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- Volume 31, Issue, 2018
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics - Volume 31, Issue 1, 2018
Volume 31, Issue 1, 2018
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The acquisition of voicing assimilation by advanced Hungarian learners of Spanish
Author(s): Zsuzsanna Bárkányipp.: 1–31 (31)More LessThis study examines the effect of explicit phonological instruction on the acquisition of variable /s/ voicing in Spanish by advanced Hungarian learners. Hungarian and Spanish have very similar, yet not identical, voicing assimilation (VA) systems; the most important difference lies in the pre-sonorant context as sonorant consonants trigger voicing assimilation in Spanish but not in Hungarian. Data were collected in acoustic experiments from 7 native speakers of Northern Peninsular Spanish and 12 Hungarian university students who were advanced learners of Spanish. The latter group was tested twice: before and after a three-month Spanish phonetics and phonology course. Our data reveal that this amount of instruction is not enough for L2 speakers to overcome their first language VA system, which might be attributed, in part, to the variable allophonic nature of the process and the similarity between the two languages’ VA systems.
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An investigation into the plurilingual profile of the newly arrived students at the Melilla Campus of the University of Granada
pp.: 32–63 (32)More LessUniversity students need to have ability in more than one language in order to foster the transmission of knowledge and research, and so consolidating a multilingual Higher Education. In the context of Melilla (University of Granada), this requirement is added to the plurilingualism in the city (a large majority of the population is bilingual in Spanish and Tamazight). This investigation aims at describing the plurilingual reality of first-year students, as well as the different socio-linguistic variables that could account for results. Data obtained in several tests and questionnaires, with 206 subjects, determine that a clearly plurilingual profile exists among the participants, although the great challenge is centred on reaching communicative competence in a foreign language sufficient to become independent users.
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Dialectal variation of the preterit and imperfect
Author(s): Gibran Delgado-Díazpp.: 64–93 (30)More LessThis investigation examines the use of the pretérito and imperfecto forms in Puerto Rican and Buenos Aires Spanish. These dialects were chosen because the pretérito can express a perfect event in Buenos Aires Spanish while this use has not been documented in Puerto Rican Spanish. This may cause differences in the use of these forms. The main goal of this investigation was to contrast the linguistic predictors in both dialects in order to determine if there are dialectal differences and if they are due to different grammaticalization pathways. The results indicate that there are some differences between the Spanish spoken by Puerto Ricans and that of the Argentines of Buenos Aires. Among the results, it was found that these two dialects had different predictors for the pretérito and imperfecto. These results show preliminary evidence that indicates that these dialects follow different grammaticalization paths.
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A learner-based approach of applying online reading to improve learner autonomy and lexical knowledge
Author(s): (Mark) Feng Tengpp.: 94–123 (30)More LessThis study investigated a learner-based approach of applying online reading to improve learner autonomy and lexical knowledge. Learner autonomy was operationalized as learners’ self-initiation and self-regulation. A total of 90 students at a Chinese university were divided equally into three groups. Participants in the Experimental Group One (EG1) read online after receiving a package of nine hourly sessions in metacognitive strategy training. Participants in the Experimental Group Two (EG2) read online without receiving any strategy training. Participants in the Control Group (CG) only read printed versions of the target materials. Students in the EG1 outperformed those in the other two groups in terms of their ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate reading. Planning became the most exercised skill, followed by evaluating and monitoring. A significant difference between EG2 and CG with respect to their abilities was not detected. Students in the EG1 also improved the most in lexical knowledge, and although students in the EG2 showed higher lexical knowledge scores than those in the CG, the difference was not significant. In addition, improvements in lexical knowledge were maintained best by EG1 on a delayed test. Overall, this study suggests that providing students with metacognitive strategy training for online reading is an effective approach.
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The use of L3 English articles by Basque-Spanish bilinguals
Author(s): María Juncal Gutiérrez-Mangado and María Martínez-Adriánpp.: 124–158 (35)More LessIn this paper we compare the data from a group of L1 Basque-Spanish bilingual learners of L3 English with a matching group of L1 Spanish learners of L2 English. The results show that the bilinguals omit articles and overuse ‘the’ more than the L1 Spanish group. The pattern of omissions by the bilinguals shows that one subgroup omitted heavily while the other produced only sporadic omissions. With respect to overuse, the bilinguals consistently overused ‘the’ in indefinite contexts, while ‘a’ overuse was practically absent. The results from the bilingual group pattern with findings from [−article] L1 learners, a pattern which would fit with an analysis of Basque as a language without articles ( Manterola 2012 , 2015 ). The finding that the bilinguals do not transfer article semantics from Spanish, unlike the learners in the L1 Spanish group, suggests that recency may be determining the language of transfer in the bilingual learners tested.
