Spanish-English bilingualism (Languages And Linguistics) Research Papers (original) (raw)

Imagine growing up speaking two different languages, where one is predominantly used at home and the other is used for just about every situation outside of the home. For many bilinguals, they are not only communicating in two languages,... more

Imagine growing up speaking two different languages, where one is predominantly used at home and the other is used for just about every situation outside of the home. For many bilinguals, they are not only communicating in two languages, but also navigating two different cultures. They have one foot in, and at the same time one foot out of each culture. In the heritage Spanish classroom at the university level, students oftentimes lament that they do not fit nicely into either of the two cultures. Their accent or appearance distinguishes them from the typical “American” (from the United States) and yet their grasp of the Spanish languages makes them feel like they are not authentically Colombian, Mexican, etc. Furthermore, issues of racism and discrimination, which are all too common in today’s society, only add to the feelings of linguistic insecurity and lower self-confidence. Throughout this presentation, both the negative and positive imagery associated with heritage Spanish speakers will be explored. These images are based on class discussions, student reflections, and compositions and arise from our exploration of topics such as bilingualism, the importance of terminology (i.e. Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx, among others), and the mixing of Spanish and English. Although the benefits of bilingualism are quick to come to mind when thinking of bilingualism, the negative aspects, such as feeling as if one does not fit it, must also be addressed. Finally, recently incorporated techniques for working to build self-confidence among heritage Spanish speakers in the classroom will be discussed.

Se trata, en resumen, de un libro útil, bien estructurado, claro, abierto a un amplio público, que combina conocimientos y experiencias en diversos campos y que aporta elementos contrastados y seguros al análisis del español de la... more

Se trata, en resumen, de un libro útil, bien estructurado, claro, abierto a un amplio público, que combina conocimientos y experiencias en diversos campos y que aporta elementos contrastados y seguros al análisis del español de la publicidad y de cómo se usa para atraer a la población hispanohablante de los Estados Unidos.

The current study investigates DP-internal adjectives in Spanish/English code-switching (CS). Specifically, we analyze two concomitant phenomena that have been previously investigated; namely, the distributional frequency and placement of... more

The current study investigates DP-internal adjectives in Spanish/English code-switching (CS). Specifically, we analyze two concomitant phenomena that have been previously investigated; namely, the distributional frequency and placement of adjectives in mixed determiner phrases (DPs). A total of 1680 DPs (477 monolingual Spanish and 1203 Spanish/English DPs), extracted from sociolinguistic interviews with 62 consultants from Northern Belize, were quantitatively examined. This paper is the first of its kind to examine adjectives in the innovative Spanish/English CS variety of Northern Belize, an understudied context where bilingual CS has thrived among younger generations. The distributional and statistical analyses revealed that the avoidance of Spanish attributive adjectives and overt gender marking is a distinguishing characteristic of mixed DPs but not monolingual Spanish DPs, a finding that supports Otheguy and Lapidus' (2003) adaptive simplification hypothesis. In terms of adjective placement, both the Matrix Language Frame model and the Minimalist approach to CS were able to account for mixed noun-adjective DPs, with the exception of a few cases that could only be predicted by the former model. The present analysis highlights the pivotal role that simplification and convergence play in code-switchers' optimization of linguistic resources in bi/multilingual discourse.

Multilingualism is often framed as human capital that increases individuals’ labor market value. Such assertions overlook the role of ideology in assigning value to languages and their speakers based on factors other than communicative... more

Multilingualism is often framed as human capital that increases individuals’ labor market value. Such assertions overlook the role of ideology in assigning value to languages and their speakers based on factors other than communicative utility. This article explores the value assigned to Spanish-English bilingualism on the United States labor market through a mixed methods analysis of online job advertisements. Findings suggest that Spanish-English bilingualism is frequently preferred or required for employment in the US, but that such employment opportunities are less lucrative. The results suggest a penalty associated with Spanish-English bilingualism in which positions listing such language requirements advertise lower wages than observationally similar positions. Quantitative disparities and qualitative differences in the specification of language requirements across income levels suggest that bilingual labor is assigned value through a racial lens that leads to linguistic work undertaken by and for US Latinxs being assigned less value

In this paper we investigate the effect that parents’ language use (English, Spanish-English or Spanish) had on self-perceived proficiency, frequency of use, language anxiety, code-switching and cultural orientation of 206 Spanish-English... more

In this paper we investigate the effect that parents’ language use (English, Spanish-English or Spanish) had on self-perceived proficiency, frequency of use, language anxiety, code-switching and cultural orientation of 206 Spanish-English bilinguals and multilinguals who were students in Texas where there is a strong presence of Spanish, the minority language. Our results showed that languages that parents had used with their children had a privileged status: bilinguals and multilinguals reported higher levels of proficiency, more frequent use, less anxiety (except for English) and a stronger cultural orientation. The effect was strongest for parents with Spanish-speaking parents. The scores of the simultaneous bilinguals were generally situated between the scores of the sequential Spanish-English and English-Spanish bilinguals from monolingual families. We conclude that relatively more or less use of a particular language in a family home will lead to significant differences in the grown-up children’s future language use and cultural orientation.

Hispania, Volume 100, Number 4, December 2017, pp. 698-699 (Review) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: For additional information about this article Access provided by The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and... more

Hispania, Volume 100, Number 4, December 2017, pp. 698-699 (Review)
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press
DOI:
For additional information about this article
Access provided by The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (9 Jan 2018 19:38 GMT)
https://doi.org/10.1353/hpn.2017.0118
https://muse.

