La enseñanza de las construcciones pasivas e impersonales con "se" en español como L2. ¿Cuántas distinciones son necesarias?

Este artículo sugiere un enfoque nuevo a la enseñanza de las dos estructuras gramaticales la pasiva refleja y el “se” impersonal para las clases universitarias de E/LE. Concretamente, se argumenta que las dos se deberían tratar como construcciones pasivas, basada en un análisis léxico-funcional de ellas que enfoca la lingüística contrastiva. Incluso para la instrucción de E/LE, se recomienda una aproximación contrastiva en la que se enfocan tanto la reflexión metalingüística como la competencia del estudiante en el L2. Específicamente, el uso de córpora lingüísticos en la clase forma una parte integral de la instrucción. El uso de un corpus estimula la curiosidad del estudiante, le expone a material de lengua auténtica, y promulga la reflexión inductiva independiente.

Aproximación al clítico 的 de en chino

Debido a las características intrínsecas de la lengua china, los clíticos juegan un papel imprescindible en la estructura sintáctica del idioma. Sin ellos, las oraciones no llegan a construirse, ya que son estos, entre otros recursos, los que cargan las informaciones gramaticales; es más, cada clítico en chino ocupa un hueco en la gramática, por lo que es difícil remplazarlos sin cambiar el sentido de la oración. De todos los clíticos, la palabra «的» es la que se presenta con mayor frecuencia. Esta palabra, como muchas otras “palabras vacías”, desempeña diversas funciones gramaticales, por lo que constituye un punto de investigación muy interesante en la gramática china. Desde los años 20 del siglo pasado, generaciones de eruditos se han dedicado a su estudio, entre otros, figuran Li Jinxi（黎锦熙), Gao Mingkai（高名凯),Chen Qiongzan（陈琼瓒), Fan Jiyan（范继淹）y Zhu Dexi（朱德熙). Un artículo de este último Sobre “的 (De)” ha provocado una amplia reacción y una profunda influencia en las investigaciones posteriores. A pesar de todo y hasta hoy en día, el uso de esta palabra sigue siendo un escollo tanto para los profesores de chino como para sus alumnos. Las ambigüedades que puede causar y la diferencia semántica y pragmática de su uso y desuso han sido un rompecabezas no sólo para los extranjeros, sino también para los nativos. En este artículo, intentaremos delimitar sus usos y analizar sus valores semánticos y pragmáticos.

Collocations used in DELE B1 reading tests

This paper aims to investigate the use of collocations in DELE B1. We select the reading texts from DELE B1 (2010 to 2014) as research data. The investigation includes: First of all, we will study the theory of collocation and the classification as well as its application to the foreign language learning and teaching. Second, we will analyze the types of collocation annotated by Corpus Tool. Third, we tend to calculate the frequency use of each type of collocations written in Spanish reading texts. Next, we will discuss the interrelationship between collocations and text themes. Finally, we would like to compare the differences of results of collocation use between these two corpus tools: Corpus Tool and Corpus del Español in order to understand the native speakers’ preference of use collocations as well as to provide supplementay materials for teaching of Spanish reading. We hope that the expected results of our research will offer useful references for improving students' Spanish reading comprehension to pass DELE B1 examinations.

Motivating film title translation: a cognitive análisis

This proposal is a non-quantitative study based on a corpus of real data which offers a principled account of the translation strategies employed in the translation of English film titles into Spanish in terms of cognitive modeling. More specifically, we draw on Ruiz de Mendoza and Galera’s (2014) work on what they term content (or low-level) cognitive operations, based on either ‘stands for’ or ‘identity’ relations, in order to investigate possible motivating factors for translations which abide by oblique procedures, i.e. for non-literal renderings of source titles. The present proposal is made in consonance with recent findings within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics (Samaniego 2007), which evidence that this linguistic approach can fruitfully address some relevant issues in Translation Studies, the most outstanding for our purposes being the exploration of the cognitive operations which account for the use of translation strategies (Rojo and Ibarretxe-Antuñano 2013: 10), mainly expansion and reduction operations, parameterization, echoing, mitigation and comparison by contrast. This fits in nicely with a descriptive approach to translation and particularly with skopos theory, whose main aim consists in achieving functionally adequate renderings of source texts.

Correlation between anxiety and academic self-concept in interpreter trainees

This paper focuses on two basic issues: the anxiety-generating nature of the interpreting task and the relevance of interpreter trainees’ academic self-concept. The first has already been acknowledged, although not extensively researched, in several papers, and the second has only been mentioned briefly in interpreting literature. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the anxiety and academic self-concept constructs among interpreter trainees. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), the Academic Autoconcept Scale (Schmidt, Messoulam & Molina, 2008) and a background information questionnaire were used to collect data. Students’ t-Test analysis results indicated that female students reported experiencing significantly higher levels of anxiety than male students. No significant gender difference in self-concept levels was found. Correlation analysis results suggested, on the one hand, that younger would-be interpreters suffered from higher anxiety levels and students with higher marks tended to have lower anxiety levels; and, on the other hand, that younger students had lower self-concept levels and higher-ability students held higher self-concept levels. In addition, the results revealed that students with higher anxiety levels tended to have lower self-concept levels. Based on these findings, recommendations for interpreting pedagogy are discussed.

