’ use of tú and Usted? This paper examines the acquisition of Spanish proper pronominal address forms and the Spanish politeness system by focusing on the effects of situational variables on the self-­‐reported use of pronouns of address in non-­‐native Spanish speakers. Data on self-­‐reported pronoun use in different situations were collected from 21 participants through a written questionnaire.