Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons^™

Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Turn-Taking Practices In English And Spanish Conversations, Claudia B. Martínez

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

Conversation analysis is primarily concerned with the tacit rules of turn-taking in standard systems of conversation—that is, with how people maneuver through spoken conversations to make themselves heard, while still allowing for dialogue to take place. Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson had largely influenced the groundwork for this field in the late 1970s by setting forth certain proprieties of speech that deem overlaps, or interruptions, generally untoward and counterproductive. My goal here is to rethink this theory, however, to illuminate certain culturally specific instances of overlapping that do indeed lend themselves to the flow of the conversation. I compare such instances …

A Sociophonetic Study Of /S/ Weakening In Andalusian Spanish, Elisa Taylor

Scripps Senior Theses

The phenomenon of /s/ weakening is common among many varieties of Spanish, from Latin America to southern Spain (Lipski (2011), Samper Padilla (2011)). This project will focus specifically on coda /s/ weakening in Andalusian Spanish, the social factors that influence it, and the language ideologies surrounding the dialect. Previous research has found that social factors influencing /s/ weakening include social class, gender, and education level (Lipski (2011), Samper Padilla (2011), Holmquist (2008), Terrell (1981), Fontanella de Weinberg (1973)). Studies on /s/ weakening in Andalusian Spanish have mainly focused on the functional compensation for the loss of /s/, but little research …

L2 Spanish Apologies Development During Short-Term Study Abroad, Todd A. Hernandez

Spanish Languages and Literatures Research and Publications

The present study examined the apologies of 18 study abroad (SA) students during a short-term SA experience in Madrid, Spain. Apologies were assessed with a discourse completion task (DCT) consisting of five vignettes that varied across three variables: relative social status of the interlocutor, relative social distance, and seriousness of the offense. Based on performance ratings assigned to them by two native Spanish speakers, the students made significant gains in pragmatic appropriateness from pretest to posttest, on two out of the five individual vignettes, and on the five combined vignettes. Examination of the students’ apologies before and after SA further …

Reexamining Por And Para In The Spanish Foreign Language Intermediate Classroom: A Usage-Based, Cognitive Linguistic Approach, Elizabeth M. Kissling, Andrea Tyler, Lisa Warren, Lauren Negrete

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

The present chapter represents the first stage in the larger investigation; it examines two aspects of applying a usage-based, CL approach to teaching por and para. First, we presented the multiple meanings of the two forms gradually, building learners’ knowledge in a series of scaffolded treatments, throughout the course of an entire semester rather than presenting them all in one concentrated lesson. Second, we presented the multiple meanings of por and para and structured their order of presentation according to a Cognitive Linguistic-inspired analysis, which emphasizes the systematic relationships among the multiple meanings. Such a systematic analysis is consistent …

Self-Esteem In Spanish-Speaking Latinos In Northwest Ohio, Mckenna Freeman

Honors Projects

Self-esteem is a widely-studied construct across many disciplines of social science. However, previous research regarding self-esteem and language barriers has focused primarily on children and adolescent populations, while much less research has examined this relationship among adults. The current study measures linguistic acculturation and self-esteem in both Latino and control adult samples. Hypothesis 1 states that participants in the Latino sample would report significantly lower self-esteem than the control sample. Hypothesis 2 states that linguistic acculturation levels in Spanish speaking Latinos would be positively correlated with self-esteem. Finally, a research question was addressed measuring the differences in self-esteem between foreign …

Atrición Del Español Como Lengua Materna: Diversidad Y Sofisticación Léxicas, Martha Alexander Walch

Theses and Dissertations

Es natural que la lengua materna de un bilingüe cambie. Sin embargo, si un individuo vive en un contexto donde se habla su segunda lengua como lengua mayoritaria, si usa constantemente su segunda lengua y si el uso de su lengua materna ha disminuido, es muy probable que se vea afectado por la atrición de las habilidades lingüísticas. Esta investigación se concentra en el estudio de la atrición léxica del español como lengua materna. Los participantes son mexicanos adultos con educación universitaria entre los 25 y los 35 años de edad, los participantes del grupo experimental (n=10) inmigraron a los …

Anatomía Comparada De La Representación De La Muerte En La Literatura Española Transatlántica Durante El Ocaso De La Edad Media Y El Renacimiento, Miguel Ángel Albújar Escuredo

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The main goal of this project is to dissect how death is represented during the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the beginning of the phenomenon of colonization of America carried out by the Spanish Empire, all of it by means of reviewing the representations in Spanish literary works of those times. This is accomplished by comparing works diachronically in order to reveal the main thematic variations between them. To that effect, representative models are taken from the literary canon in Spanish that involves texts since the Late Middle Ages until the first modernity, also known as the Renaissance. This …

