Modern Languages Commons^™

Closed Captions En Español. Live Captioning Quality In Spanish-Language Newscasts In The U.S., Nazaret Fresno

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

The broadcasting landscape in the United States includes a limited number of Spanish-speaking networks that serve the Hispanic community. As part of the accessibility regulations in place, the Federal Communications Commission issued the first closed captioning quality rules in 2014, which apply in the same manner to English and Spanish pre-recorded and live programming. Over the last few years, comprehensive studies assessing the quality of closed captioned broadcasts have begun to emerge, either led by or in collaboration with Media Accessibility researchers. These kinds of projects have shed some light on the strengths and weaknesses of current live closed captions, …

Una Casa Para Una: Construyendo Identidades Políticas Y Bilingüismo En A House Of My Own: Stories From My Life De Sandra Cisneros, Vanessa M. Lent

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

Este trabajo examina la construcción de la identidad política bilingüe y feminista en la obra autobiográfica de Sandra Cisneros, A House of My Own: Stories from My Life (2016). Cisneros, una autora chicana, explora las intersecciones de identidades como mujer y latina en los Estados Unidos, utilizando el bilingüismo como una herramienta para representar el espacio cultural intersticial que ocupa. Se analiza el uso del español en la obra, destacando cómo las inclusiones sirven para construir esa representación del espacio intersticial y enfatizar las diferentes perspectivas e identidades asociadas con el conocimiento de idiomas distintos.

El estudio se centra en …

Роль Микро- И Макроструктуры Словаря Терминов В Решении Задач Синтеза Русского Глагола, Irina V. Ivliyeva

Arts, Languages and Philosophy Faculty Research & Creative Works

Russian Abstract:

цель статьи – представить новые подходы к построению терминологического словаря. Рассматривается идея создания наиболее полного справочника по синтезу русского глагола, в структуру которого интегрирована обучающая база. Через микро- и макроструктуру словаря пользователь полу-чает необходимые инструменты для решения актуальных задач синтеза. Раз-работанные алгоритмы представляют собой этапы решения поставленной за-дачи: от микроструктуры словаря к приложениям и блокам глагольных форм в макроструктуре. При этом доказано, что активные обучающие инструменты (формулы синтеза и готовые алгоритмы поиска), встроенные в структуру сло-варя, помогают решать основные задачи словообразовательного синтеза: со-здание нового значения от исходного с помощью заданных параметров; опреде-ление семантического потенциала глаголов; поиск максимально точного …

Estranging The Novel: Poland, Ireland, And Theories Of World Literature, John A. Merchant

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Katarzyna Bartoszyńska prefaces her innovative project pairing a series of “anomalous” (or “freakish”) Polish and Irish novels with epigraphs from Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy on the power of storytelling (“let the people tell their stories their own way”) and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire about Stanley's Polishness (“They're something like the Irish, aren't they? [. . .] Only not so—highbrow?”). The seeming disconnect between these two quotations signals a central tension between the universal and the particular at the heart of Estranging the Novel: Poland, Ireland, and Theories of World Literature. Bartoszyńska's book is organized around four pairs …

Diversifying The ‘Hsi Bubble’: Black And Asian Women Faculty At Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Elena M. Venegas, Jacqueline B. Koonce, Lorenza Lancaster, Julissa Bazan, Adriana Garza

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This qualitative case study explored the experiences of seven Black and Asian women faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The unique experience of each woman is shared in this paper. Three themes highlight the interconnectedness of participant experiences. The first theme indicated that these Black and Asian women faculty operated in unsupportive microclimates within their HSIs. Secondly, participants communicated a need for representation within the ‘HSI bubble.’ Finally, our participants felt as though their HSIs needed to exercise greater intentionality in terms of truly serving their student populations. Amongst the implications of this research is a better understanding of the experiences …

A Man Born When He Is Old, Gabriel González Núñez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

Predicting Language Proficiency Using A Multiple Regression Model, Madisen Barrieau

Senior Honors Theses

Businesses that design language learning products have a common goal to impart language proficiency to users. Many variables play a role in reaching language proficiency, including time spent in study, method of learning, use of technology, motivation, and more. This study involved creating several multiple regression models in R on a dataset featuring many of these variables. This research sought to identify the relative weight and measurability of these variables unto the goal of predicting language proficiency. Several regression models were created, and the best model showed that language similarity and length of residence in target culture, among other factors, …

