Digital Commons Network^™

Linguistic Differences Between Spanish And English: Challenges For Native Spanish Speakers And Instructional Strategies For Effective Language Learning, Allison Kassing

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This research article presents a contrastive analysis of Spanish and English, highlighting key linguistic differences that contribute to common grammatical errors among Spanish-speaking English learners. The study examines these differences across four linguistic layers: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Through error analysis, patterns of language transfer were identified and used to develop four 50-minute lesson plans tailored for English Language Learning (ELL) classes with native Spanish speakers. By recognizing students’ prior linguistic knowledge, ELL teachers can anticipate and address common errors more effectively. Special emphasis is placed on phonemes, morphemes, cognates, and sentence orders that do not exist in both …

Demonstrating A Free Listing Data Collection Approach To Cultural Instruction, Gregory De La Piedra

Dimensions

Free listing tasks are a common data collection method used by cultural anthropologists, language historians and linguists (Nolan, 2002; Ryan et al., 2000; Weller & Romney, 1988; Wolfram & Schillings-Estes, 1998). These tasks are interviews in which a researcher asks groups of respondents to list words or expressions that come to mind for a given cultural topic. This study focused on a free listing task collected from working class Mexicans about fiestas y celebraciones [parties and celebrations]. Although this topic is routinely included in second language (L2) teaching materials, common terms or slang used by Spanish speaking populations that U.S. …

Why World Language Teachers Stay: Teacher Retention In West Virginia, Challenges And Opportunities, Laura Guglani, Tori Gastón

Dimensions

The present study investigates World Language (WL) teacher retention and the challenges and opportunities of teaching a WL in a rural state. Data came from ethnographic interviews conducted with 10 participants, current Spanish teachers teaching throughout West Virginia. Through thematic analysis, eight themes emerged: Lack of Exposure to Cultural Diversity, Lack of Qualified Teachers, Toll on Mental Health, Pressure to Defend the Value of WLs, Remaining in West Virginia, Passing on the Love of Language and Cultural Learning, Innovative Pedagogical Approaches, and Strong Professional Support Systems.

Harrison Burckart's Portfolio, Harrison M. Burckart

Honors College Portfolios

This portfolio offers a glimpse into the curriculum of a student majoring in Finance and Data Analytics who completed what is normally a four-year degree in two and a half years. From pieces involving cultural appraisal to creative writing, self-reflection, and more, readers can come to appreciate the rich coursework involved in the student’s studies. These academic pieces show the student’s growing ability over four years to assess situations at hand, detect issues within them, implement change, and evaluate circumstances. More simply, these pieces show how involvement in the curriculum teaches students to think according to the professional process, regardless …

Los Beneficios De La Enseñanza De Lenguas Extranjeras Con Cuentos Bilingües En Escuelas Rurales, Morgan Gosdin

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This action research explores and reflects on the use of bilingual storytelling as a model for foreign language education in third-grade classrooms. Previous research indicates that familiar stories foster an ideal environment for young learners, shifting the focus to language rather than content (Kirsch, 2008). Stories invoke curiosity in students and allow learners to view a foreign language as comparable to their own rather than simply a list of rules and vocabulary words. The action research, conducted in rural Middle Georgia third-grade classrooms, incorporates cultural and linguistic education. A class of undergraduate language students conducted biweekly lessons reading Spanish stories, …

Toolkit Para Iniciativas De Innovación Pública En El Gabinete Específico De Desarrollo Económico, Annelisse Escobar, María Isabel Mayorga

Economic Empowerment

No abstract provided.