"Pasen y lean. El mundo de la lengua española es un universo apasionante. Se presenta en más de una docena de variantes geográficas, ofrece espacio a multitud de idiomas, se reparte por toda la Tierra, forma el bloque continuo de la misma... more

"Pasen y lean. El mundo de la lengua española es un universo apasionante. Se presenta en más de una docena de variantes geográficas, ofrece espacio a multitud de idiomas, se reparte por toda la Tierra, forma el bloque continuo de la misma lengua mayor del mundo. En estas circunstancias, se presta a interpretaciones, preferencias y discusiones de todas clases. Algunas de ellas son propias de los estudiosos, de los lingüistas, otras forman parte de la vida cotidiana de cuatrocientos millones de hablantes nativos y de otros cien millones que lo tienen como segunda lengua.
A esos hablantes cotidianos del español dedican un lingüista y un sociólogo este libro. Un libro para el público que vive la lengua cada día, que ajusta a ella su vida, que ve cómo se le abren o se le cierran espacios y quiere entender el porqué. Es un libro para todos los lectores.
Francisco Marcos-Marín es Professor of Linguistics de la University of Texas at San Antonio. Amando de Miguel es Catedrático emérito de Sociología de la Universidad Complutense. Un semestre de convivencia en Tejas los llevó a escribir este texto como una escritura interlineal, inseparable."

Introduction The origins of research on race and language can be traced back to early studies during the US civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to legitimize the linguistic variety of African American English. By... more

Introduction
The origins of research on race and language can be traced back to early studies during the US civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to legitimize the linguistic variety of African American English. By the 1990s, influenced by the more well-established subfield of language and gender (and arising alongside research on language and sexuality), scholars of race and language demonstrated a growing interest in identity construction (particularly among youth) and the study of language ideology. Scholarship within this new area expanded to include the study of racialized groups other than African Americans, as well as contexts beyond the United States, rejecting the idea that language practices merely “reflect” already well bounded racial groups or well-defined racial identities. More current work that takes up this approach seeks to identify and explain the process of racialization through which ideologies are invoked to attach racial meaning to groups, individual speakers, and languages. These studies also explore how speakers embrace linguistic features to situate themselves within local, national, and global racial hierarchies. As one example of this shift, earlier work on African American English began by comparing this stigmatized variety to the “standard” mainstream English associated with white speakers—sketching out phonological rules and morphosyntactic “differences” that were associated with quintessential black speakers (most often young urban African American men). More recent research asks questions that trouble this direct connection, investigating how African American women, African migrants, Asian Americans, white suburban youth, and even the white mainstream media take up these features to engage in a range of social goals, from marking racial solidarity with African Americans to reifying stereotypes about blackness. Based on ethnographic research with speakers, linguistic anthropologists also ask how migrants disrupt presumed connections between race, language, and national belonging; how latinas/os creatively mix Spanish and English in defiance of EnglishOnly monolingualism; and how indigenous people respond to situations of linguistic shift and language loss caused by a long history of racial oppression and subordination. Researchers pay careful attention to when race is discussed, indexed, or carefully avoided in sociopolitical contexts ranging from classrooms and schools, to courtrooms, popular culture and the media, and in everyday interactions. Well attuned to the production of ideology and social hierarchy, linguistic anthropologists explore explicit and implicit comparisons to the imagined ideals of whiteness on which the concept of race depends. Together, this body of research suggests that an awareness of linguistic difference is crucial to our understanding of race, racism, and the construction of racial difference.

A language is considered as a sexist language if it conveys attitudes that stereotype a person according to gender rather than judging on individual merits. Feminists believe that English language is a sexist language because it involves... more

A language is considered as a sexist language if it conveys attitudes that stereotype a person according to gender rather than judging on individual merits. Feminists believe that English language is a sexist language because it involves negative attitudes towards women and maintains social inequalities between men and women. There are many English metaphors used to describe women in disagreeable manner, but this is rarely a case with men. Animal, food and villainous imageries are highly used to refer to women, such as: bitch, chick,-sugar, honey, tomato,-witch and so on. Animal imageries compare women with helpless creatures, food imageries with items used for sustenance and pleasure, and villainous imageries with evil creatures. More or less, in every society, women are believed to be weak and subordinate to men who are considered to be masculine. Even by linguistic items, men are presented as the head of societies. English morphology generally takes the male form as the base form, and adds suffix to construct the female form, for example: lion-lioness, tiger-tigress, actor-actress, etc. Suffix 'ess' carries connotations of lack of seriousness. By using the words 'he' and 'man' as generic forms, women are kept invisible and undermined. My first language is Bengali, so it was a question as to whether my language is also a sexist one. Sexism is also a usual feature of Bengali language, and even a careless observation on daily language can help identify the presence of sexism in Bengali. Women are sometimes referred by the following villainous imageries: Rakkhoshi (রাক্ষসী) = female monster; daini (ডাইনী) = witch. Even in terms of morphology, male form appears to be the base form in Bengali language, such as: chakor-chakrani (চাকর-চাকরানী) = servant-maidservant, shingho-shinghi (সসিংহ-সসিংহী) = lion-lioness, etc. Even names of Bengali children follow sexism; a male child is never named Nodi (নদী) = river and a female child is never named Shagor (সাগর) = sea. Even by means of names, men are presented as a strong figure and women as the subordinate figures who possess lesser strength comparing to their opposite gender. From the above discussion, it is obvious that both Bengali and English are sexist languages; delve into your language to discover sexism in your language.