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Does the adapted version of The Amazing Race (AVOTAR) benefit Spanish language learning among technical students?
Author(s): Hou Keat Khong, Swi Ee Cheah, Nurul Na’imy Wan and Susana Martínez Vellónpp.: 159–196 (38)More LessStudents’ lack of interest and motivation in language learning has long been the focus of language scholars and researchers. In the Malaysian Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) context, this concern has posed many practical challenges particularly to the foreign language teachers. This study proposes a teaching innovation adapted from the popular reality television program, The Amazing Race, to instill and promote interest in learning Spanish among the technical students. The study on the Adapted Version of The Amazing Race (AVOTAR) was conducted using a quantitative dominant mixed methods approach in a technical university where Spanish language is a compulsory subject. The quantitative findings show that AVOTAR improves learners’ linguistic performance especially in the areas of vocabulary and reading comprehension while the qualitative findings indicate that AVOTAR helps increase learners’ motivation. This may contribute useful insights to address the challenges and improve the curriculum and instruction of foreign languages.
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A relational adjective and a noun semantic binding in the specialized language of Information and Communication Technology
Author(s): Francisca López Hernández and Socorro Bernardos Galindopp.: 197–223 (27)More LessThis study reports on a semantic analysis of a terminology pattern formed by a relational adjective Radj and a noun n, found in specialized texts written in English and Spanish from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field. This research is first based on a terminology perspective to later focus on a recurring multi-word lexical unit pattern in which the specialized concept is realized by a relational adjective. The syntactic pattern [Radj+n] will be referred to as Specialized Lexical Combination (SLC). The study presents a step forward to previous terminology research. We argue that the semantic analysis of the adjective-noun relationship will help understand the underlying knowledge organization of this ICT subject area. The analysis is approached from the framework of the Generative Lexicon specially focusing on the qualia structure of this recurring multi-word lexical unit pattern.
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Analyzing the relationship and development of proficiency, derivational knowledge, and vocabulary size in Spanish L2 learners
Author(s): Nausica Marcos Miguelpp.: 224–256 (33)More LessOne dimension of knowing a word is recognizing its structure. Previous research, mostly on L2 English, has revealed a close link between derivational knowledge (DK) and vocabulary size. Nevertheless, the degree of the relationship as well as the effect of the learner’s L1 vary among these studies. The present study analyzes the development of DK in L1 English learners of L2 Spanish (n = 209) taking university level courses from second to seventh semester at a US institution. The measurements explore the complex nature of DK – i.e., relational, syntactic and distributional knowledge – in both receptive and productive mode. Results showed that proficiency rather than vocabulary size, i.e., knowledge of monomorphemic words, contributes to DK. While a full receptive knowledge of some suffixes can be acquired relatively early, this is not the case for productive knowledge. This study also provides some tools to measure DK without resorting to metalanguage.
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El significado de las preposiciones españolas a través de la gramática cognitiva
Author(s): Francisco Romo Simónpp.: 257–281 (25)More LessEl presente artículo constituye un estudio exploratorio sobre la aplicación de los conceptos analíticos, descriptivos y representacionales de la gramática cognitiva a una categoría lingüística todavía inexplorada mediante esta aproximación: las preposiciones. La propia definición del sistema preposicional español y el de las partículas que lo componen resulta un tema controvertido que ha derivado en definiciones ambiguas y confusas sinonimias que se apoyan en listas con decenas de usos distintos para explicar los valores de una única partícula. Ante esta situación, proponemos la aplicación de los conceptos teóricos y las herramientas descriptivas de la gramática cognitiva para avanzar hacia una definición operativa y unificada de todos los valores semánticos de cada preposición. En el caso concreto de este artículo, utilizaremos este modelo para establecer una propuesta de proto-escena para la preposición a.
