ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a general overview of syllable structure in Spanish, focusing on those aspects that are relevant to the teaching of Spanish as an L2, such as phonotactics, resyllabification and vowel merger, diphthongs and hiatuses, the allophonic realizations of the high vowels, and consonant clusters. Overall, the approach to the phonological content is descriptive and atheoretical, although it relies on crucial phonological principles known to be widely present in both the L1 and the L2, namely, syllable markedness and universal syllable repair mechanisms. In order to frame the suggestions offered for the integration of syllabic facts into the L2 language classroom, the chapter includes a critical review of the treatment of the subject in recent, commonly used textbooks of Spanish pronunciation. It also highlights how knowledge of syllabic principles helps L2 learners to better their pronunciation, including references to previous studies on phonological awareness, and on the explicit teaching of this topic. Additionally, the chapter offers some suggestions on how to incorporate syllable structure into pronunciation training.