Este trabajo está dedicado al análisis linguo-estilístico del cuento "La Gloria de los Feos" de la autora contemporanea Rosa Montero. El objetivo principal de este análisis es mostrar como diferentes recursos estilísticos ayudan a... more

Este trabajo está dedicado al análisis linguo-estilístico del cuento "La Gloria de los Feos" de la autora contemporanea Rosa Montero. El objetivo principal de este análisis es mostrar como diferentes recursos estilísticos ayudan a desarrollar el tema y transmitir el mensaje del cuento.

Este presente trabajo pone énfasis en el diseño de cursos de lenguas basados en tareas respecto a la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera (LE) o segunda lengua (L2). Se hace mención respecto de los orígenes del Enfoque por Tareas... more

Este presente trabajo pone énfasis en el diseño de cursos de lenguas basados en tareas respecto a la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera (LE) o segunda lengua (L2). Se hace mención respecto de los orígenes del Enfoque por Tareas (Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de Lenguas Mediante Tareas) y su necesidad para que los aprendices logren la competencia comunicativa y lingüística en la lengua que están aprendiendo. Se discute sobre la justificación para un plan de estudios y cursos basados en tareas y las razones por las cuales se prefiere un plan de estudios basado en tareas en vez de un plan de estudios lingüístico. Se discute también sobre la clasificación de tareas, el contenido temático y la secuenciación de tareas, los cuales son los tres aspectos centrales en función del diseño de cursos y planes de estudios basados en tareas. En este trabajo se hace hincapié en que el Enfoque por Tareas es el más propicio para la adquisición de una L2.

El léxico del campo semántico del hogar puede resultar muy sencillo y cercano. Sin embargo, para los hablantes bilingües no siempre es el caso. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar los conocimientos sobre el léxico del ámbito doméstico,... more

El léxico del campo semántico del hogar puede resultar muy sencillo y cercano. Sin embargo, para los hablantes bilingües no siempre es el caso. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar los conocimientos sobre el léxico del ámbito doméstico, tanto en inglés como en español, de un grupo de personas bilingües en estas dos lenguas. El análisis se ha llevado a cabo mediante un cuestionario compuesto por preguntas que ponen a prueba los conocimientos de los participantes. Posteriormente, se han agrupado a los hablantes bilingües según las distintas situaciones que han provocado su bilingüismo, con el fin de establecer relaciones entre dicha situación y sus competencias lingüísticas. Finalmente, a partir de los datos obtenidos y la bibliografía consultada, se realiza una reflexión general sobre el concepto de bilingüismo.
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English:
“Spanish-English bilingualism: analysis of bilingual speakers and their command of household lexicon”
Lexicon in the semantic field of the household can appear extremely easy and familiar. However, for bilingual speakers this is not always the case. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge of a group of bilingual people in terms of household lexicon in both English and Spanish. The study has been conducted through a questionnaire comprised of questions which test the knowledge of the participants. Subsequently, the bilingual speakers were grouped according to the different situations which caused their bilingualism, with a view to establish links between said situation and their language skills. Lastly, based on the data obtained and the consulted bibliography, the general concept of bilingualism is discussed.

Although research often acknowledges the importance of engaging students’ home language and culture to bridge to academic literacies in English, few have explicitly examined bilingual peers as a resource for language learning. This study... more

Although research often acknowledges the importance of engaging students’ home language and culture to bridge to academic literacies in English, few have explicitly examined bilingual peers as a resource for language learning. This study explores how adolescent immigrant students engaged multiple linguistic codes for language and content learning in urban US high schools. Discourse analysis of peer interactions describes the linguistic resources available to Spanish-speaking adolescent immigrant students through their peers, and shows that emergent bilingual youth used academic language in both Spanish and English most frequently – and in more elaborated interactions – while off-task or in less supervised spaces. Classroom discourse structures often limited student participation, particularly when students utilized non-standard linguistic codes. This study addresses the widespread lack of understanding of supportive peer language use among linguistic minority students and has strong implications for school policy and practice of the additive teaching of academic language.

The role of English in shaping US Spanish is widely debated. Evidence for English influence has been found in New York where greater familiarity with English correlates with changes in subject pronoun use (Otheguy & Zentella 2012). The... more

The role of English in shaping US Spanish is widely debated. Evidence for English influence has been found in New York where greater familiarity with English correlates with changes in subject pronoun use (Otheguy & Zentella 2012). The present study further examines the impact of English by studying divergent contexts, where pronoun omission is common in Spanish, but not English, as well as convergent contexts, in which omission is common in both Spanish and English (imperatives, e.g. Ø sit down, and coordinate clauses maintaining reference, e.g. we came in and Ø sat down). Analyses of over 25,000 verbs in the speech of two generations of Latinos in New York indicate that English acts not only as a promoter of pronoun use in Spanish, but also as an inhibitor of pronoun use in contexts where both languages tend to omit pronouns.