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Percepción del lenguaje político en Twitter
Author(s): José Segovia Martínpp.: 282–308 (27)More LessEn el presente trabajo proponemos un acercamiento cuantitativo al discurso político en la red de microblogging Twitter. El objetivo principal de esta investigación consistió en determinar algunos de los factores que pueden estar influyendo en la percepción del lenguaje político en esta red. El análisis estadístico de los datos recogidos, a partir de 100 tuits y 100 encuestados, permitió evidenciar que las variables RE/C (P = 0,0081) y tema discursivo (P < 0.0001) están relacionadas significativamente con el destaque de los tuits. Asimismo, el destaque (P = 0,0186) está relacionado con el recuerdo (MLP) de los tuits, si bien el modelo explica solo un leve porcentaje de la variabilidad.
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Acquisition of sociophonetic variation
Author(s): Megan Solon, Bret Linford and Kimberly L. Geeslinpp.: 309–344 (36)More LessThis study investigates the acquisition of nativelike variation in the production of Spanish /d/ by English-speaking learners. Specifically, we examine the production of /d/ in word-internal intervocalic position in the speech of 13 highly advanced nonnative speakers (NNSs) and 13 native speakers (NSs) of Spanish in digitally-recorded sociolinguistic interviews. The analysis includes a discrete categorization of /d/ realization based on spectrographic examination (stop vs. spirant vs. deleted) and a continuous intensity difference measure. Tokens were coded for grammatical category, surrounding segments, stress, number of syllables, and lexical frequency. Results indicate that both NNSs and NSs exhibit /d/ spirantization and deletion, but these two processes are affected by different factors both between and across groups: NNS deletion patterns are predicted most significantly by lexical frequency, whereas degree of spirantization is influenced by articulatory/contextual factors of phonetic context and stress. NS patterns for both processes are influenced by most factors in a similar manner.
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Exploring strong and weak EFL readers’ strategy use after a reading strategy and extensive reading instructional intervention
Author(s): Ying-Chun Shih and Barry Lee Reynoldspp.: 345–377 (33)More LessAfter 16 weeks of extensive reading and reading strategy instruction in an English as a Foreign Language class (n = 52) at a junior college in Taiwan, three weak and three strong second language readers were recruited to investigate reading strategy use. Strategies were inferred from verbal reports gained through a think aloud methodology as participants read a text equivalent to those encountered during regular classroom instruction. Results indicated strong readers used more global strategies than weak readers. Strong readers had a more diverse reading strategy repertoire while weak readers tended to lean towards the use of a single strategy. In addition, strong readers tended to combine strategies. These and other results are discussed in terms of the translation-based reading instruction currently dominating Taiwanese secondary school classrooms. Suggestions are also provided on how classroom English teachers should implement reading strategy training in the English language classroom.
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Understanding the use of mediational means in academic writing
pp.: 378–407 (30)More LessWhile the majority of previous studies on EAP (English for academic purposes) writing have been devoted to professional or academic writing at a more advanced level (i.e., PhD students and scholars) in ESL contexts, little attention has been paid to the academic writing of master-level novice writers in EFL contexts. From a sociocultural perspective, the present case study examined the writing strategies of a master-level novice writer – Alice in Macau context. Non-structured, semi-structured and text-based interviews were used as the primary source of data, with document analysis used for triangulation. The study identified two major categories (i.e., artifacts and community) and five subcategories of mediational means (i.e., journal articles and theses, languages, online writing materials, peers and experts) as significant in the novice writer’s academic writing activities. It also unveiled double-edged features of mediational means and recognized their interplay with the writer’s goals and relatedness to her situated context.
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A contrastive study on mitigation of criticism in English and Chinese book reviews
Author(s): Yubin Qianpp.: 408–430 (23)More LessThe present article is a corpus-based contrastive study on mitigation of criticism in linguistic book reviews in English and in Chinese. It is based on the face theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) and follows the framework of Johnson and Roen (1992) . The present article shows the following results: (1) at the local level, there are thirteen mitigation devices in the corpus, of which only six have been introduced by previous studies; devices of ‘generalization’ and ‘metaphorical statement’ are specific to the English sub-corpus, whereas ‘omission’ is only found in Chinese; (2) at the global level, English writers maintain an overall supportive tone with praise largely distributed in both openings and closings, whereas their Chinese counterparts sound much impartial. Differences in findings are then explained from perspectives of cultural values and functions of book reviews.
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Metonymy and the way we speak
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