Hypothetical discourse in a contact situation: The acquisition of the standard variety by heritage learners of Spanish in the United States

Second dialect acquisition is frequently encountered in language contact situations. Although in most cases it is the acquisition of the standard of the majority language, in some instances it can pertain to a minority language, as in the case of Spanish in the United States. Many children of Hispanic heritage use the local variety of the home language, usually a simplified and somewhat anglicized version, until they begin school and are immersed in English, the dominant language. Later in life they may seek to learn the standard variety of their first language, with mixed results.;An increasing number of American universities are offering a different language track for heritage speakers (Valdes, 1997). At the same time, many scholars are advocating a bidialectal pedagogy that will allow the individual to maintain the local variety while mastering the standard dialect.;The main objective of this research is to look at the effects of formal instruction on the acquisition process of the standard variety of Spanish by Hispanic heritage learners by analyzing one linguistic variable: the expression of hypotheticality. Qualitative and quantitative analyses look at variability (Ellis, 1989, 1994) in the cross-sectional data of learners attending university classes specially designed for heritage learners of Spanish. The description of the 'interdialect' produced by this sample is based on written tasks and spontaneous oral production data. The results are compared to those of traditional learners of Spanish as a foreign language.;The findings of this investigation suggest that classroom instruction is effective in second dialect acquisition. However, different learning processes and rates of acquisition distinguish traditional students of Spanish as a foreign language from heritage learners, strongly suggesting that a distinct pedagogical approach is necessary for each group.