The Structure Of Universal History: An Architectural Analysis Of The Museo Nacional De Antropología, Stella M.W. Robinson

Scripps Senior Theses

The Museo Nacional de Antropología (MNA) is the largest and most frequently visited museum in Mexico. This monument to the splendor of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic past claims to document the entirety of Mexico's past and contemporary Indigenous heritage within its 25 archaeology and ethnography rooms However, the architects reduce Indigenous architectural features into symbols of the pre-Hispanic past in their idealization of a mixed-race (mestizo) heritage to promote the modern Mexican nation as the successors of the Mexica (Aztec) empire. My architectural analysis dissects the museum's claims of hybridity through comparing the structure to several architectural precedents, including the Maya pre-Hispanic …

Archaeological Survey And Testing At Site 38bu1834, United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, Chester B. Depratter, James B. Legg, Heathley A. Johnson

Research Manuscript Series

This report covers the archaeological investigations at site 38BU1834, which falls within the boundary of the Charlesfort/Santa Elena National Historic Landmark on Parris Island, South Carolina. Initial investigations involved a search for activity areas associated with the Spanish pottery kiln discovered in 1993 near the golf course clubhouse. Later work on the site focused on a pond or sinkhole containing a deposit of World War I era U. S. Marine Corps trash and the prehistoric period earth and shell mounds that line the periphery of the pond/sinkhole.

Enhancing Wellbeing Through Caregiver Support: Improving Quality Of Life For Individuals With Special Needs And Complex Medical Diagnoses In Nicaragua, Jenna K. Devchand

Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate - Doctoral Capstone Symposium

Individuals with disabilities living all over the world are constantly faced with additional barriers. In low-income countries, such as Nicaragua, there is often a gap in access to resources and education, for both individuals living with disabilities and their caregivers. Access is essential to provide high quality care to meet unique needs. This occupational therapy doctoral capstone project was created to support individuals providing care to children with special needs and complex medical diagnoses in Nicaragua by providing community-based education and sustainable resources to caregivers to enhance wellbeing in daily life. The deliverable was presented in country in Nicaragua to …

Cry For Me, Argentina!: Taiwanese Soap Opera Diplomacy In Latin America, Adam Lifshey

Kritika Kultura

This essay examines the intersections of Taiwanese soap operas and foreign policy in Latin America, the one area of the world where Taiwan has retained some degree of formal diplomatic recognition despite the pressures of China. Yet has the decline in official Taiwanese power even in this region been compensated by a new kind of cultural power? The distribution of Taiwanese soap operas dubbed into Spanish from the mid-2010s to the early 2020s marks the first time that Taiwan tried to cultivate favor among Latin American publics at large. This was an explicitly diplomatic maneuver. But was it perceived as …

Portraits Of Agency And Power: Exploring Andean Women In Guamán Poma's Chronicle, Ruby Sygar

University Honors Theses

This study explores the depictions of women in Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala’s chronicle titled, El primer nueva crónica y buen gobierno. By concentrating on six distinct portraits within this manuscript, the findings intend to reveal the themes, differences, and symbolic meanings that characterize and differentiate these representations. The analysis delves into how these portrayals provide insights into the roles, status, and societal perceptions of women in Inca society during the colonial period. The situation of these depictions within the general context of gender and colonialism in Andean society aims to showcase how nobleman Guamán Poma’s work critiques and …

Increasing Health Literacy Within The Unhoused Population, Alyse Mk Abraham, Zoe J. Foucaultt, Sean P. Sieber, Simran Gill, Andrew Kang, Fatou Goudiaby

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Nursing Leadership Executive Summary

The unhoused population in Washington State increased by 12% from January 2022 to January 2023, underscoring a growing regional crisis (Washington State Department of Commerce, 2024). To serve this population, we partnered with an agency in Western Washington. In collaboration with the agency’s health services administrative director, we developed a multilingual handout on healthcare and insurance options to improve health literacy.

Our project involved a windshield survey, demographic analysis, evidence-based research, and collaboration with translators to ensure accessibility. This paper outlines the project’s development, research process, creation of the handout, and its intended impact.

