Dimensió educativa de l'aprenentatge del discurs oral en una llengua segona o en una llengua estrangera

En un segle hem passat de considerar l'ensenyament de llengues estrangeres com una activitat marginal sense cap dimensió educativa reconeguda a considerar-lo com una activitat que cada vegada té un paper més notable en els programes deis estudiants de secundaria i que reclama més atenció en els estudis superiors. Avui dia, no és pensable una formació superior sense una comprensió ben desenvolupada de l'anglés com a llengua vehicular d'informació deis camps de coneixement més variats. Algunes formacions de caracter superior requereixen a més a més altres habilitats lingüístiques com ara parlar i escriure. La situació dominant de l'anglés, pero, no ens ha de fer oblidar que també són necessaries altres llengues si els professionals s'han de moure en un mercat de treball únic en una Europa extremadament plurilingue: i així es veura que per exemple és probablement inadequat de formar graduats i llicenciats amb perfils que els faci integrables en els sectors comercials de la indústria o les finances sense dotar-los d'uns coneixements satisfactoris de dues llengues estrangeres (a la Universitat de Barcelona, els estudiants que podrien integrar aquest grup representen actualment més d'un 20 per cent del total de l'alumnat).

Estilos comunicativos, vinculación universitaria y adaptación psicosocial

El presente estudio aborda la relación entre los estilos comunicativos de los estudiantes universitarios, su vinculación en la universidad y el nivel de adaptación psicosocial. Se analizan distintos estilos comunicativos en relación con el grado de vinculación universitaria y su influencia sobre el nivel de ansiedad, distimia, consumo de alcohol y dependencia de sustancias. Los datos han sido obtenidos mediante cuestionario administrado a una muestra representativa de 529 estudiantes universitarios. Los resultados indican la existencia de diferencias de género con respecto a algunos patrones comunicativos pero no en relación con la vinculación universitaria. Se constata también una relación estadísticamente significativa, aunque no muy elevada, entre los estilos comunicativos y la capacidad de los estudiantes para vincularse en el contexto universitario. Tanto los estilos comunicativos como la vinculación universitaria contribuyen a la explicación de la sintomatología afectiva, pero sólo los estilos comunicativos polémico y amigable contribuyen a la explicación del consumo de sustancias

Traducción comentada de Guidelines Governing the Adoption of Children, 2011 in India

En este trabajo se analiza la variación discursiva y los diferentes criterios de estilo entre textos jurídicos normativos en inglés y español; se establecen fenómenos lingüísticos propios del discurso jurídico que generan problemas de traducción; y se comparan algunas diferencias entre sistemas jurídicos y políticos para analizar su repercusión en la traducción.

La gestualidad de la barba y el mentón en la Antigüedad romana

Beards and chins are two parts of the body that are associated with a large number of gestures. This paper examines a number of texts in which these gestures appear and the meaning they convey. The analysis was conducted by distinguishing between self-adaptor gestures (those that do not involve a second party), alter-directed adaptors (those that, to the contrary, involve the intervention of another person) and object-adaptors (a category that encompasses gestures involving an object).

Place branding : a conceptual and theoretical framework

Within the context of rising competition between territories, identity has become the most important element of recognition, differentiation and commodification in the communicative process within which cities, regions and countries position themselves. Geographical spaces thus compete in terms of this identity, which is then subjected to fierce comparison and competition (Nogué, 1999; Anholt, 2007a). The territorial brand thus entails the reinvention of places through a process of brand construction (branding) based on the promotion of the individual and collective identities of geographical spaces; these identities, in turn, are imbued with the intangible factors associated with their respective territorial identities.

Teoría de la comunicación y paisaje. Las geografías del sujeto y la perspectiva interpretativa de la comunicación

El estudio de las implicaciones comunicativas presentes en el paisaje tangible e intangible circundante abre un amplio abanico de posibilidades para el tratamiento de la denominada comunicación en el paisaje. El análisis de los efectos que el entorno genera en los procesos de comunicación humana, el seguimiento de los procesos comunicativos mediante los cuales se mercadea con el paisaje, la construcción de imaginarios individuales y colectivos a partir de la interacción ciudadanía-territorio, el tránsito de espacio a lugar y, más recientemente, la habilitación de identidades territoriales a partir de la construcción de una imagen de marca de ciudad o de país –léase promoción turística, citymarketing y/o branding, entre otros– presentan, en todos los casos, amplias connotaciones de alcance comunicativo. La búsqueda del mensaje presente en el paisaje plantea, en este mismo sentido, el tratamiento del espacio a modo de sistema de comunicación. En cualquier caso, parece claro que, en los últimos tiempos, asistimos a una cierta eclosión de procesos de comunicación concebidos desde la realidad existente en el espacio y más aún, en el paisaje, por lo que se hace necesario avanzar hacia un tratado comunicativo del paisaje.

Statistical modeling of violin bowing parameter contours

We present a framework for modeling right-hand gestures in bowed-string instrument playing, applied to violin. Nearly non-intrusive sensing techniques allow for accurate acquisition of relevant timbre-related bowing gesture parameter cues. We model the temporal contour of bow transversal velocity, bow pressing force, and bow-bridge distance as sequences of short segments, in particular B´ezier cubic curve segments. Considering different articulations, dynamics, andcontexts, a number of note classes is defined. Gesture parameter contours of a performance database are analyzed at note-level by following a predefined grammar that dictatescharacteristics of curve segment sequences for each of the classes into consideration. Based on dynamic programming, gesture parameter contour analysis provides an optimal curve parameter vector for each note. The informationpresent in such parameter vector is enough for reconstructing original gesture parameter contours with significant fidelity. From the resulting representation vectors, weconstruct a statistical model based on Gaussian mixtures, suitable for both analysis and synthesis of bowing gesture parameter contours. We show the potential of the modelby synthesizing bowing gesture parameter contours from an annotated input score. Finally, we point out promising applicationsand developments.

