ENRecently, great interest has emerged in identifying the learning needs of heritage language (HL) learners. In comparing HL and second language (L2) learners, research suggests that L2 learners outperform HL learners when examining writing abilities (Montrul, 2010;Potowski, 2013). However, complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) have been overlooked when examining HL learners' writing proficiency, and it could provide a better picture of their writing skills in a spontaneous untimed assignment. To address this issue, 28 L2 learners and 18 HL learners completed an untimed written production task on a non-academic subject and their written proficiency was assessed through CAF measures (Norris & Ortega, 2009). Results showed HL learners significantly outperformed L2 learners on two complexity measures: accuracy and fluency. A possible explanation for these findings could be the type of task used (more spontaneous, less-controlled), which taps into a more implicit type of knowledge, favoring HL learners (Bowles, 2011). Key words: HERITAGE LANGUAGE LEARNERS, WRITING, CAF.ES En los últimos años ha habido un mayor esfuerzo para identificar las necesidades de los aprendientes de una lengua de herencia (LH). Los resultados de estudios comparativos indican que los aprendientes de una L2 superan a los aprendientes de una LH en pruebas de habilidades de escritura (Montrul, 2010;Potowski, 2013). Sin embargo, a la hora de analizar la producción escrita en la HL, la complejidad, la precisión y la fluidez (CAF por sus siglas en inglés) han sido ignoradas, a pesar de que podrían ofrecer una descripción más precisa de las habilidades de escritura en la HL en tareas espontáneas no cronometradas. Con el objetivo de aportar esta perspectiva, 28 aprendientes de L2 y 18 aprendientes de LH completaron una tarea de producción escrita en ámbito no académico y no cronometrada, y sus habilidades de escritura fueron evaluadas según los parámetros CAF (Norris & Ortega, 2009). Los resultados muestran que los aprendientes de HL superaron a los de L2 en dos parámetros, complejidad y fluidez. Una posible explicación de estos resultados puede estar relacionada con el tipo de tarea (más espontánea y menos controlada), que requiere un conocimiento más implícito y favorecería así a los aprendientes de HL (Bowles, 2011 IT I bisogni di apprendimento di apprendenti una lingua ereditaria (HL) sono recentemente diventati oggetto di un crescente interesse.Nelle ricerche che hanno confrontato apprendenti di una HL e di una lingua seconda (L2), il secondo tipo di apprendenti consegue risultati migliori del primo nell'abilità di scrittura (Montrul, 2010;Potowski, 2013). Tuttavia, nell'esame della capacità di scrittura nella lingua ereditaria, complessità, precisione e fluidità (CAF nell'abbreviazione inglese) sono spesso sottovalutate, mentre potrebbero fornire un quadro più accurato delle loro abilità di scrittura in compiti spontanei non a tempo. A tal fine, 28 apprendenti L2 e 18 apprendenti HL hanno svolto un compito di produzione scritta non a...

The present study examines the effectiveness of second language explicit pronunciation instruction of adult second language (L2) learners of Spanish in a classroom setting. This study seeks to shed light on the effectiveness of teaching pronunciation while considering the level of instruction of first, second and third year students. Eighty-three learners of Spanish as an L2 were recruited to participate in a control (n = 45) or experimental (n = 38) group. From the beginning to the end of a twelve-week semester, participants in the experimental condition received instruction on typically difficult segments in L2-Spanish for first language (L1) English speakers. Pronunciation gains were measured acoustically by a word-reading task and the target structures were Spanish voiceless stops /p, t, k/. Results suggest that pronunciation instruction is beneficial to all voiceless stops. After a semester of instruction, the experimental group reduced their voice onset time (VOT) and reached native speakers' range, while no difference was observed in the control group. Additionally, instruction was beneficial at each curricular level, suggesting that pronunciation instruction should be part of the L2-Spanish curricular sequence at multiple levels. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical, methodological and pedagogical implications of these findings and special emphasis is placed on the advantages of pronunciation instruction. A call is made for more teachers and practitioners to include pronunciation instruction in the L2-Spanish classroom.

In Chile and Argentina, voseo (the pronoun vos and/or its verb forms) is used as one of the primary forms of address for the second person singular. For students who embark on a study abroad (SA) program, recognizing or using these forms can be challenging since it requires a high degree of metalinguistic awareness (Pozzi, Escalante & Quan, 2019). This SA pilot study aims to understand the (1) learning of voseo by second language (L2) learners in Argentina and Chile; (2) the nature of sojourners’ social networks; and (3) whether social networks are linked to the development of voseo. To shed light on these issues, six Spanish L2 learners were recruited after completing a semester-long SA program. Results suggest that social networks can at least partially inform the learning of voseo.

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