Background

A …

Translating A Culture: How Subtitles In Popular Tv Shows Friends And La Que Se Avecina (The One That Looms) Maintain National Culture Within Translations, Abigail Lamkin

Undergraduate Theses

This study aims to determine the best ways for comedy-based TV shows to be translated so their cultural significance can be maintained while also becoming a piece of media that is enjoyed across linguistic barriers. Data was gathered from the TV shows Friends and La que se avecina and analyzed through comparison with one another. Analysis reveals both shows use unique techniques as a result of the specific challenges subtitle translators faced for the shows, but in general, focusing on one aspect of the translation over another would prevent the audience from enjoying the show. Friends's translations rely on …

Production Of Labiodental Fricative /V/ In Heritage Speakers Of Spanish, Andrea Michelle Nunez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

AbstractThe present study investigates the factors that influence Heritage Spanish speakersâ?? production of the allophone [v]â??namely its corresponding orthography ( vs. ), the phonological context in which it is produced (VCV vs. NCV, where V = vowel, C = consonant, N = /n/), and participantsâ?? language dominance (Spanish vs. English). More specifically, this study seeks to determine whether, for these Spanish speakers, [v] contrasts with /b/ (hence, /v/) or is an allophone of /b/. Standard Spanish does not have /v/, but it has â??an orthographic form of /b/, which in turn has (at least) two allophonic realizations: [b] after nasals …

Reduction Of The Vocalic Sequence /Ea/ In Tapatío Spanish, Karol Ibarra Zetter

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Reduction of the Vocalic Sequence /ea/ in Tapatío Spanish

This study investigates reduction in the vocalic sequence /ea/ in spontaneous conversational Tapatío Spanish from CCT: El Corpus Conversacional Tapatío (Martínez Gómez & Ibarra Zetter, 2017). An example of this phenomenon is the vocalic sequence /ea/ in the word in teatro ‘theater,’ which is often produced as [ˈtja.tɾo]. However, the word azotea ‘rooftop’ is usually pronounced [a.so.ˈte.a] by CCT speakers. The lexical frequency of these words is one factor that influences the degree of /ea/ reduction. Typically, there is a correlation between the frequency of lexical items and their phonetic reduction …

Missing Voices: Girls In The Care Economy—Slide Deck, Annabel Erulkar, Maimouna Bah, Edith Murogo, Winnie Nelima, Amar Nijhawan, Chiku Semfuko

Adolescents and Young People

As part of the International Day of the Girl Child 2024’s theme “Girls’ Vision for the Future,” it was essential to consider how adolescent girls envision their role in the future care economy. The care economy, which includes both paid and unpaid care work, disproportionately burdens women and girls, yet current policies largely overlook the distinct experiences of adolescent girls.

On October 30, 2024, the Population Council’s GIRL Center hosted a conversation among people with lived experience, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on the implications for girls’ engagement in the care economy and how best to integrate their distinct needs in …

Enhancing Digital Health Equity: A Personalized Approach For Spanish-Speaking Patients, Marissa Witmer, Julianna Lenoir, Mph, Angela Gerolamo, Phd, Crnp, Pmhnp, Akshay Krishnan, David Rigas, Kristin L. Rising, Md, Mshp

Jefferson Center for Connected Care Posters

Background

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is a barrier among Hispanic communities in accessing digital health tools including patient portals.¹

Patient portals provide patients with access to their electronic medical records. With portals, patients can schedule visits, message providers, check test results, and order medication refills, among other tasks.

Portal use has been shown to help patients better manage chronic diseases, enhance doctor-patient relationships, improve patient understanding and awareness of health status, and increase adherence to therapy.²

Despite interest in using patient portals, Spanish-speaking patients often struggle to use them due to low digital literacy.³

Provision of personalized …

The Spanish Translation, Adaptation, And Validation Of A Community-Engaged Research Survey And A Pragmatic Short Version: Encuesta Comunitaria And Fuertes, Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, Juan M. Peña, Carlos Devia, Blake Boursaw, Magdalena Avila, Diana Rudametkin, Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Margarita Alegria, Lourdes E. Soto De Laurido, Edna Acosta Pérez, Nina Wallerstein