El dictado como tarea comunicativa

El artículo explora las utilidades didácticas del dictado (la práctica comunicativa de oralizar o leer en voz alta un escrito) para el aprendizaje funcional de una lengua materna o extranjera, en los diversos niveles de enseñanza. Después de criticar el uso tradicional de este ejercicio lingüístico, presentamos once formas diferentes de desarrollar un dictado en clase, con sus particulares contenidos, objetivos y metodologías. También analizamos con detalle la técnica más tradicional del dictado magistral, en la que el docente dicta palabra por palabra un texto al alumnado, poniendo énfasis en la ortografía; ofrecemos algunas orientaciones para incrementar el componente comunicativo de esta propuesta. Las conclusiones finales proponen entender esta técnica como un recurso metodológico variado, rico y sugerente, adaptado a cada situación de aprendizaje —y no como una práctica obligatoria y fosilizada.

Explorando los discursos de las organizaciones

Después de comentar algunas de las orientaciones con que se estudian los discursos en las organizaciones (empresas o instituciones), presentamos dos clasificaciones discursivas, basadas respectivamente en el organigrama (formal / informal, horizontal / vertical, etc.) y en la función comunicativa (discursos técnico-científicos, organizativos, comerciales y protocolarios).También establecemos una tipología de intervenciones lingüísticas en organizaciones, según tomen como objeto de trabajo la estructura organizativa, los recursos humanos, el registro o un discurso particular.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

Noves perspectives en el diagnòstic del deteriorament cognitiu lleu i la malaltia de l'Alzheimer

Els criteris per al diagnòstic clínic de la malaltia d’Alzheimer es van establir el 1984 pel National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS) i la Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association (ADRDA). D’aplicació continuada fins a l’actualitat, aquests criteris estan quedant obsolets i per tant des de diversos àmbits s’ha abogat per una revisió profunda dels mateixos. Tres grups d’experts formats per reconeguts especialistes del National Institute on Aging (NIA) i la Alzheimer’s Association proposen un conjunt de recomanacions per modificar aquests criteris en l’àmbit de la investigació clínica. Dues diferències remarcables s’inclouen en aquests nous criteris: la incorporació de biomarcadors i la formalització de diferents estadis de la malaltia d’Alzheimer. D’aquesta manera, el deteriorament cognitiu lleu s’incorpora al procés diagnòstic com un estadi més de la patologia. Tanmateix, aquests criteris es troben en revisió i, de moment sols son aplicables en l’àmbit de recerca per tal d’arribar a un consens definitiu que permeti la modificació definitiva dels criteris clínics universals a aplicar. En aquest article es presenten els principals avenços en la investigació referents a la malaltia d’Alzheimer i al Deteriorament Cognitiu lleu per tal d’emmarcar els nous criteris de recerca.

Multimodal Strategies in Development.Predictive Value of early simultaneosgesture-speech comination

The present study investigates the predictive value of the early appearance of simultaneous pointing-speech combinations. An experimental task was used to obtain a communicative productive sample from nineteen children at 1;0 and 1;3. Infant’s communicative productions, in combination with gaze joint engagement patterns, were analyzed in relation to different social conditions. The results show a significant effect of age and social condition on infants’ communicative productions. Gesture-speech combinations seem to work as a strong communicative resource to attract the adult’s attention in social demanding communicative contexts. Gaze joint engagement was used in combination with simultaneous pointing-speech combinations to attract adults’ attention during social demanding conditions. Finally, the use of simultaneous pointing-speech combinations at 1;0 in demanding conditions predicted greater expressive vocabulary acquisition at 1;3 and 1;6. These results indicate that the use of gesture-speech combinations may be considered a significant step towards the early integration of language components.

Anàlisi del doblatge al castellà de la sèrie Polseres Vermelles

Aquest treball presenta una anàlisi d’aspectes sempre problemàtics en traducció, i encara més en doblatge, mitjançant exemples extrets de traduccions reals del primer i segon capítols de la sèrie catalana Polseres Vermelles. Aquests aspectes són: el llenguatge col•loquial, l’humor, la intertextualitat, els referents culturals i l’expressió d’estats d’ànim.

Jóvenes y prácticas comunicativas: más allá de los datos estadísticos

La forma en que adolescentes y jóvenes utilizan las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación es diferente a la de la población adulta. Las prácticas son más intensivas y extensivas entre l@s más jóvenes, tal y como muestran las estadísticas disponibles. Este resultado, ampliamente conocido, nos lleva a preguntarnos ¿qué implicaciones tienen estas prácticas comunicativas de las generaciones más jóvenes?Tomando como punto de partida algunos estudios que analizan la situación, tanto en España como en otros países, revisaremos los cambios que ya se están produciendo en ámbitos que van desde el aprendizaje a la socialización. Revisaremos, asimismo, algunas propuestas que intentan dar una explicación teórica global de las prácticas y las actitudes comunicativas de jóvenes y adolescentes. En el análisis tendremos en cuenta el creciente proceso de individualización de nuestras sociedades y la presencia habitual de comunidades de práctica permanentemente conectadas que caracterizan a estas generaciones.