Spanish as an International Language: Implications for Teachers and Learners

Spanish is a pluricentric language, meaning that it has several centers of prestige (e.g., San Juan, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Lima). Moreover, Spanish, like all languages, evinces sociolinguistic variation, in that levels of formality are expressed through the use of different structures. Given this variety, students of Spanish will inevitably come into contact with variation Spanish. This variation in Spanish adds layers of complexity to the learning and instruction of the Spanish language; t…