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Introduction: Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) require validated measures and metrics for evaluating research partnerships and outcomes. There is a need to adapt and translate existing measures for practical use with diverse and non-English-speaking communities. This paper describes the Spanish translation and adaptation of Engage for Equity's Community Engagement Survey (E2 CES), a nationally validated and empirically-supported CEnR evaluation tool, into the full-length Encuesta Comunitaria, and a pragmatic shorter version Fortaleciendo y Uniendo EsfueRzos Transdisciplinarios para Equidad de Salud (FUERTES). Methods: Community and academic partners from the mainland US, Puerto Rico, and Nicaragua participated in translating and …

A Feedback Loop Of Exclusion: The Treatment Of Bilingualism In The Courtroom, Simone Stover

Northwestern University Law Review

In the 1991 case Hernandez v. New York, the United States Supreme Court characterized bilingualism as a race-neutral trait that can be used to exclude individuals from jury service. This Note proceeds by demonstrating how the current state of the law undermines the interests of bilingual individuals and then proposes a solution. Focusing specifically on Hispanic bilingual Spanish speakers, this Note first employs Professor Jennifer Lackey’s multi-directional credibility model to show that bilingual Spanish speakers suffer injustice in the courtroom due to both credibility deficits and excesses. Following this analysis, it proposes a possible solution to this issue: an …

Biliteracy Development Of Spanish-English Bilingual Children: A Closer Look Into The Role Of Morphological Awareness, Grace Morgan, Jamie Smith

Graduate Independent Studies - Communication Sciences and Disorders

No abstract provided.

Film As Engaged Learning: A Study On Teaching Civics Through Spanish Culture, Kajsa C. Larson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

University professors use film as a medium to examine social issues, although little is known about the tangible effects that socially minded films have on viewers. This study examined how combining film studies with a philanthropy project was beneficial to students’ understanding of global social concerns. Survey data showed that with this teaching approach, students increased their awareness of local social needs and nonprofits and had a greater personal interest in community involvement and helping others.

Consideration Of Language, Culture-Education, And Advocacy For Latino Families Who Use Therapy Services, Melina Rodriguez, Rachael Fox, Mary Greer

Summer 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

Latino families of children with ASD face additional barriers within society compared to other families, including surrounding stigma within the culture, language barriers, lack of resources, and lack of education on how to access these resources. One of the focuses of occupational therapy is to provide education and advocacy to individuals and their families who face occupational barriers. This program was created to provide education to Latino families of children diagnosed with ASD through participation in weekly sessions that cover various topics related to ASD.

Survey Of Parental Perspectives In Dialogic Book Reading Practices In Parents Of Preschool-Aged Children, Hind Otba Taiseer Alsboul

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on how early literacy practices at home affect children's language development by looking at the reading habits and dialogic book reading practices of parents with preschool-aged children. Parents were asked to consider and report on their literacy practices at home. They were asked to focus on their current reading habits with their children and how they observed their children paying attention during book-sharing sessions. This study was a part of a bigger project that developed and carried out dialogic reading workshops for parents. Preschool connections and friends spread a survey with parent-report questions in order to collect …

The Formation Of A Dialect: An Examination Of The History, Characteristics, And Evolutions Of Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish, Lianna Perry Fountain

Dissertations and Theses

Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish (L.A.V.S) or Español Vernacular de Los Àngeles is a non-standard regional dialect of Spanish rooted in the history and culture of Los Angeles Country, California. It is a sub-dialect of Chicano Spanish which has mainly existed in the Southwestern U.S for centuries. It relates to other varieties of U.S Spanish that have been influenced by macro-dialects other than Mexican Spanish. Like other forms of U.S Spanish, L.A.V.S has long been considered an imperfect manner of speaking or poorly formed Spanish instead of a dialect due to language contact with English. However, new dialects and languages are …

Archeota Spring/ Summer 2024, Emily Mizokami, Ali Phelps, Celina Lozano, Araceli Argueta, Chelsey Abbott, Danielle Bonsignore, Sarah Lewis

Archeota

Archeota is a platform for SJSU iSchool students to contribute to the archival conversation. It is written BY students, FOR students. It provides substantive content on archival concerns and issues and promotes professional development in the field of archival studies. Archeota upholds the core values of the archival profession.