This ethnographic investigation of the vowel system of Mexican Americans in Southwest Michigan addresses several holes in the literature, including the lack of research on Mexican Americans outside in the American South and the... more

This ethnographic investigation of the vowel system of Mexican Americans in Southwest Michigan addresses several holes in the literature, including the lack of research on Mexican Americans outside in the American South and the interaction of their dialect with regional variation. Sociolinguistics has a long tradition of exploring both the language use of political minorities and the regional variation of those who considered among the mainstream population, but it often ignores interaction between the two. This work addresses such interaction among Mexican Americans in Benton Harbor, Michigan, a town which is 95% African American, in terms of both their production and their perception of vowels. This population, composed mostly of former migrant workers, is only beginning to form a community, but linguistic patterns similar to Roeder’s (2006) study of an established community of Mexican Americans in Lansing, Michigan, are already emerging. Contrary to Labov’s (1994) claims that groups like Latinos do not participate in regional variation, the vocalic patterns of Mexican Americans in Benton Harbor and Lansing demonstrate accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift (NCS), a regional change found among whites in the Inland North. This work also addresses claims about substrate Spanish effects in the vowel system, showing several of the claims about confusion patterns might be overstated. Finally, it addresses the social situation that is conditioning the developing dialect, addressing racial tensions and patterns of movement that might contribute to these speakers’ partial adoption of the NCS as opposed to other available local norms.

Resumen Existen pocos estudios en torno a las características dialectológicas del español tijuanense. Recientemente se han hecho algunas investigaciones en torno al contacto lingüístico entre el inglés y el español en Tijuana, centrada en... more

Resumen Existen pocos estudios en torno a las características dialectológicas del español tijuanense. Recientemente se han hecho algunas investigaciones en torno al contacto lingüístico entre el inglés y el español en Tijuana, centrada en el cambio de código. Este pequeño estudio busca, en primer lugar, indagar la prevalencia de uso de 22 formas lexicalizadas del inglés presentes en el español tijuanense, con el objetivo de identificar aquellos préstamos de uso generalizado en contraste con los de uso esporádico, en un grupo de 16 habitantes nativos de Tijuana. Los datos fueron recopilados a través de la producción semi-espontánea de elementos léxicos, para lo cual se les mostró a los participantes una serie de fotografías, y posteriormente se les pidió que llenaran un cuestionario señalando contextos de uso. Y en segundo lugar, comparar las actitudes lingüísticas de los entrevistados en torno a los préstamos léxicos del inglés en el español tijuanense, en contraste con sus usos durante la entrevista. Palabras clave: dialecto tijuanense, préstamos léxicos, español fronterizo. Abstract Few studies have been carried out regarding the characteristics of the Tijuana Spanish dialect. Though recent research has focused on Spanish-English language contact in Tijuana, these studies have centered on examining code-switching phenomena. This small study examines the usage of 22 English loanwords in the Spanish of 16 Tijuana natives, in order to identify which of these loanwords have been generalized among this population, and which are used more sporadically. Data were collected via a test that elicited participant's semi-spontaneous utterances of the lexical items by showing them a series of photographs in which they were asked to name the objects they saw; afterwards, participants filled out a questionnaire in order to examine the context usage of these words. The second goal of this paper is to compare participants' language attitudes towards the usage of English loanwords in order to contrast their own loan word usage with their attitudes towards their language.

Al introducir profundos cambios en los modos de vivir y comunicar, la era digital impone también profundos cambios en los conceptos de lector, lectura y audiencia, a la vez que plantea la redefinición de los procesos de lectoescritura y... more

Al introducir profundos cambios en los modos de vivir y comunicar, la era digital impone también profundos cambios en los conceptos de lector, lectura y audiencia, a la vez que plantea la redefinición de los procesos de lectoescritura y el desdibujamiento de los límites del discurso oral y escrito. La autora de la nota sostiene que el plan
de estudios de los traductorados deberá contemplar la inclusión de contenidos de alfabetización digital de manera transversal.

Academic vocabulary knowledge predicts students' academic achievement across educational levels. English academic vocabulary knowledge is especially valuable because English is used in academia worldwide. Therefore, examining the factors... more

Academic vocabulary knowledge predicts students' academic achievement across educational levels. English academic vocabulary knowledge is especially valuable because English is used in academia worldwide. Therefore, examining the factors that can predict English academic vocabulary knowledge can inform pedagogy, thus indirectly boosting students' chances of academic success around the world. This study examines the extent to which cognateness, word frequency and length predict the ability of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners who have Spanish as their first language (L1) to recognise written English academic words. 38 Spanish L1 university students' recognition knowledge of English cognates was measured via a Yes/No test containing words sampled from the most frequent 1,000 lemmas of the Academic Vocabulary List (Gardner and Davies 2014). 34 participants' data were retained in the final analysis, a multiple regression with item facility (IF) as the outcome variable and word frequency, cognateness and word length as predictors. Most of the IF variance is explained by word frequency, followed by cognateness and finally a frequency by cognateness interaction whereby word frequency is more predic-tive of IF for non-cognates than cognates. These findings indicate that academic cognate-word awareness raising activities can be worthwhile. Implications for research and pedagogy are discussed.