When Critics Are Artists: Ekphrasis In Erotic Art Criticism, Joanna A. Ligon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In “Against Interpretation,” Susan Sontag argues for an erotics of art in art criticism in place of hermeneutics. In this thesis, I examine erotics of art, a focus on form and experiencing art instead of exclusively on content, in practice. Drawing on other essays by Sontag, specifically the essay “Godard” in comparison with the filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s own filmic criticism in Breathless, criticism according to an erotics of art becomes a new artwork itself. Subsequently, I present a definition of erotic through Anne Carson and Roland Barthes and juxtapose the term with Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics. The comparison ultimately undoes …

A Hard-Boiled Hero In An Atomized World: Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’S El Hombre De Mi Vida And Milenio Carvalho Lament Neoliberal Alienation, José Ortigas

Modern Languages & Literature

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Pepe Carvalho detective novels comprise a seminal series, spanning eighteen novels from 1972 to 2004, that consolidated the novela negra as a popular, denunciatory genre in Spain. While much has been written about the early entries in the series, the latter novels, namely El hombre de mi vida (2000), Milenio I: Rumbo a Kabul, and Milenio II: En las antípodas (2004), have not received similar attention. Critics like Colmeiro, Balibrea, and Nichols have accurately read these novels as a denunciation of the most evident negative consequences of globalization at the turn of the new millennium, principally gentrification, …

Spanish Heritage Speakers’ Processing Of Lexical Stress, Ramsés Ortín

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This study examines the status of lexical stress in the processing system of heritage speakers of Spanish and whether or not it is influenced by their experience with English. Participants completed an ABX matching task with auditory stimuli differing in the location of stress or in one consonantal sound. Findings reveal that heritage speakers are more accurate in consonant-based trials than in stress-based ones, but only when matching stimuli were non-adjacent, which suggests that their stress-processing strategies pattern more closely with those of native English speakers. Furthermore, dominance and knowledge of Spanish appear to be associated with increased phonological sensibility …

Validation Of The Spanish Version Of The Ivi_C Vrqol In Children From 8 To 18 Years Old, Carlos Fresno Cañada, Joan Gispets Parcerisas, Nazaret Fresno, Héctor Salvador Hernandez, Ana Llorca Cardeñosa, Alejandro Martinez Roda, Joan Prat Bartomeu

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Purpose

To validate the Spanish version of the Impact of Vision Impairment for Children (IVI_C), a vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) questionnaire, using Rasch Analysis.

Methods

A translation and adaptation of the English IVI_C test was performed according to the standards published in PedsQL. The IVI_C Spanish version of the test was administered by email to 101 Sant Joan de Déu Hospital patients who were invited to respond twice, with a minimum interval of two months. The age of the patients ranged from 8 to 18 years. Statistical software SPSS 19.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) was used to perform the …

The Golden Age Of Mexican Cinema, Daniel Galindo

Publications and Research

This presentation is about the film called María Candelaria (1943), a film of the cinema of the golden age of Mexico that shows the lifestyle of the people of that time, more than anything it shows how women were reviled in the macho society. The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema is a period of brilliance in the history of Mexican cinema, which began in 1936-1956.

El Movimiento Romántico En España: El Costumbrismo, Lo Gótico Y Su Recepción, Charlotte Parker

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This essay explores the history and development of the Romantic movement within Spain. Considering the historical context of the 18th century, topics such as the influences of the monarchy and the Catholic Church, the authors Mariano José de Larra and José Zorrilla and the literary works produced in this era are investigated. The presentation reveals unique aspects of romanticism within Spain. Additionally, it investigates how these themes were reflected in popular culture values. Finally, it examines the perception of a Spanish national identity, as well as the relationship between Spain and the rest of Europe.

Le Proto-Féminisme De George Sand, Jasmine Harrison

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

George Sand, the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, was a radical and revolutionary writer. Through her writing, she challenged social norms and incorporated gender equality into her novels. This presentation examines Sand's four works: Indiana, Valentine, Lélia, and La Mare au diable. The question of Sand's status as a feminist writer, or even as an early feminist writer, is explored through women's roles in society through the analysis of nineteenth-century literature.