Digging up the frequency of phrasal verbs in English for the Police: the case of "up"

The present study focuses on the frequency of phrasal verbs with the particle up in the context of crime and police investigative work. This research emerges from the need to enlarge McCarthy and O’Dell’s (2004) scope from purely criminal behavior to police investigative actions. To do so, we relied on a corpus of 504,124 running words made up of spoken dialogues extracted from the script of the American TV series Castle shown on ABC since 2009. Based on Rudzka-Ostyn’s (2003) cognitive motivations for the particle up, we have identified five different meaning extensions for our phrasal verbs. Drawing from these findings, we have designed pedagogical activities for those L2 learners that study English at the Police Academy.

Technical metaphor in Spanish-English translation of the fields of blindness, fatigue, and the spiritual world

The correspondence in the Spanish-English translation is analyzed of three different fields of technical metaphors based upon blindness, fatigue, and the spiritual world. Some terms have been left aside that under the appearance of metaphors were mere samples of no-deviated language or cases of homonymy. The study reveals a higher presence of the metaphor in the Spanish language in the three fields of study, although the English language also shows a high index of metaphors. In between metaphors and non-metaphors, we find a lack of metaphorical equilibrium between Spanish and English in certain cases, which is a sign of the different perception of the reality. Finally, the conclusions shed light on the meaning of these words: blind, annoyance, fatigue, antifading, core, angels, espectrum, phantom, ghost, magic, postmortem, dead, etc.

Motivation and Vocabulary Breadth in CLIL and EFL Contexts. Different age, Same Time of Exposure

Numerous studies have found a positive connection between learners’ motivation towards foreign language and foreign language achievement. The present study examines the role of motivation in receptive vocabulary breadth (size) of two groups of Spanish learners of different ages, but all with 734 hours of instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL): a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) group in primary education and a non-CLIL (or EFL) group in secondary education. Most students in both groups were found to be highly motivated. The primary CLIL group slightly overcame the secondary non-CLIL group with respect to the mean general motivation but this is a non-significant difference. The secondary group surpass significantly the primary group in receptive vocabulary size. No relationship between the receptive vocabulary knowledge and general motivation is found in the primary CLIL group. On the other hand, a positive significant connection, although a very small one, is identified for the secondary non-CLIL group. We will discuss on the type of test, the age of students and the type of instruction as variables that could be influencing the results.

Who is in charge? An L2 Discourse Intonation Study on Four Prosodic Parameters to Exert the Pragmatic Function of Dominance and Control in the Context of L2 Non-specialist Public Speaking

This paper reports the findings from a study of the learning of English intonation by Spanish speakers within the discourse mode of L2 oral presentation. The purpose of this experiment is, firstly, to compare four prosodic parameters before and after an L2 discourse intonation training programme and, secondly, to confirm whether subjects, after the aforementioned L2 discourse intonation training, are able to match the form of these four prosodic parameters to the discourse-pragmatic function of dominance and control. The study designed the instructions and tasks to create the oral and written corpora and Brazil’s Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English was adapted for the pedagogical aims of the present study. The learners’ pre- and post-tasks were acoustically analysed and a pre / post- questionnaire design was applied to interpret the acoustic analysis. Results indicate most of the subjects acquired a wider choice of the four prosodic parameters partly due to the prosodically-annotated transcripts that were developed throughout the L2 discourse intonation course. Conversely, qualitative and quantitative data reveal most subjects failed to match the forms to their appropriate pragmatic functions to express dominance and control in an L2 oral presentation.

Receptive Vocabulary of CLIL and Non-CLIL Primary and Secondary School Learners

CLIL instruction has been reported to be beneficial for foreign language vocabulary learning since CLIL students show higher vocabulary profiles than students of their same age in traditional EFL contexts. However, to our knowledge, the receptive vocabulary knowledge of CLIL and non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary education has not been examined yet. Hence, this study aims at comparing the receptive vocabulary size 79 CLIL primary learners with the receptive vocabulary knowledge of 331 non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary school. Sex-based differences were also analysed. The 2k Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) was used for the purposes of the study. Results revealed that learners’ receptive vocabulary sizes lie within the most frequent 1000 words, non-CLIL secondary school students throw better results than primary students but the differences between the secondary group and the CLIL group are not statistically significant. As for sex-based differences, we found no significant differences among the groups. These findings led us to believe that the CLIL approach offers a benefit for vocabulary acquisition since CLIL learners have been exposed to the foreign language for a shorter period of time and the results are quite similar to their non-CLIL secondary school partners.