Impersonal constructions (ImCs) may be defined as non canonical constructions with non canonical subjects. They deviate from the typical ‘who-does-what’ pattern, introducing significant shades of meaning. This is indeed interesting for... more

Impersonal constructions (ImCs) may be defined as non canonical constructions with non canonical subjects. They deviate from the typical ‘who-does-what’ pattern, introducing significant shades of meaning. This is indeed interesting for interpreters, who seek to communicate as much as reasonably possible, beyond verbal content. The aim of this study is to observe the decisions made by English into Spanish simultaneous interpreters when dealing with ImCs (passive, pronominal and existential constructions). To this end, an experiment was set up and data was analysed in terms of the product and the processes that could be inferred from interpreter output. The samples were assessed, in contrastive manner, as to the relationship between form correspondence (major syntactic constituents) and naturalness of expression. Given the small number of samples, findings are only suggestive and further research is needed. However, interesting results were obtained. In the simultaneous interpreting (SI) of these ImCs into Spanish, the way information is processed seems to alternate between form-based and meaning based interpreting. Most idiomatic renditions of passive ImCs were (relatively) distanced from SL syntax, and seemed to require extra processing capacity. By contrast, pronominal and existential constructions evidenced a high percentage of idiomatic translations with traces of source language (SL) form; this suggests that SL syntax may have acted as an aid to the interpreting process.

El siguiente trabajo fin de master tiene como objetivo la traducción y el análisis de la serie española completa titulada Ajuste de cuentas estrenada en el 2016 y nunca traducida a otro idioma hasta el momento. Para ello esta... more

El siguiente trabajo fin de master tiene como objetivo la traducción y el análisis de la serie española completa titulada Ajuste de cuentas estrenada en el 2016 y nunca traducida a otro idioma hasta el momento.
Para ello esta investigación sobre un género poco tratado y estudiado, el drama
criminal, se ha dividido en siete partes, véase, la introducción donde se introducirá el
tema, el marco teórico, donde se explicaran a su vez varios puntos a tener en cuenta
como la situación actual de la traducción audiovisual y el género del drama criminal, la
metodología donde se expondrá el proceso llevado a cabo para la realización de dicha
investigación que nos llevará al análisis y la discusión de todo lo hallado y traducido.
Finalmente, la conclusión afianzará el trabajo recalcando los puntos más importantes y
abriendo líneas de futura investigación. Como cierre del trabajo se encuentran las
referencias usadas (libros, artículos y links entre varios otros) y, adjunto, un CD con
todos los capítulos de la serie así como el manuscrito original en español

For children from immigrant families, opportunities to develop additive bilingualism exist, yet bilingual attainment has varied widely. Given the significance of language development opportunities in home settings, this study examines the... more

For children from immigrant families, opportunities to develop additive bilingualism exist, yet bilingual attainment has varied widely. Given the significance of language development opportunities in home settings, this study examines the home language use of 20 second-generation children (ages 6-8) of Mexican and Korean descent in the United States. Using a language function framework, we provide a descriptive analysis of the communicative functions performed by these children and how their proficiency level, the interlocutors, and their home settings may influence their language use. Data include English and heritage language proficiency assessments, interviews with children and their mothers, and multiple video recordings of home interactions. Findings show little variation in the kinds of language functions performed by these children who mainly used language to convey or seek factual information, unless they were involved in imaginary play. Moreover, children found creative ways to communicate different linguistic functions as needed, even among those with limited proficiency. Interestingly, the Mexican American children had a greater tendency to use more heritage language in the home than the Korean American children, who used more English. The children rarely engaged in intersentential code-switching. Implications for educators, parents, and researchers are discussed.

El presente artículo propone proveer un modelo metodológico mixto para el desarrollo e implementación de un Módulo de Enseñanza para el español como lengua extranjera en la modalidad presencial. El objetivo principal es evidenciar cómo... more

El presente artículo propone proveer un modelo metodológico mixto para el desarrollo e implementación de un Módulo de Enseñanza para el español como lengua extranjera en la modalidad presencial. El objetivo principal es evidenciar cómo los principios metodológicos provenientes de los enfoques didácticos (“enfoque por tareas” y “aprendizaje cooperativo”) pueden ser aplicados de manera efectiva en el diseño de
contextos presenciales. Para ello, se explora evidencia empírica acerca de la efectividad de la metodología mixta en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de español como lengua extranjera
en dichos ambientes, en un estudio basado en un diseño experimental longitudinal con pre-test y post-test, sin grupo control. Los hallazgos les proporcionarán guías de orientación efectiva a investigadores, educadores y profesores de lenguas en función del desarrollo de unidades de trabajo y módulos para el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras.
Los resultados muestran un incremento en el aprendizaje de determinados conocimientos en español como LE y por tanto, mejorando la competencia lingüística y comunicativa de los sujetos. Se propone, entonces, que en el diseño de módulos de enseñanza para el aprendizaje de lenguas se integren e implementen modelos metodológicos mixtos por cuanto son los más propicios para el aprendizaje de LE/L2.

Let us suppose that you are a research linguist, tormented by some doubts and questions about the state of your profession, and not constrained by having to repeat a catechism of "known truths" to Linguistics 101 students, and not worried... more

Let us suppose that you are a research linguist, tormented by some doubts and questions about the state of your profession, and not constrained by having to repeat a catechism of "known truths" to Linguistics 101 students, and not worried about employment tenure. How would you actually go about tackling "the central problem of linguistics", namely how we acquire and maintain knowledge of the probability of systemic relationships in a language?