"It's Not Me, It's /U/: An Acoustic Analysis Of Target-Language Immersion's Effect On L1 English Speakers' Spanish Vowel Production" And "Tener: ¿Lo Tenemos Entendido?", Tanner Charles Linton

Theses and Dissertations

Within the field of second language acquisition of phonology, the role of immersion experiences on language learners' pronunciation has recently become a topic of greater interest. While students of a foreign language with study abroad experience (one to six months) have shown relatively little progress in pronunciation gains, language learners group with extended immersion experience—approximately 24 months abroad—have demonstrated more native-like pronunciation. This study compares the pronunciation of L2 Spanish /u/ among native English speakers enrolled in the same third-year Spanish course who belong to two different groups based on the context of their previous language learning: extended immersion in …

A Portfolio Of Lesson Plans For A High School Spanish Classroom With Critical Reflection, Jasmyn Chacko

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This Capstone projects features a portfolio of lesson plans along with assessments of these lesson plans, written by a site supervisor, and journal entries, written personally after teaching the lesson in the classroom. After reviewing and analyzing all of these documents, general reflections were written to show the changes I made over time and to consider what future improvements I commit to make. These general reflections will be supplemented with current research in the field of second language pedagogy and the critique written by my site supervisor. Overall, the goal of this Capstone project is to produce useful materials in …

Estas Rimas Son Para Ti: Exploring Learners Comprehension Of Spanish Language Music Containing Dialectical Features, Avizia Y. Long, Megan Harsh

Faculty Publications

This paper reports the findings of a study that examined native English‐speaking learners’ comprehension of Spanish language music containing Caribbean dialectal features. Twenty‐one learners enrolled in 300‐ and 400‐level Spanish content courses at a large, Midwestern public university in the US participated in this study. Each participant completed the following five tasks: (1) listening task, (2) listening task difficulty questionnaire, (3) vocabulary familiarity task, (4) Spanish language proficiency test, and (5) background questionnaire. The listening task contained short clips of Spanish language music, several of which contained dialectal features present in Caribbean speech and music. The results revealed that comprehension …

It Just Doesn’T Add Up: Grammatical Number In Spanish And English, Amy S. Orf

Conference Presentations

This presentation examines the differences in grammatical number between Spanish and English, with respect to both the lexicon and agreement. These differences result in common errors by English-speaking students, such as yo pedí el camarón (“I ordered the shrimp”), tengo muchas ropas (“I have a lot of clothes”), mi postre favorito es las galletas (“my favorite dessert is cookies”), and me gustan cantar y bailar (“singing and dancing please me”). By highlighting the differences between Spanish and English, instructors can help their students avoid these pitfalls.

Effectively Teaching A Second Language: Principles And Practices, Alexander Gatica

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the amalgamation of the author’s research and experience during his time in the Master of Second Language Teaching program. The first section contains the Teaching Philosophy, which centers on applying effective teaching methods, increasing learner motivation, and incorporating technology into the classroom. The next section consists of three artifacts in which the author further investigates specific aspects of language teaching. The language paper focuses on the effect that identity has on motivation to learn a language. The literacy paper discusses how to increase vocabulary acquisition via a mobile-assisted language learning application called Duolingo. The culture paper addresses …

The Immersion Process: Cross-Cultural Language Learning, Rachel Lunsford

Senior Theses

This study seeks to analyze the effects of motivation, awareness, and the immersion process through study abroad on foreign language production. Three participants were analyzed, two of which studied abroad and one who did not (my control case). Two of the three participants lacked the variable of awareness, measured as perception and reflection on language learning development, while only one participant (Participant M) who studied abroad in both Costa Rica and Spain, was made aware of her own learning process via a language learner’s journal and monthly recorded conversations. By studying abroad in two Spanish-speaking countries, Participant M selfreported the …

Bilingual (Spanish-English) Marketing As A Catalyst For Cultural Awareness: The Effect On Parents In The Toy Market, Margo K. Bailey

Honors Scholar Theses

Due to globalization, multinational companies are increasingly cognizant of the language used in marketing materials. The growing Hispanic population in the U.S. and the increasing desire to learn and consume English in Spain makes marketers think twice about how they use language. This research is multi-method, using in-depth interviews and an experiment to learn more about how languages are used in advertisements to target monolingual and bilingual consumers within a country, and how consumers respond to monolingual and bilinguals advertisements.

I started by interviewing two marketing managers with experience in bilingual advertising in various media to better understand their decisions …

Bilingualism And The American Family, Caitlin M. Nickerson

Senior Honors Projects

Bilingualism is the ability to speak more than one language fluently. People of all ages may aspire to learn a second or third language in order to fulfill both personal goals and communicate with a variety of people in different contexts. Irrespective of one’s walk of life or socioeconomic status, being bilingual is a valuable skill. Although English is the language of power in the United States, there are hundreds of other languages spoken in this country.

