The study abroad (SA) context is often assumed to foster pragmatic development in a second language (L2), yet previous scholarship confirms that pragmatic norms are culturally-shaped and often remain imperceptible to uninstructed SA students (Bataller, 2010; Cohen & Shively, 2007; Shively, 2010). Because pragmatics is not traditionally taught…

This dissertation addresses the variable nature of the linguistic phenomenon known as Differential Object Marking (DOM) as it is manifested in Spanish. More commonly known in the literature as the personal "a" or the accusative "a", this phenomenon has been attributed primarily to marking animate, predominantly human, direct…