El léxico disponible como herramienta de ayuda para la selección léxica en aula de ELE

This study aims to provide foreigns languages professionals with a sound methodology for selecting a suitable lexicon apropos of their students’ level in the language. The justification of said selection is, herein, rooted in a cognitive argument: If we are able to observe the manner in which words are organized within the mind, we will be better able to select the words needed for the natural process of communication. After poring over lists of lexical availability compiled by previous analyses, this study puts forth a glossary filtered by way of an objective procedure based on the mathematical concept known as Fuzzy Expected Value. I begin first by rigorously defining the concept of lexical availability and then thoroughly examining and explaining the manner in which I have obtained the results. Next, I employ the cognitive theory of prototypes to expound upon the organizational apparatus which arranges words within speakers’ minds. Subsequently and in accordance with objective criteria, a lexical selection is proposed. To end, I contemplate and muse upon the significance of a program that would enable us to identify the most appropriate vocabulary according to the students’ level of linguistic competence. In order to further substantiate this study, it will be juxtaposed to the specific notions outlined by the curriculum of The Cervantes Institute. Moreover, it will be relationed with the teaching levels proposed by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

"The Cure of Bytyng" in London, Wellcome Library, MS 411 (ff. 56r-61r)

London, Wellcome Library, MS 411 is a codex in one volume which dates from the late fifteenth century. It houses a collection of practical treatises and tracts in English and Latin, in verse as well as in prose, on different topics including prognostications, nativities, medical astrology, reproduction, toxicology, bloodletting, etc. In this paper, the Middle English anonymous treatise on venomous bites, written in prose and held in folios 56r to 61r, is taken into consideration. The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to examine the contents, transmission and sources of the text and, on the other, to describe it from a physical standpoint. Investigation on those aspects of the treatise contained in Wellcome MS 411 can shed some light on the function and diffusion of the text, and may also prove significant for a better understanding of it.