Gustavo Pérez Firmat constituye uno de los representantes fundamentales de la literatura "cubanoamericana" y de la llamada "Generación 1.5", la de aquellas personas nacidas en un país pero llevadas de pequeñas a otro muy distinto desde el... more

Gustavo Pérez Firmat constituye uno de los representantes fundamentales de la literatura "cubanoamericana" y de la llamada "Generación 1.5", la de aquellas personas nacidas en un país pero llevadas de pequeñas a otro muy distinto desde el punto de vista lingüístico y cultural. En su obra, que conforman sobre todo diversos poemarios y ensayos, aparte de estudios académicos, el exilio se dibuja como el aspecto nuclear. Esa condición lleva a una identidad partida, en vilo, sin acomodo posible en los Estados Unidos ni vuelta atrás a Cuba. En nuestro trabajo argumentamos que la poética del desarraigo que define al autor está muy ligada a las vivencias y a las sensaciones físicas en torno al español (lengua de la patria) y al inglés (lengua del país de destino); dos idiomas difíciles de acoplar, que mantienen en Pérez Firmat una relación conflictiva, contradictoria y enfrentada, pero que no puede desembocar en la erradicación de ninguno de ellos. A fin de cuentas, el español es su lengua más suya y el inglés es la necesaria traducción que lo complementa y lo liga a su entorno cotidiano.

This study examines the role of social class and gender in an ongoing change in Spanish spoken in New York City (NYC). The change, which has to do with increasing use of Spanish subject pronouns, is correlated with increased exposure to... more

This study examines the role of social class and gender in an ongoing change in Spanish spoken in New York City (NYC). The change, which has to do with increasing use of Spanish subject pronouns, is correlated with increased exposure to life in NYC and to English. Our investigation of six different national origin groups shows a connection between affluence and change: the most affluent Latino groups undergo the most increase in pronoun use, while the least affluent undergo no change. This pattern is explained as further indication that resistance to linguistic change is more pronounced in poorer communities as a result of denser social networks. In addition we find a women effect: immigrant women lead men in the increasing use of pronouns. We argue that the women effect in bilingual settings warrants a reevaluation of existing explanations of women as leaders of linguistic change.* Keywords: Language change, social class, gender, bilingualism, Spanish in the U.S., pronouns settings? In this paper we examine an ongoing change in the Spanish spoken in New York City (NYC), and find evidence that this change occurs most rapidly among the more affluent Latino communities and among women.

In previous research, there has been an emphasis on differentiating and distancing translanguaging from codeswitching, partly on the basis that the latter refers to the combination of two discrete systems that correspond to named... more

In previous research, there has been an emphasis on differentiating and distancing translanguaging from codeswitching, partly on the basis that the latter refers to the combination of two discrete systems that correspond to named languages. While this is the mainstream view, there are codeswitching scholars who have proposed alternative views that align with some of the same observations and criticisms that have been raised by proponents of translanguaging. In this conceptual paper, I provide an overview of translanguaging alongside opposing views of codeswitching, and I underscore important similarities that have thus far been absent from present discussions regarding translanguaging versus codeswitching. Drawing on data from the understudied Spanish/English codeswitching variety spoken in Northern Belize, I discuss how bilingual compound verbs lend support to alternative views of codeswitching. Despite clear differences in their empirical goals, research conducted by both codeswitching and translanguaging scholars compels us to reexamine fundamental notions about language and linguistic competence. This reevaluation will not only contribute to theoretical advancement, but it will further elucidate our understanding of the complexity and dynamicity that characterizes bi/multilingual speech production and processing.

This qualitative study examined code-switching patterns in the writing-related talk of 6 emergent Spanish-English bilingual first-grade children. Audio recordings, field notes, and writing artifacts documenting participant activities and... more

This qualitative study examined code-switching patterns in the writing-related talk of 6 emergent Spanish-English bilingual first-grade children. Audio recordings, field notes, and writing artifacts documenting participant activities and language use in Spanish and English writing workshops were gathered over the course of 6 months and analyzed for code-switching prevalence, form, content, and purpose in relation to the writing process. The percentage distribution of oral code switching across the two linguistic contexts suggests a sociolinguistic imbalance between the two languages, wherein English played a prevalent role in the creation of Spanish texts, but Spanish did not appear to have the same utility in the development of English texts. Four general categories of code-switching functions emerged, indicating emergent bilingual writers' (a) evaluation and self-regulation skills, (b) sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence, (c) metalinguistic insights, and (d) use of code switching to indicate a shift in topic, person, or syntactic form. These findings intimate children's capacity to exploit their developing bilingual linguistic repertoire for a variety of academic and social purposes and illuminate the potential of code switching as a cognitive and linguistic resource in the process of writing.

We examined gender assignment patterns in the speech of Spanish/English bilingual children, paying particular attention to the influence of three gender assignment strategies (i.e., analogical gender, masculine default gender,... more

We examined gender assignment patterns in the speech of Spanish/English bilingual children, paying particular attention to the influence of three gender assignment strategies (i.e., analogical gender, masculine default gender, phonological gender) that have been proposed to constrain the gender assignment process in Spanish/English bilingual speech. Our analysis was based on monolingual Spanish nominals (n = 1,774), which served as a comparative baseline, and Spanish/English mixed nominal constructions (n = 220) extracted from oral narratives produced by 40 child bilinguals of different grade levels (2nd graders vs. 5th graders) and instructional programs (English immersion vs. two-way bilingual) from Miami Dade, Florida. The narratives, available in the CHILDES database (MacWhinney 2000), were collected by Pearson (2002). Results revealed that in Spanish nominal constructions, children across both instructional programs and grade levels evinced native-like acquisition of grammatical gender. In mixed nominals, children overwhelmingly assigned the masculine gender to English nouns. Notably, irrespective of schooling background, simultaneous Spanish/English bilingual children used the masculine default gender strategy when assigning gender to English nouns with feminine translation equivalents. This suggests that from age seven, simultaneous Spanish/English child bilingual acquisition of grammatical gender is characterized by a predisposition towards the employment of the masculine default gender strategy in bilingual speech.

