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- Volume 36, Issue 2, 2023
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics - Volume 36, Issue 2, 2023
Volume 36, Issue 2, 2023
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Positivity in the English language learning classroom
Author(s): Irati Diert-Botépp.: 357–385 (29)More LessAbstractPositive Psychology was introduced in Second Language Acquisition research in order to explore how positivity can be experienced in the classroom so that learners can flourish in their language learning processes even in averse circumstances (see MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012). Drawing on theories from Positive Psychology (Fredrickson, 2001, 2013), this study explores moments of positive contact between teacher and students (see Korthagen et al., 2014) via (1) students’ self-reported accounts of their experiences in English learning contexts through four interviews and three focus groups; and (2) observable classroom practices through audio/video recordings of six class sessions. Findings reveal that positive emotion, which is co-constructed by both teacher and student(s) in in-situ interaction, seems to benefit the learner at multiple levels (emotionally, behaviorally, motivationally and cognitively), to contribute to creating rapport between them, and to help fulfill various foreign language learning-related goals.
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El uso de fuentes documentales y su impacto en la creatividad del estudiante de traducción e interpretación
Author(s): Ana María Rojo López, Purificación Meseguer Cutillas and Paula Arqués Abellánpp.: 386–410 (25)More LessAbstractaEl presente artículo pretende explorar el impacto que la documentación y la inteligencia creativa tienen a la hora de resolver retos creativos literarios. Para ello se diseñó un estudio experimental con estudiantes de traducción e interpretación en el que, divididos en dos grupos, debían traducir tres fragmentos que contenían retos creativos. Uno de los grupos tenía acceso a recursos de documentación; el otro, no. Nuestra hipótesis de partida predecía que el uso de herramientas de documentación daría lugar a soluciones menos creativas, pero más precisas, así como que las puntuaciones de los participantes en la prueba de creatividad se correlacionarían con las puntuaciones asignadas a la creatividad de sus soluciones. Los resultados del estudio mostraron que las puntuaciones asignadas a la creatividad de las soluciones eran más altas en el grupo sin acceso a la documentación. Sin embargo, en cuanto a la precisión de las soluciones, nuestra hipótesis solo se corroboró para el parámetro de corrección.
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Ideología en el paisaje lingüístico y semiótico
Author(s): Carmen Fernández Juncalpp.: 411–435 (25)More LessAbstractaEl presente estudio rastrea el impacto en el paisaje lingüístico de las elecciones autonómicas vascas del año 2020. A partir de un trabajo de campo en dos localidades de distinto perfil demográfico y político y de encuestas entre los partidos en liza, analizamos, por una parte, la presencia o ausencia en el espacio público de las distintas formaciones y sus estrategias de comunicación. Por otra parte, examinamos los recursos de tipo semiótico empleados en la campaña y la distribución de las dos lenguas de uso en la comunidad en las señales del corpus. Los resultados nos permiten detectar el traslado de los recursos físicos tradicionales al ámbito virtual, esfera que asimila cada vez con más fuerza la funcionalidad de los primeros. Asimismo, se revelan tendencias y tensiones en la elección de lenguas, de acuerdo con la posición en el espectro ideológico, que nos obligan a repensar el propio concepto de autoría en este tipo de investigaciones.
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Constructional complexity as a predictor of Korean EFL learners’ writing proficiency
Author(s): Hyunwoo Kim, Gyu-Ho Shin and Min-Chang Sungpp.: 436–466 (31)More LessAbstractBased on usage-based constructionist approaches to language development, this study investigates the validity of constructional complexity as a predictor of writing proficiency of Korean EFL learners. We analyzed argumentative essays produced by Korean EFL learners and compared a prediction model that uses English argument structure constructions with a conventional T-unit-based model. We first tested the predictive power of a discriminant function model with argument structure constructions as predictors for assessing writing proficiency of lower- and higher-level learners. We then compared the construction-based model to another model that included T-unit measures as predictors. The results validated the contribution of argument structure constructions for predicting L2 writing proficiency: The construction-based model yielded higher prediction accuracy than the T-unit-based model did, confirming that constructional complexity is closely aligned with writing proficiency. These findings demonstrate the significance of a construction-based model as a reliable tool for diagnosing EFL learners’ writing proficiency.