There are a number of different ways in which children can become bilingual. For example, they may enter the school system speaking the …

Racismo Y Lenguaje, Michele Back, Virgina Zavala

Faculty Published Works

Este libro busca contribuir al estudio de los procesos de racialización y de la construcción discursiva de nuevas identidades en el Perú contemporáneo. En lugar de abordar el racismo desde una dimensión cognitiva, se interesa por el rol que las prácticas lingüísticas cumplen en su constitución. Las diez contribuciones que integran este volumen examinan los discursos y las prácticas del racismo en ámbitos diversos y discuten las sutiles formas en las que se construye a un «otro» desde un criterio aparentemente no racial, pero bajo retóricas raciales de modo subyacente. Todos los artículos abordan la forma en que la raza …

Defining Spanglish: A Linguistic Categorization Of Spanish-English Code-Switching In The United States, Leah Mernaugh

Honors Projects

This paper will linguistically explore the forms of Spanish spoken by Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States in order to argue that Spanglish is a complex linguistic system governed by a set of specific linguistic rules and patterns. I will do this by drawing on previous research in this field that examines the phonological patterns, morphological trends, and syntactic constraints that govern acceptable code switches between English and Spanish (Otheguy, 1993; Rodriguez-Gonzalez and Parafita-Couto, 2012; Rothman and Rell, 2005; Lipski, 2008; et al.). This evaluation of Spanglish will also include description and assessment of different arguments regarding how it can …

Evaluative Reactions To Nonnative Spanish, Nyssa Knarvik, Cecily Corbett

Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Other Graduate Student Scholarship

This study investigates whether there is a relationship between the native Spanish “Rater” evaluative reactions of Spanish spoken by second-language learners, called “Talkers,” based on the distance of their first language from Spanish. The Talkers’ first languages are grouped by distance from Spanish: close (Brazilian Portuguese and French), mid (Serbian and Polish), and far (Korean and Chinese). The Raters (n=50) are played recordings of the six Talkers reading the same story in Spanish and they are asked to rate each Talker on a 7-point Likert scale in 15 different categories (e.g. unintelligent/intelligent, easy/difficult to understand, and outgoing/shy). Results show statistically …

Toggling The Switches, Zach Thomas

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

In this paper, I use Richard Lanham's work within the field of rhetoric to explore the rhetorical implications of multilingualism and code switching. Specifically, I will discuss and question some of the basic assumptions of employing another language: What is at stake when we communicate with others in another language, especially native speakers? How might using an L2 language and recognizing/using different dialects within that language cause a speaker to reconsider their native tongue? What does the presence of numerous regional peculiarities and nonstandard varieties within languages say about our desire for "ideal" or "standard" speech?

La Transgresora Fetichista: Los Efectos De La Dictadura Franquista En La Evolución Del Discurso Sexual Español, Marisa Lee Iola Yerkes

Senior Independent Study Theses

Para una perspectiva teórica del feminismo interseccional, analizo tres obras subversivas sobre la época franquista/posfranquista hacía la transición hacia la democracia en España. Este análisis interseccional toma en cuenta la variedad de factores que contribuyen a la discriminación que afronta una persona. Las obras analizadas son dos novelas (Las hogueras de Concha Álos y Las edades de Lulú de Almudena Grandes) y una película (El Calentito de Chus Gutiérrez). Estos tres trabajos revelan las expresiones de la sexualidad de las mujeres que vivieron durante estos períodos y demuestran un cambio significativo en el discurso sexual español.

La primera …

Paradojas De La Narrativa Colonial: Representaciones De La Gente Indígena En El Arte Indigenista Y La Obra Plástica De Enriquestuardo Álvarez, Erin Gass

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Agitando Lo Cotidiano. Una Conversación Sobre El Desafío Ⓐnarquista Frente Al Sexismo En El Lenguaje, Mariel Mercedes Acosta Matos, Ernesto Cuba

Publications and Research

Ernesto Cuba entrevista a Mariel Acosta acerca de los hallazgos en sus tesis de maestría, que aborda las propuestas de morfemas de género inclusivo en publicaciones anarquistas de habla hispana, entre las que se halla el uso de " @ " , " x " y otras innovaciones ortográficas que buscan desafiar el sesgo androcéntrico de la lengua. Palabras clave: Lenguaje no-sexista; anarquismo; ortografía; sociolingüística; estudios de lenguaje y género; español.

