The present dissertation sets out to investigate the acquisition of variation in future-time expression by English speakers L2 learners of Spanish in a high school setting. I explore the variable use of the morphological future, the periphrastic future, and the present indicative to express the future time in Spanish by the participants. A total of 2,282 tokens were collected at three different times during the school year. The participants were attending year six of Spanish instruction. The study takes into consideration previously published research on the use of future markers by native speakers and by non-native speakers. The present study analyzes the effect of linguistic variables that are known to constrain future markers such as grammatical person, temporal distance reference, clause type, lexical content of the verb; as well as the effect that classroom instruction and gender have on the selection of future-time expression. The quantitative analysis of this study shows that the morphological future is the future form favored by high school students who are L2 learners of Spanish. Depending on the variables being analyzed, the periphrastic future and the present indicative compete for second place. Comparing the findings of the present study with studies on Spanish by native speakers, it is concluded that the interlanguage of L2 Spanish learners in a high school setting does not resemble the patterns of future time form selection found in the Spanish of native speakers. Based on the results of the study and keeping in mind the newly revised world language learning standards by The New York State Education Department adopted from the proficiency guidelines set forth by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), I outline recommendations to incorporate sociolinguistic variation in the Spanish curriculum of secondary educational institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]