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Exploring the effects of audiovisual material and age in pragmatic learning
Author(s): Júlia Barón and Carmen Muñozpp.: 467–498 (32)More LessAbstractThe present study aims at analyzing the effects of pragmatic instruction through captioned audiovisual input on pragmatic performance by learners of different ages. The participants were 40 intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, 20 children and 20 adults, who were distributed into intervention and control groups. All participants received pragmatic-focused instruction (on greetings and requests), and were engaged in class discussions to raise pragmatic awareness. In the intervention group, pragmatic instruction was supported by captioned audiovisual material, whereas in the control group no audiovisual material was used to support pragmatic instruction. To examine pragmatic performance, an Oral Discourse Completion Test (ODCT) was administered at the beginning and at the end of the treatment period. Moreover, classroom observations were carried out during class discussions. The findings suggest a benefit of captioned audiovisual input on pragmatic performance when teaching pragmatics in the EFL classroom as well as differences in terms of pragmatic performance between child and adult learners.
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No quiero batirme con vos... ni reñir contigo
Author(s): Miguel Gutiérrez Maté and Patricia Uhlpp.: 499–527 (29)More LessAbstractaEl sistema de formas de tratamiento ha experimentado distintos procesos de variación a lo largo de la diacronía y la diatopía de la lengua española, más aún durante el español clásico (o ‘áureo’). Sus implicaciones pragmáticas, socio-discursivas y culturales hacen de los tratamientos un sistema en ‘crisis’ (Hummel, 2020), con múltiples variables cuyos valores necesitan fijarse e irse actualizando en la comunicación. Recogemos aquí los avances recientes de la investigación en este campo y los aplicamos en un contexto de enseñanza/aprendizaje del español: para ello, proponemos un enfoque didáctico textual, válido tanto en las clases de secundaria en Lengua Castellana y Literatura como en las clases de E/LE. El texto escogido para discutir estos problemas lingüísticos es un fragmento de una novela de Las aventuras del capitán Alatriste, que recrea la lengua del siglo XVII. La metodología de análisis demuestra que, mediando las adaptaciones pertinentes y partiendo de los textos adecuados, casi cualquier problema filológico y/o lingüístico-teórico puede plantearse para su aprendizaje en enseñanza secundaria y en E/LE.
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Metaphorical Pattern Analysis and MIPVU combined
Author(s): María Muelas-Gilpp.: 528–555 (28)More LessAbstractOne of the constant debates within conceptual metaphors studies and metaphor in discourse concerns metaphor identification and annotation. In recent years, most metaphor studies have applied Steen et al.’s MIPVU or Pragglejazz’s MIP as the identification method, but this does not mean that they are exclusive. In fact, there are certain factors of a given study that influence the choice of one method over another, such as its design, size or language. It was precisely the particularities of our corpus (made of economic reports published in English and Spanish) that suggested the combination of other existing methods in order to obtain, in the most practical way, the most reliable outcomes for this target-based case study. Stefanowitsch’s MPA was applied and complemented with MIPVU, used to filter and confirm potentially metaphorical patterns. Apart from reviewing some of the existing methods, this paper provides a case study that supports the validity of combining identification methods or adapting them to the needs of each case, as the results obtained after analysis show concordance and agreement post-combination.
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Effects of language background and directionality on raters’ assessments of spoken-language interpreting
pp.: 556–584 (29)More LessAbstractBilingual raters play an important role in assessing spoken-language interpreting (between X and Y languages). Presumably, raters with X being the dominant language (DL) and Y the less DL can potentially differ, in terms of rating processes, from other raters with Y being the DL and X the less DL, when assessing either X-to-Y or Y-to-X interpreting. As such, raters’ language background and its interaction with interpreting directionality may influence assessment outcomes. However, this complex interaction and its effects on assessment have not been investigated. We therefore conducted the current experiment to explore how raters’ language background and interpreting directionality would affect assessment of English-Chinese, two-way interpreting. Our analyses of the quantitative data indicate that, when assessing interpreting into raters’ mother tongue or DL, they displayed a greater level of self-confidence and self-consistency, but rated performance more harshly. Such statistically significant group-level disparities led to different assessment outcomes, as pass and fail rates varied, depending on the rater group. These quantitative findings, coupled with the raters’ qualitative comments, may have implications for selection and training of bilingual raters for interpreting assessment.
