What affects recognition most – wrong wordstress or wrong word accent?

In an attempt to find out which of the two Swedish prosodic contrasts of 1) wordstress pattern and 2) tonal word accent category has the greatest communicative weight, a lexical decision experiment was conducted: in one part word stress pattern was changed from trochaic to iambic, and in the other part trochaic accentII words were changed to accent I.Native Swedish listeners were asked to decide whether the distorted words werereal words or ‘non-words’. A clear tendency is that listeners preferred to give more‘non-word’ responses when the stress pattern was shifted, compared to when wordaccent category was shifted. This could have implications for priority of phonological features when teaching Swedish as a second language.

Agustina Bessa-Luís ou une poétique du féminin : (Agustina Bessa-Luís or a female poetics)

The aim of this work is to analyse some of the main elements that constitute the originality and singularity of the literary production of the Portuguese writer Agustina Bessa-Luís, in order to reveal it's connection with an « écriture-femme ». The analyse of some historiographical metafictions which, by defenition, have a close link with canonic historical texts, allows us to understand that her narratives tend to a certain form of unreading of those texts, creating other texts and images of the past, inherent to the construction of a "Herstory". This characteristic writing in Agustina Bessa-Luís narratives reveals a female poetics expressing the recognition of female experience and gives also back History, and Literature, to women.

Enhancing Intercultural Communication in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language : An Action Research Study

Enhancing Intercultural Communication in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language – An Action Research Study Over the past few decades, the rapid development of information communication technology, internationalization and globalization worldwide have required a shift in the focus of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) towards competence in intercultural communication in which the role of culture in the acquisition of CFL and in the pragmatic use of the language is emphasized and promoted. However, most of the current research in this academic area remains only on a theoretical level. Practical examples, particularly with regard to distance learning/teaching of the Chinese language, are very limited. This motivated the implementation of an action research study which aimed at exploring the possibilities and limitations of integrating Chinese culture and applying intercultural communication theory into a contemporary distance CFL course for beginners. By observing and comparing the performance of subjects in the control and experimental groups, this action research study focuses on exploring three basic areas. Firstly, it discloses the cultural elements which underlie effective daily communication. Secondly, it investigates how students acquire cultural knowledge and develop their ability to competently communicate in the target course. And thirdly, it evaluates how the modified course syllabus could enhance students’ intercultural communicative competence. The findings of the research aim to serve as both a resource and reference for educators and researchers who are interested in carrying out reforms and research in this academic domain.

Actitudes hacia la variedad caló y sus hablantes : Un estudio sociolingüístico de las opiniones de adolescentes andaluces

Caló is a language/variety spoken by the Spanish Calé (i.e. the Roma). The variety belongs to a group oflanguages referred to as “Para-Romani”, characterized by Romani vocabulary, but largely non-Romani morphology, phonology and syntax, in the case of Caló deriving from Spanish. Much research has been carried out regarding the vocabulary and the grammar of this variety.The conclusions drawn in those studies indicate that Caló is on its way to extinction. However, thereis an expressed interest in reintroducing the variety, in a form called “Romanó-Caló”. Language attitudes play a decisive role for the destiny of endangered languages. In order for arevitalization project to be successful, the attitudes towards the variety being reintroduced have to bepositive. The aim of this study is to measure the attitudes that both Calé and non-Calé have towards Calóand Caló speakers, a type of study never carried out in the past. The methods applied are both direct andindirect. In part one, 231 informants listened to different recordings of voices acting as either a “Spanishspeaking person” or a “Caló speaking person”, a technique referred to as ‘matched guise’. Firstly,the informants were asked to write down their first three impressions of the speakers. Secondly, nineshort questions related to the voices were asked, to which the subjects expressed their answers on attitudescales. They were also asked to match the voices with photos of people. Furthermore, theinformants have answered questions regarding what variety is spoken at home, as well as if he or she hasany knowledge of, or contact with, any language/variety, apart from Spanish. 182 informants continuedwith part two of the questionnaire, which consisted of 20 items – positive and negative statementstowards Caló and Caló speakers. The informants have rated their agreement or disagreement to thesestatements on a Likert scale. Another exercise measured the willingness of the informants to use Calówords for naming various objects. In addition, the subjects were tested on their knowledge of some Calówords, as well as asked whether they thought it was “useful” to know how to speak Caló. Variousstatistical methods have been used in order to establish whether or not the results are statisticallysignificant. The results of the analysis indicate that the attitudes differ towards Caló and Calóspeakers, depending on the informant’s (a) ethnicity (b) contact with Caló as well as with Calóspeakers, and (c) gender. It is those who – in their own opinion – belong to the ethnic group Calé, as wellas those who claim that they have some contact with the variety and its speakers, who show positiveattitudes in both parts of the study. The women also show more positive attitudes than the men. It is alsopossible to note positive attitudes towards the variety and its speakers among the subjects with a highlevel of knowledge of Caló words, as well as among those with the highest willingness to use Caló. These observations suggest that a revitalization project of the variety Caló has a clear chance ofbeing successful.