Ernesto Cuba interviews Mariel Acosta about the findings in hers master's thesis, which addresses the proposals of inclusive gender morphemes in Spanish-language anarchist publications, among which is the use …

Broadcasting The Crisis: Spanish Television As Critique, Eva Velasco Pena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Television is often thought of as monolithic and totalizing, controlling viewers and upholding the status quo. This project will propose different understandings of the mass-medium. In order to historically contextualize my study, I will begin with a brief discussion of the role of television in democratic Spain (from c.1978-present). The thesis will primarily consist of an analysis of two sides of contemporary Spanish TV: fiction and politics; and will explore the way that certain programs, alternately catalyze critical thought and actions or enable spectators to, following John Ellis, “work through” traumatic events. I furthermore propose that imaging a concept might …

A Linguistic Comparison: Stress-Timed And Syllable-Timed Languages And Their Impact On Second Language Acquisition, Madeline M. Conlen

Honors College Theses

Acquisition of a second language can be a challenging task because no two languages are alike in their structure, syllabification, pronunciation, rhythm, etc. Also, after speaking one language for any amount of time, the speaker becomes accustomed to the specific qualities of that language; therefore, learning to speak another language takes extra effort because it is essentially rewiring the brain to think differently in many ways. One important element of language is prosody, or the patterns of stress and intonation in language (Dilley et al 237). The subsector of prosody that is to be studied is rhythm, explicitly isochrony and …

Antología De La Clase: Creative Writing In Spanish, Britton W. Newman

Student Scholarship

Creative Writing produced for Spanish 441 in the Spring semester of 2016.

Perception And Production Of Phonetic Stress In Spanish: An Investigation Of Native Speakers And Non-Native Learners, Benjamin Stoltenberg, Elizabeth Enkin

UCARE: Research Products

In recent years, foreign language studies have become an area of great interest, given that students must be prepared to take on a career in a globalized world. Consequently, there is a growing incentive to learn a second language, and especially Spanish given that it is the most-studied foreign language in the United States. Language courses designed for majors and minors generally center on the analysis and discussion of sounds, morphological processes and grammatical constructions. However, little is known about the nature of specific difficulties that may arise for native speakers of English when they interpret spoken speech in Spanish. …

Una Entrada En La Vida De Las Mujeres Inmigrantes: Una Exposición Visual Para Representar Las Experiencias De Mujeres Inmigrantes De México A Través De Retratos Y Entrevistas, Ashley Ables

World Languages and Cultures

Una entrada en la vida de las mujeres inmigrantes:

Una exposición visual para representar las experiencias de mujeres inmigrantes de México a través de retratos y entrevistas

Ashley Ables

California Polytechnic State University

Intent:

The intent of my project is to research the lives of migrant, farm-working women who have migrated from Mexico and now live and work in California. The other purpose is to present the findings to the Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo communities through interviews and artistic expression.

Methodology:

In order to research and present the lives of these women, I plan to do the following: …

Fearless Friday: Erin Meachem, Erin M. Meachem

SURGE

In this round of Fearless Friday, SURGE is honoring the work of Erin Meachem ‘16!

Erin is originally from Queensbury, New York and is currently in her senior year at Gettysburg, majoring in English and Spanish. She has been heavily involved with student senate, serving as the senator for the Class of 2016 over the last three years. Erin currently works as the Student Liaison for the Career Development Center, advertising career development events to people who participate in student senate. In addition, she worked as the Peer Learning Assistant for a First-Year Seminar last semester and helped First Years …

Motivaciones Comunicativas Para La Expresión De Sujeto En Secuencias Clausales Correferenciales En Español, Berenice Darwich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines subject expression in co-referential clauses in Spanish from a functional and discourse perspective. The purpose of this quantitative and qualitative investigation is to provide a strategy of communication that accounts for the presence or absence of subject expression in the second clause of a co-referential clausal sequence. Specifically, it is proposed that that subject expression, in this environment, is a discourse strategy for the use of the meanings of the personal pronouns and nominal phrases available for the speaker’s communicative purposes, and that this discourse strategy forestalls the competition for the status of discourse theme in the …

El Español En Los Estados Unidos: Panorama De Estudios Sociolingüísticos, Lotfi Sayahi, Juanita Reyes, Cecily Corbett

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

The aim of this paper is to present the principal areas of sociolinguistic research concerning Spanish spoken in the United States. In doing so, we focus on a variety of topics ranging from macro-sociolinguistic issues, such as the sociology of language, to micro-sociolinguistic features having more to do with language variation and change. In our discussion of bilingualism and sociology of language, we explore the situation faced by Spanish speakers in the United States, including discussions of language policies and bilingual education. We also examine cases of contact between various dialects of Spanish in the United States, and some variable …