Previous research has documented advantages and disadvantages of early bilinguals, defined as learning a 2nd language by school age and using both languages since that time. Relative to monolinguals, early bilinguals manifest deficits in... more

Previous research has documented advantages and disadvantages of early bilinguals, defined as learning a 2nd language by school age and using both languages since that time. Relative to monolinguals, early bilinguals manifest deficits in lexical access but benefits in executive function. We investigated whether becoming bilingual after childhood (late bilinguals) can produce the cognitive advantages and disadvantages typical of early bilinguals. Participants were 30 monolingual English speakers, 30 late English-Spanish bilinguals, and 30 early Spanish-English bilinguals who completed a picture naming task (lexical access) and an attentional network task (executive function). Late and early bilinguals manifested equivalent cognitive effects in both tasks, demonstrating lexical access deficits and executive function benefits. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that cognitive effects associated with bilingualism arise as the result of proficient, habitual use of 2 languages and not of developmental changes associated with becoming bilingual during childhood.

This research aims at the characterization of the city of San Antonio, TX, and its area within an ethnolinguistic perspective. This view embraces how the city itself was conceived and its development, which type of people arrived and... more

This research aims at the characterization of the city of San Antonio, TX, and its area within an ethnolinguistic perspective. This view embraces how the city itself was conceived and its development, which type of people arrived and dwelt in there and how they introduced their cultural features. The framework is the Spanish language, its introduction and development, its continuity or loss, all of it in connection with its users. The social meaning of the term Ethnography and the activities of the humans studied are therefore restricted to their linguistic aspects. Nevertheless, special attention is given to the cosmovision of those speakers.
Estudio realizado en el marco del Observatorio del español de los Estados Unidos, Inc., con datos demolingüísticos, encuesta en colaboración con los alumnos graduados de UTSA y reflexiones sobre el bilingüismo y la educación.

Estadísticamente, al menos, los Estados Unidos son el país más religioso del mundo: solo el 14,2% de sus habitantes se declaran sin religión. Los índices de participación en las ceremonias y de integración en las comunidades, sean... more

Estadísticamente, al menos, los Estados Unidos son el país más religioso del mundo: solo el 14,2% de sus habitantes se declaran sin religión. Los índices de participación en las ceremonias y de integración en las comunidades, sean parroquias, iglesias o grupos, son los más elevados que se registran. También contribuyen a ello la enorme descentralización del país y la importancia histórica que han tenido las iglesias como aglutinantes de la comunidad. Valga como ejemplo un fenómeno mediático de la relevancia de la familia Simpson, una célebre serie de dibujos por televisión que se emite en todo el mundo y que, aunque se burla de todas las instituciones, iglesias incluidas, no pone nunca en duda la existencia de Dios. Los miembros de la familia, como muchos norteamericanos, rezan antes de las comidas y cuando se enfrentan a alguna dificultad, asisten a los servicios dominicales en su iglesia, leen la Biblia y la citan. Son un espejo del comportamiento de muchos de sus compatriotas e inciden en la crítica del pecado nacional, la hipocresía, lo cual resulta innegablemente evangélico. Ya en 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville dijo que 'la religión en América no participa directamente en el gobierno de la sociedad; pero debe considerarse la primera de sus instituciones políticas'.

We examine the acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense among second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers, an area so far un-derexplored. We predict bilingualism effects evidenced in lower patterns of... more

We examine the acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense among second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers, an area so far un-derexplored. We predict bilingualism effects evidenced in lower patterns of use, acceptance and preference of the simple present with an ongoing meaning, as well as preference for the progressive in ongoing and habitual contexts. Furthermore, we expect the heritage speakers to outperform the L2 learners, and to behave closer to native speakers. In contrast to our expectations, we found overextension of the simple present to ongoing situations and to contexts where the present progressive is preferred. The heritage speakers behaved closer to the native speakers, suggesting age-related effects in language development. We argue for morphose-mantic convergence towards the less aspectually restrictive configuration.

Recent sociolinguistic research adds new economic sectors, such as the service economy, to the list of key forces that shape unequal, dynamic and complex diglossia (e.g., Spanish in the United States). However, little detailed work has... more

Recent sociolinguistic research adds new economic sectors, such as the
service economy, to the list of key forces that shape unequal, dynamic and complex diglossia (e.g., Spanish in the United States). However, little detailed work has been done on the linguistic characteristics of specific labor sectors in the wider contexts of “debordering” and “rebordering”. In this article we develop in
depth the market mechanisms and institutional constraints that shape the valuation and social expansion of Spanish in El Paso, Texas. The study finds that in sectors with low skills and low linguistic intensity, linguistic management policies are effectively “Spanish-only”. However, as skills increase and there is a
greater need for regulated communication in the occupational role, more constraints are observed on how Spanish functions in work use and professional careers.