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Sentence splitting in Arabic to Spanish translation
Author(s): Juan Roldán and Manuel Feria Garcíapp.: 585–614 (30)More LessAbstractModern Standard Arabic makes extensive use of coordination particles whereas punctuation marks are scarce and erratic, leading to long clauses. This is generally assumed to hinder Sentence Boundary Detection and to promote sentence splitting when translating from Arabic into English. Previous literature on translation from Arabic to Spanish is practically inexistent. We have tested this hypothesis regarding translation from Arabic to Spanish on a sample of 282,714 graphic words extracted from a bilingual corpus of 8,681,110 graphic words and found that each Arabic sentence yielded an average of 1.5 Spanish sentences. Furthermore, our data shows the potential impact of directionality in that sentence splitting when translating from Arabic into Spanish is 50% more frequent than from English into Arabic. We also determined statistically that five elements (wa [و], ḥaythu [حيث], kamā [كما], wa-qad [وقد], and wa-dhalika [وذلك]) are the most salient potential markers for sentence splitting in the resulting Spanish translations. Our findings should be particularly interesting for Computational Linguistics and translator training.
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Influencia de factores contextuales en creencias pedagógicas de los profesores de ELE en China
Author(s): Xiuchuan Lu, Xiao Zou and Jian Taopp.: 615–642 (28)More LessAbstractaLas creencias pedagógicas de los profesores cumplen una función clave a la hora de marcar la práctica docente. Así, entender los factores contextuales que influyen en dichas creencias puede ayudar a mejorar y reformar la metodología educativa y elevar su eficacia. Basado en la teoría ecológica de Bronfenbrenner (1979), este estudio expone en diferentes niveles los factores contextuales que influyen sobre las creencias de 20 profesores de español en ocho universidades chinas. Se revela, mediante los datos de entrevista, que dichos factores consisten en cuatro niveles: educación universitaria y experiencia intercultural (microsistema); política escolar, programa curricular y voluntad de los alumnos (mesosistema); entorno socioeconómico (exosistema), y cultura e ideología tradicional (macrosistema), los cuales también interactúan entre sí. El resultado ahonda en el entendimiento sobre la enseñanza del español en China, lo que genera conocimientos sobre la educación de otros idiomas distintos al inglés en el contexto asiático.
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Engaging lower proficiency learners of Spanish in collaborative writing tasks
Author(s): Caroline Payant and Derek Reaganpp.: 643–671 (29)More LessAbstractThis study examines the influence of task complexity on collaborative dialogue and written texts with lower proficiency learners of Spanish. English-speaking students of Spanish from two intact classrooms (N = 24) were assigned to a simple or a complex writing group. In dyads, learners completed two information-exchange tasks that differed in complexity and produced two collaborative texts, on two separate days. Interactions produced during the writing tasks were transcribed and coded for collaborative dialogue, operationalized as language-related episodes. Written texts were rated holistically for originality, engageability, and quality. Results show that collaborative dialogue about lexis was most frequent, regardless of the task complexity. Further, increases in task complexity appeared to have influenced opportunities for collaborative dialogue and for the production of more engaging texts. Results are discussed in light of current scholarship on collaborative writing and insights are offered on the value of implementing writing tasks with lower proficiency learners.
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Falsos amigos fraseológicos
Author(s): Regina Gutiérrez Pérez and Juan Pablo Larreta Zulateguipp.: 672–697 (26)More LessAbstractaEn este estudio pretendemos establecer una serie de criterios para comparar falsos amigos fraseológicos y comprobar a continuación su validez mediante la recogida y análisis de un conjunto de datos empíricos obtenidos a partir de una prueba de traducción repartida a hablantes con dos combinaciones lingüísticas (inglés-español y español-alemán).
El análisis es un primer acercamiento práctico al fenómeno e intenta hallar indicios de si se da más allá de un par de lenguas concretas. Para ello, se establece, de acuerdo con su naturaleza, un tertium comparationis tanto para analizar la identidad o similitud entre locuciones idiomáticas del español, inglés y alemán en el plano formal como para analizar su simultánea falta de equivalencia en el plano del contenido.
Presentamos evidencia empírica de que las interferencias semánticas conocidas como falsos amigos tienen lugar en el campo del lenguaje figurado y, más concretamente, de las locuciones idiomáticas.
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Review of Carbonell i Cortés & Monzó-Nebot (2021): Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power
Author(s): María Ángeles Ortspp.: 698–703 (6)More LessThis article reviews Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power
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