Manque De Réussite : Le Préjudice Dans Le Football Français, Will Bedell

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

Despite being called The Beautiful Game, soccer in France has a few issues that take away from its beauty. This presentation aims to identify the causes and reasons behind the issues of racism, homophobia, and sexism which plague the French soccer scene. By looking at the causes of these from within French culture, history, and their society we can hope to understand why they exist as well as to establish the sources from which these issues arise.

Quemando Leña En Guatemala: Salud, Sostenibilidad Y Costumbres, Sydney Underhill

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

In the Central American country of Guatemala, firewood is an important fuel source. Eighty-eight percent of households in rural areas use wood stoves and open fires to cook and heat their homes. This tradition has fundamental roots in the culture and customs of Guatemala. Unfortunately, these methods contribute to air pollution. Consequently, it also results in smoke inhalation, which causes health problems. Additionally, the massive agriculture of other crops decreases the amount of firewood available to these households, affecting the sustainability of the resource. Some communities resist changing their use of firewood due to the profound nature that firewood holds …

Le Dix-Neuvième Siècle : Les Mouvements Littéraires Français Et La Classe Ouvrière, Grace Horton

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This presentation is an analysis of the connections between the different literary movements of 19th century France, such as romanticism, realism, and modernism, and how they were initiated by the French revolutions of 1830 and 1848. It covers the impacts of these revolutions on different prolific 19th century French writers such as Alphonse de Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, and Charles Baudelaire, and how each writer prompted their respective movements.

L’Évolution Du Libéralisme Dans La Littérature Au Xixe Siècle, Sophie Hardy

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This presentation is a dissection of a quote made by Victor Hugo during the preface of his work Hernani (1830), where he wrote that, “romanticism is just liberalism in literature". This presentation strives to contradict this statement by analyzing Hugo’s early works before the revolution of 1830 to prove that not all of his works discussed liberalism. This presentation will also analyze the works of Alphonse de Lamartine and Alfred de Musset during this romantic era and compares Hugo’s earlier statement to their works.

Los Intérpretes Médicos Son Un Derecho, No Un Privilegio, Morgan Uesseler

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This essay explores medical interpretation as a right, not a privilege. It argues that medical interpretation is a vital service that should be required in all healthcare settings, not just in those that are funded by the government. Themes addressed include the difference between interpretation and translation, face-to-face interpretation versus telecommunication, liabilities and risks associated with untrained and uncertified medical interpreters, and the federal law Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Challenges experienced during any medical session are underscored, while giving special focus to limited English proficient Hispanic patients whose healthcare literacy is in Spanish, not English.

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

Los Grupos Paramilitares Como Desafío Al Modelo Estado-Nación En La Región Andina, Alexandra Furney

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

Paramilitary groups in Colombia and Bolivia reflect a fallout of the Western nation-state model that was mapped over former Incan spaces at the beginning of the 19th century. Somewhere between plurinational and unformed states, these Andean nations face challenges in forming a coherent governing structure, at times challenged by geography and at others culture.

The Mercy Of Saint Seraphim By Ivan Shmelyov: An Original English Translation, Nina Tarpley

2024 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The Russian writer Ivan Shmelyov (1872-1950) is acclaimed not only in Russia, but also widely throughout Europe for his novels, short stories, and fairytales written with a marked depth of meaning, beauty, and expression. He wrote and published throughout his entire life ~ from the pre-revolutionary years in Russia, into the years of the Revolution, and eventually as an émigré in Europe. Although Shmelyov is celebrated throughout Russia and Europe both in academic and public circles, he is little known to the American people, and English-speaking peoples. In academic circles, scholarship on Shmelyov in the English language is extremely limited. …

"Speak Arabic!": Arabic Dialect Comparison Videos And The Reconfiguration Of The Maghreb-Mashreq Language Ideology, Jacquelyn Stewart-Kuhn

Honors Theses

There is a hidden power imbalance in the Arabic-speaking world. It is not related to warfare, politics, or oil, but language. For decades, Egyptian and Levantine (Mashreqi) dialects have been over-represented in Arabic language media, to the detriment of North African (Maghrebi) dialects. This imbalance has played a crucial role in reinforcing what Hachimi (2013) refers to as the “Maghreb-Mashreq language ideology,” i.e. the belief that Mashreqi dialects are superior to Maghrebi dialects. Yet in an era of social media, Mashreqi voices and dialects are becoming less dominant, and Arabic-speakers across the region are being increasingly exposed to Maghrebi voices …

