Americanisms in Spanish as a Foreign Language. Reflections on lexical variation from preferred European or standardized varieties

Abstract

Variety is a phenomenon inherent in the nature of living languages. In the case of  Spanish, this quality becomes apparent, with different intensity at every level of the language and throughout its vast geography. Without forcing the lexical patrimonial unity of Spanish (active and passive), the variation of its almost 500 million native speakers is undeniable and must be taken into consideration within the framework of teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. In this article we focus on the presence of Americanisms from the standpoint of an ELE course with either preferred Castillian variety (peninsular northern center) or standardized (common and neutral). We deal with the treatment of variety as part of the model for a foreign language and, particularly in Spanish, the reference and attention to the diversity included in the teaching guideline documents in Europe and Spain, the Marco común europeo de referencia para las lenguas (MCER) and the Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes (PCIC). We discuss, based on an applied example, which should be the teaching and curricular approach to Americanisms, their sources and works of reference, their planning and sequencing.