Chilean Spanish in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language: A Didactic Proposal Based on the Use of Chilean Voseo

Abstract

This article examines the integration of Chilean voseo into the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) in the Brazilian context, from an intercultural and multidialectal perspective. Drawing on previous studies that highlight the limited presence of Chilean Spanish in SFL textbooks used in Brazil, the paper discusses Chilean voseo as a salient linguistic feature with strong sociocultural and identity-related significance. The study adopts a qualitative and applied approach, grounded in a specialized literature review on linguistic variation, cultural identity, interculturality, and linguistic prejudice, as well as key contributions from applied linguistics and language pedagogy. Based on this theoretical framework, a didactic unit is designed for Brazilian learners at a B1 level according to the CEFR. The proposal integrates Chilean voseo into authentic communicative contexts, particularly informal oral and written discourse. The didactic sequence includes activities focused on recognition, guided production, and intercultural reflection, aiming to foster intercultural communicative competence and to challenge lectocentrism, understood as the predominance of hegemonic Spanish varieties in language teaching. The analysis suggests that Chilean voseo can serve as an effective pedagogical resource to make Spanish dialectal diversity visible, to counteract linguistic prejudice, and to reinforce the inseparable relationship between language, culture, and identity. The article concludes that the systematic inclusion of non-standard varieties in SFL teaching contributes to a more inclusive, critical, and culturally sensitive language education, particularly in Lusophone contexts with strong geographical and sociocultural ties to the Spanish-speaking world.