"Pegar primero: he ahí la ley" : Estereotipos de género en una obra de Oscar Castro

En el siguiente estudio se analiza la novela La vida simplemente del escritor chileno Oscar Castro publicada póstumamente en 1951. El fin de nuestra investigación es estudiar la existencia de estereotipos de género en la obra y cómo estos se reproducen o bien son desafiados en la novela. La interpretación hecha se basa principalmente en la teoría de las dicotomías (Hirdman, 2001), la cual pone énfasis en las cualidades que, históricamente, se le han atribuido a los respectivos géneros. Aplicamos un análisis crítico de texto para identificar cómo el lenguaje usado por el escritor contribuye a reproducirlos o los desafía. Para limitar nuestro trabajo hemos decidido concentrarnos en tres personajes de la obra: Berta, Roberto y la madre de Roberto. El resultado muestra que la obra de Castro tiende a contribuir a la reproducción y el mantenimiento de los estereotipos de género típicos de las dicotomías de las cuales problematiza Hirdman a excepción del personaje femenino representado por la madre de Roberto que los desafía en cierta forma.

La Reina de las Nieves. La moral y el inconsciente : Leonardo Villalba según Sigmund Freud y Carl Jung

Esta tesina trata sobre la moral y el inconsciente a partir del análisis del personaje Leonardo Villalba de la novela La Reina de las Nieves, escrita por Carmen Martín Gaite. El estudio se hace a partir de las siguientes teorías: inconsciente de Sigmund Freud; ello, yo y superyó de Sigmund Freud; inconsciente de Carl Jung. La información almacenada en el inconsciente de una persona es algo que ésta no puede contar ya que ella misma no sabe que tiene tal información. Así, al ser Leonardo narrador-protagonista en gran parte de la obra, se supone que éste sólo puede transmitir la información de la que él mismo es consciente. No obstante, Martín Gaite consigue que Leonardo transmita información que él parece desconocer, a través de su inconsciente reflejado en sueños y reflexiones que explican ideas abstractas. Esto será demostrado en el apartado de análisis. La complejidad del personaje hace que la novela no sea una simple narración de hechos, sino que parte importante de ella sean sueños, la imaginación de Leonardo, preguntas existenciales que él mismo se hace, o recuerdos de su infancia o adolescencia que son de una importancia trascendental. La Reina de las Nieves es en gran parte una reflexión sobre la moral que, unida al inconsciente, son las bases de la novela.

A catástrofe pós-colonial: ler António Lobo Antunes «à rebours»

Le roman As Naus (Le retour des Caravelles) d’António Lobo Antunes propose une révision du passé historique portugais, en offrant une relecture de la Révolution du 25 avril 1974 comme événement traumatique et catastrophique. En effet, sur fond de guerre et de décolonisation africaine, l’auteur nous transmet une vision dysphorique du contexte révolutionnaire portugais, ceci en adoptant le point de vue des « retornados », ex-colons fuyant l’Afrique, revenant vers la mère Patrie : le Portugal. Nous assistons ainsi à une « navigation à contre-courant », celle où les « héros de jadis », relégués aux marges de la société portugaise, se transforment en personnages nomadiques et « border-line ». Dans ces conditions, l’espace des marges représente « l’envers du décor » de la société portugaise, un monde sens dessus dessous, où règnent la sauvagerie et l’abjection. C’est à travers ces motifs apocalyptiques que l’auteur touche à l’un des fondements de l’identité portugaise, à savoir, celle d’une grande Nation au centre d’un Empire.

Abilities and Cultural Understanding through Literature in the EFL Classroom : - A Literature Review

The English language can be seen as a lingua franca of contemporary times. Its spread and use in the globalized world has affected most levels of society and it can be argued that, in current times, English is synonymous with communication. This need for communication has shaped the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) syllabus, which is evident in the Swedish national steering documents for the educational system. For the upper secondary school these documents show an emphasis on communication, on cultural understanding, and also on the use of literature within the EFL classroom. The need to possess communicative abilities and cultural understanding, in connection with the use of literature, has sparked an interest to investigate if and how literature itself can be used as a tool to develop and improve EFL students’ communicative skills and cultural understanding. This literature review thesis analyzes five international research articles from different geographical parts of the Globe. The findings are categorized, compared, synthesized, and finally discussed in order to answer the research questions asked, and also compared with the English subject syllabus for the Swedish upper secondary school. The findings indicate that the analyzed articles share a consensus, to a varied degree, regarding the positive aspects of literature use in the EFL setting. The arguments are that communicative skills and cultural understanding are intertwined - enabling each other to exist, develop, and improve. One cannot exist fully without the other, and literature is a good tool to use to develop and improve these abilities. Literature can help develop all skills needed to acquire and produce both written and spoken English, and it also enables cultural understanding and a broadening of the mind. Where the articles differ somewhat is in the ideas of why literature is a good tool, how to implement literature in the classrooms, and what some of the negative aspects might be. The thesis also brings the lack of Swedish studies within EFL to the readers’ attention, as well as the need to do more research focusing on the students’ perspectives towards literature use in the EFL setting.