Contents:

Reslience and Pride at the LLACE by Emily Mizokami

Black Americana at the Museum of Ventura County by Ali Phelps

Interview with Archivist Maria Carillo Colato by Celina Lozano

Gabriel Vidal's Central American Music Archive by Araceli Argueta

Preserving Peanuts by Danielle Bonsignore

Interference Archives by Chelsey Abbott

Preservation Workshop …

Traducciones De Documentos De Las Bibliotecas Públicas Del Condado De San Luis Obispo Y La Organización Madrinas Para Latinas Usa, Lexie Watson

World Languages and Cultures

This project attempts to facilitate my personal engagement with the local Spanish-speaking community of San Luis Obispo by broadening the scope of which the local public-serving organizations are able to serve this community, as well as the bilingual English-and-Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the local area. My goal in completing this project is to expand the resources available to the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of SLO, as well as the families here with individuals of varying degrees of Spanish-speaking and English-speaking abilities. In order to do so, this project is comprised of my translations of multiple documents from the County of San Luis Obispo …

¿Qué Lengua Hablas?: The Interaction Of Languages, Education And Identity In A Majority/Minority Sociolinguistic Setting, Luisa F. Hurtado Iglesias

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This thesis presents a comparative analysis of language dynamics in two distinct contexts: the Tres Fronteras region, where Spanish and Portuguese intersect, and Cauca, Colombia, where Namtrik and Spanish coexist. Through qualitative research methods including interviews and ethnographic observations, the study examines the roles of these languages in shaping social interactions, cultural identities, and community dynamics.

By exploring language use patterns, attitudes, and policies in these regions, the thesis seeks to uncover similarities and differences in the ways Spanish, Portuguese, and Namtrik influence individuals' sense of belonging and cultural expression. Furthermore, the study examines the impact of historical, social, and …

Spn 122 - Latin American Language And Culture, Salvador Salazar

Open Educational Resources

Spanish 122 provides an overview of Latin American cultures. Students will analyze and discuss representative texts and other forms of cultural production (film, visual art, music, etc.) from various regions and time periods to better understand and appreciate the diversity of Latin American history and society. The course will be conducted in Spanish.

Topics In The Study Of The Pragmatic Functions Of Phonetic Reduction In Dialog, Nigel G. Ward, Carlos A. Ortega

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Reduced articulatory precision is common in speech, but for dialog its acoustic properties and pragmatic functions have been little studied. We here try to remedy this gap. This technical report contains content that was omitted from the journal article (Ward et. al, submitted). Specifically, we here report 1) lessons learned about annotating for perceived reduction, 2) the finding that, unlike in read speech, the correlates of reduction in dialog include high pitch, wide pitch range, and intensity, and 3) a baseline model for predicting reduction in dialog, using simple acoustic/prosodic features, that achieves correlations with human perceptions of 0.24 for …

My Little Poetic/Prose Book Of Words, Sayings, And Stories In Broken Spanish And A Little Bit Of German / Mi Libro Chiquito De Poética / Prosa De Palabras, Dichos, Y Historias Español Fracturado Y Un Poquetito Alemán, Sharon Ann Lucero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank Jonathan Taylor and Sarah Thompson for the wonderful job they did in providing me with feedback. I took into consideration all their comments. Their comments aligned with Dr. Powers, and I really took a deeper look into my Spanish/English translations on whether I should have them or not. I found a happy medium for all of it. I also went back and looked at the rest of the class’s comments and made sure that I did not miss any of the details that were pointed out to me the first time …