“Freedom, You Have Turned From Me!” Exploring The Facts Vs. The Fiction Of Sisi In Netflix’S The Empress, Anastasia Marie Raebel

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As one of the most beautiful women of her day, head-strong, and in opposition to the strict traditions of her court life, Empress Elisabeth of Austria - also known as Sisi - is remembered for her confidence and free-spirit. While Sisi’s image is admired throughout Austria (and Bavaria) on postcards, posters, and knick-knacks, she is lesser known to American audiences. During her life, she was often criticized for leaving her responsibilities with the court to go on long trips or for prioritizing her love of Hungary over the Austrian people. However, after the Empress’s tragic death, her public image changed; …

Flamenco, Gender Roles, And Female Empowerment In Granada, Spain, Dana F. Giordano

Senior Honors Projects

During the 2023-2024 academic year, my academic pursuits led me to Granada, Spain. This city is nestled within the culturally rich region of Andalucia, renowned as the birthplace of flamenco. Immersed in the study of Spanish language and culture, but also cognizant of prevalent issues of sexism deeply rooted within its societal fabric, I decided to explore gender expression and dynamics in flamenco. For this project, I researched Laura Mulvey's notion of the “male gaze,” a feminist theory that argues that the depiction of women in art and media supports a patriarchal society. Women are often portrayed as objects for …

“I Want To Say The Right Thing”: Developing Translingual Literacy Practices Through Early Care Educator And University Researcher Partnerships, Angie Zapata, Mary Adu-Gyamfi, Adrianna González Ybarra

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

An early care educator (ECE) and university collaborative model of teacher learning offers a distinct departure from common top-down models of professional development. Implementing a Social Design-Based Experiment, ECE and university partners collaborate to explore translingual picturebooks to address curricular inequities in their school settings. Featuring the experience of one white, middle-class ECE (Tamara) in a Midwest rural suburban school, we identify three critical components of this ECE and university researcher collaborative inquiry model: role of ECE as mentors and supporters, picturebooks as tools, and role of university partners as facilitators. Tamara’s experience highlights the critical components of the model, …

Imperialism Unawareness: The Case Of Citizenship Construction Among Mexican Transnational Students, David Martinez-Prieto

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This study analyzes the impact that U.S. curricula have on Mexican transnational returnees. Specifically, this article focuses on the ideological development of the army and imperialism promoted in U.S. schools among Mexican populations. Using a framework that combines critical literacies, transnationalism, and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and doxa, this study draws on data from 24 interviews to Mexican transnational returnee students (n = 4), Mexican national professors (n = 4), and Mexican national students (n = 4) during their concurrence in a program of English language teaching in central Mexico. Findings suggest that, before returning to …

Conocimiento Through Spiritual Activism: A Self-Reflexive Approach To Challenging Deficit Beliefs And Reimagining The Value Of Teaching In Higher Education, Alyssa G. Cavazos

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This testimonio, inspired by Anzaldúa’s (2002) seven stages of conocimiento, is written in second person to highlight a series of counterstories aimed at guiding readers through the challenges of facilitating teaching conversations in higher education where deficit assumptions about students’ potential are prevalent. Readers will gain insight into disparaging and derogatory commentary aimed at silencing voices and the harmful impact these words and behaviors can have on our well-being and students' holistic success in higher education and beyond. Through a journey of empathetic understanding and reciprocal learning, I share guided questions to encourage readers to self-reflect on the need for …

Clarice Lispector: From Brazil To The World, Earl Fitz

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Clarice Lispector: From Brazil to the World explains why the Brazilian master was so transformative of modern Brazilian literature and why she has become such a celebrity in the world literature arena. This book also shows why Lispector is not one writer, as many think, but many writers. By offering close readings of her novels, stories, and nonfiction pieces, Earl E. Fitz shows the diverse sides of her literary world. Chapters cover Lispector’s devotion to language and its connection to identity; her political engagement; and her humor, eroticism, and struggle with the concept of God. The last chapter seeks to …