Use and acquisition of atonic personal pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese and American English speakers learners of SFL

Abstract

This article is part of the field of research on Spanish as a Foreign Language. Our objective is to analyze the acquisition and use of object pronouns by learners of Spanish as a Foreign Language who are either American English or Brazilian Portuguese native speakers. Based on error analysis, this interlanguage study aims to analyze whether there is transference from the informants’ native languages and, if so, how this transference manifests. Our work also examines the influence of formal instruction on the learning and acquisition of pronouns in Spanish as a Second Language through the application of a learning module, a pre-test, corrective feedback, and a post-test. By means of a periodical evaluation of complex grammar structures, this article offers a pedagogical perspective regarding the treatment of errors, the development of teaching modules, and the application of feedback.Keywords: Spanish as a Foreign Language, personal pronouns, English speakers, Portuguese speakers, transference, formal instruction, error analysis.