Kultur ist mehr als Currywurst Ältere Literatur im Deutschunterricht : Eine Literaturstudie

With regards to the teaching of German in Sweden this literature study looks into the Swedish curriculum and the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) to compare today’s common interpretation of the goals in language learning to the educational goals in the documents. Critics mean that the CEFR and in extension the curricula in the associated countries focus mainly on measurable practical language skills. This leads to impoverishment of the concept of language learning, which should include broad cultural aspects, encourage the students to develop their personalities and curiosity and foster a livelong desire to study. This work will try to show that blaming the CEFR for the kind of lopsided development towards practical, measurable skills in language teaching does not origin in the document or in the national curriculum. It appears to be the interpretation of the documents that oversees some essential requirements, not only for successful language teaching but also for the use of German as a tool for conversation and understanding. The real understanding of a language is, according to the research referred to in this work, connected to the understanding of culture. This literature study will show that reading older literature in language classes will favour the students´ understanding of culture. Furthermore, this work will try to point out other educational benefits besides the gain of cultural knowledge in working with literature. Students learn to argue and gain understanding of their own world by comparing to the new reality they meet in the literature. In addition, students will, with the help of the text, acquire new vocabulary and get an understanding of the structure of the language. In essence the use of literature in teaching German on one hand meets and fulfils the requirements in the curriculum and on the other hand supports the development of language skills and personals skills.

Hechtius 1795/98 - der Gedanke der Transnationalität in der ersten Schrift zur Vergleichenden Erziehungswissenschaft

Der 1795-1798 verfasste Text "De re scholastica Anglica cum Germanica comparata" (Über das englische Schulwesen im Vergleich zum deutschen) des sächsischen Rektors Friedrich August Hecht ist die erste bekannte Schrift zur Vergleichenden Erziehungswissenschaft. Ihre zentrale Materialgrundlage bilden englische und deutsche Schulbücher für Latein- und Gelehrtenschulen. Aus deutschsprachiger Sekundärliteratur übernimmt Hecht darüber hinaus Informationen über schulorganisatorische, curriculare und didaktische Besonderheiten der englischen Public Schools Westminster und Eton, und setzt sie zu den ihm aus eigener Praxis bekannten deutschen (sächsischen) Schulverhältnissen in Beziehung. Der Gedanke der Transnationalität im Bildungsbereich, der sich aktuell etwa im Begriff von transnationalen Bildungsräumen ausdrückt, hat bei Hecht der Sache nach drei Anknüpfungspunkte: die bildungspolitische Wirksamkeit transnationaler Herrscherfamilien, die gemeineuropäische Bedeutung der Gebildeten- und Gelehrtensprache Latein und die nationübergreifende Dimension des humanistischen Bildungskanons. Das alte Europa kannte Nationen und Staaten, aber es kannte noch keine Nationalstaaten. Die Deutschen sind für Hecht noch eine alteuropäische Nation, die Engländer dagegen auf dem Wege zur oder sind schon Staatsnation. Die Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft entsteht mit Hechts Schrift in einer Situation, da die alte transnationale Ordnung der Nationen und Staaten in die neue internationale Ordnung der Nationalstaaten übergeht. (DIPF/Orig.)

A Imagética como estratégia de ensino da Técnica de Dança Clássica com alunos do 3º ano de Dança da Academia de Dança do Vale do Sousa

Relatório Final de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Dança, com vista à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ensino de Dança.

Quelques traits du développement du basque L2 en contexte de revitalisation de la langue à travers l’immersion scolaire

Cette recherche vise à identifier quelques traits du développement du basque L2 dans un contexte de revitalisation de la langue à travers l’immersion scolaire. L’analyse de la restitution orale des contes en basque par un même groupe d’élèves de cinq à huit ans dont la langue première est l’espagnol, constitue l’élément empirique de la présente recherche. Ces élèves habitent dans un entourage hispanophone mais sont scolarisés en basque par immersion. Les données sont comparées avec celles des élèves de basque L1 provenant d’un entourage bascophone. L’analyse de diverses dimensions des contes suggère que la scolarisation en basque L2 à travers l’immersion favorise le développement du basque dans un contexte de revitalisation. En même temps, l’analyse permet d’identifier quelques traits spécifiques du basque L2 et qui sont distincts du basque L1. (DIPF/Orig.)

Futuretalk: one small step towards a Chronolinguistics

In the area of linguistics and language teaching, science fiction is useful in very many ways. An obvious way is that it sets up many complex and rich worlds and outlines the sorts of adjustments that language must make in those contexts. It thus draws a strong link between language and context; it shows how the construction of reality is largely a matter of language; and it speculates on where we are linguistically heading. It is a useful mirror on language development. Extrapolating the dialects of the future has been the province of science fiction in the last century. Though few SF writers are professional linguists, their method in general tends to take a holistic view of form, meaning and social context. Characters in science fiction are not individuals but are 'everyman' tokens, and the language they use symbolises the culture they inhabit. Linguistic extrapolation in science fiction thus treats language both as the technology of communication and as an index of social change. In this paper, I argue that predicting the language of the future, though extremely difficult, is possible. I call this new discipline chronolinguistics, and I set out the draft principles and parameters of a chronolinguistics, based on the future languages speculated by John Brunner, Russell Hoban, William Gibson, Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson and Iain M.Banks.