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the syntactic and semantic behavior of the so called quasi-reflexive or mandatory reflexive verbs in Spanish such as enterarse, quejarse, burlarse, acordarse, fijarse or jactarse can be learned... more

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the syntactic and semantic behavior of the so called quasi-reflexive or mandatory reflexive verbs in Spanish such as enterarse, quejarse, burlarse, acordarse, fijarse or jactarse can be learned and assimilated in a native-like manner by English native speakers who have reached an advance or an intermediate level of Spanish. The experiment carried out consisted of a grammaticality judgment task with six quasi-reflexive verbs forms and eighteen fillers. Three different groups of participants performed the task: a control group of native speakers of Spanish, a graduate student group with a high level of Spanish and an undergraduate student group with an intermediate level of Spanish. The data gathered and their statistical analyses seem to prove that there is a significant difference in the way native and non native speakers of Spanish judge grammatical and agrammatical quasi-reflexive verbs constructions in Spanish.

We examine bilingual light verb constructions (BLVCs) in Northern Belize codeswitching by analyzing clause type, syntactic verb type, pronoun type and number of syllables in both switched and non-switched utterances. Results revealed that... more

We examine bilingual light verb constructions (BLVCs) in Northern Belize codeswitching by analyzing clause type, syntactic verb type, pronoun type and number of syllables in both switched and non-switched utterances. Results revealed that BLVCs appear in a rich variety of syntactic, lexical and phonological contexts. Although there were distributional trends that were similar across switched and monolingual data, BLVCs were noted for their structural complexity in terms of nominal and adverbial subordination. Also salient in these hybrid constructions was the skillful integration of Spanish pronominal features. The Northern Belize data reveal that these syntactic innovations do not only exhibit productivity and language creativity, but the optimal use of linguistic resources as well.

Comienzo esta presentación con el muy debatido término de "bilingüismo", algo que los filósofos franceses Deleuze y Guattari a penas mencionan en sus escritos, pero que es crucial en el tema de lo "menor" en la literatura latina. ¿Qué... more

Comienzo esta presentación con el muy debatido término de "bilingüismo", algo que los filósofos franceses Deleuze y Guattari a penas mencionan en sus escritos, pero que es crucial en el tema de lo "menor" en la literatura latina. ¿Qué significa ser bilingüe? ¿Cómo funciona un bilingüismo literario? Y por lo tanto, se toma en cuenta la relación entre un idioma y el poder. ¿Cómo subvierte un escritor minoritario el dominio de un idioma imperial, como el inglés o el español, al momento de escribir? Y por último, ¿qué hace que la literatura latina como literatura menor, en el sentido que le dan Deleuze y Guattari a esta palabra, sea una literatura revolucionaria?

In Spain, the interest in bilingual education has led to the implementation of bilingual programs in a large number of schools. Our study uses descriptive research to analyse the perceptions of school management teams regarding the impact... more

In Spain, the interest in bilingual education has led to the implementation of bilingual programs in a large number of schools. Our study uses descriptive research to analyse the perceptions of school management teams regarding the impact of human resources on the design, implementation and supervision of bilingual programs in primary schools within the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. To this end, the answers provided by 70 participants to an 'ad hoc' questionnaire were subject to scrutiny. Besides the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample, four dimensions were thoroughly studied: organizational resources (including the design and supervision of the bilingual project as well as the degree of familiarity with and the acceptance of the project), human resources (that is, the number of specialist teachers, teachers with L2 ac-creditation, and language assistants available), teacher profiles (describing turnover rate, L2 level, and participation in CPD courses) and management teams profiles (providing information on training in bilingual education and on access to CPD courses and on resources for the evaluation of the program). The analysis of the research data is conclusive in identifying the training of management teams and the turnover rate of specialists as key to the success of school bilingual programs. El factor humano en los programas bilingües de educación primaria: la perspectiva de los equipos directivos RESUMEN: En España, el interés por la educación bilingüe ha llevado a su implemen-tación a numerosos centros escolares. Nuestro estudio constituye una investigación des-criptiva acerca de la percepción de los equipos directivos sobre el impacto de los recur-sos humanos en el diseño, implementación y supervisión de los programas bilingües en colegios de educación primaria de Castilla y León. A tal fin, se sometieron a escrutinio las respuestas a un cuestionario 'ad hoc' completado por 70 participantes en tales equi-pos para estudiar, además de las características sociodemográficas de la muestra, cuatro dimensiones: recursos organizativos (relativos al diseño y supervisión del proyecto bi-lingüe y a su conocimiento y grado de aceptación por parte del profesorado), recursos humanos (esto es, el número de docentes especialistas, con acreditación lingüística y auxiliares de conversación disponibles), perfiles docentes (tasa de interinidad, nivel de Porta Linguarum nº 31, enero 2019 132 L2 y participación en cursos de formación continua) y perfiles de los equipos directi-vos (relativos a la formación en enseñanza bilingüe, al acceso a cursos de formación y a recursos para la evaluación del programa). Nuestro análisis resulta concluyente al identificar la formación de los equipos directivos y la estabilidad del profesorado espe-cialista como elementos esenciales para el éxito de los programas escolares bilingües. Palabras clave: educación bilingüe, recursos humanos, equipos directivos, evaluación.