This study investigates the role of intensity of contact on the development of Spanish requests, during a six-week intensive study abroad program in Mexico. Previous research has shown that exposure to the target language in a semester or year-long study abroad program has positive effects for pragmatic development (Matsumura, 2001, 2003; Schauer, 2006; Shively, 2011); however, findings for short-term programs are mixed (Czerwionka & Cuza, 2017; Félix-Brasdefer & Hasler-Barker, 2015; Hernandez, 2016). In studies on the acquisition of Spanish requests abroad, research has shown that learners use more direct strategies after spending time in the target language environment and change the orientation of their strategies from speaker-oriented to hearer-oriented strategies, approaching native-like norms on both accounts (Bataller, 2010; Czerwionka & Cuza, 2017; Hernández, 2016; Shively, 2011). Traditionally, L2 pragmatic studies have focused on length of stay in the target culture as an indicator of pragmatic development, but research has shown that this variable is not a reliable predictor of pragmatic development (Félix-Brasdefer, 2004). However, more recently there has been a shift in focus from quantity to quality as studies have found that intensity of contact is a significant predictor of pragmatic development abroad (e.g. Bardovi-Harlig & Bastos, 2011).  Despite this recent shift in the field, little is known about the effect that intensity of contact has in pragmatic development during short-term study abroad.

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We analyze data from 15 English-speaking study abroad learners in Mexico. The learners completed an oral discourse completion task (DCT) twice throughout the program, once at the beginning of their six-week stay and once at the end. The data were analyzed according to level of directness and orientation of the head act (Blum-Kulka et al., 1989). The results of the study reveal that the learners changed their request strategy and orientation from Time 1 to Time 2. The learners were more direct and used more hearer-oriented strategies at the end of the study abroad program than at the beginning. Preliminary results for intensity of contact suggest that contact with different interlocutors while abroad influenced the participant’s target-like pragmatic development. This study provides preliminary evidence of the importance that intensity of contact has in the development of pragmatics abroad and underlines the need for more research into the interaction between intensity of contact and linguistic development during study abroad in general.