Percepción de las variedades geográficas del español por parte de los estudiantes universitarios taiwaneses
Perception of the Geographical Varieties of Spanish by Taiwanese University Students

Summary/Abstract: The present study delves into the perception of the Spanish language and its geographical varieties by Taiwanese university students of Spanish as a foreign language. The study is based on a survey distributed in different Taiwanese universities during the second semester of the 2020-2021 academic year and the first semester of the 2021-2022 academicyear. Although the survey consisted of two distinct parts, the results presented here are those obtained in the first part of the survey, which employed direct data collection techniques based on a set of questions. The results reveal that SFL learners in Taiwan have a clear awareness of the geographical variation and the internal cohesion of Spanish, as well as of the existence of different educated varieties. However, it cannot be affirmed that their vision of Spanish is that of a polycentric language in the strict sense, since Central-Northern European Spanish is perceived as a clear model of correctness when compared to other varieties. On the other hand, the preferences of the learners in relation to the different geographical varieties indicate a clear inclination towards Castilian to the detriment of the rest. The American varieties reflected higher negative scores in this section. All this seems to point to a perception of Spanish as a pluricentric pyramidal language, in which different educated varieties are identified and respected, but one of them is recognized as having greater weight than the rest and hence as a model of prestige.

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