Spanish Linguistics Commons^™

A Corpus For Investigating English-Language Learners' Dialog Behaviors, Nigel Ward, Paola Gallardo

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

We are interested in developing methods for the semi-automatic discovery of prosodic patterns in dialog and how they differ between languages and among populations. We are starting by examining how the prosody of Spanish-native learners of English differs from that of native speakers. To support this work, we have collected a new corpus of conversations among college students. This includes dialogs between a nonnative speaker of English and a native, dialogs between native speakers of English, and Spanish conversations.

Bailamos Juntos: Salsa En Los E.E.U.U. Y El Mundo, Betty Tran

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This composition traces the history of Cuban-American cultural identity formation through the lens of music and dance. As the author explains, Cuban immigrants cultivated a rich music and dance culture in New York City by creating a series of Latin and Afro-Cuban music genres and dances that brought diverse groups of people together. As a Vietnamese-American woman, Tran sees several connections between her family’s Vietnamese heritage and the cultural histories of Cubans who came to the United States as refugees seeking asylum from political oppression. As a first-generation college student, Tran believes it is important to share this composition as …

España Ante El Mundo: Spain's Colonial Language Policies In North Africa, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

During its presence in Northern Morocco and the Western Sahara, Spain lauded its colonial policies, and relations with the native populations in general, as being more successful than those of the other colonial power present in the region, France. While it is true that France’s educational policies were narrowly aimed at forming acquiescent elites of the Maghrebi societies, Spain’s policies in turn were severely conditioned by a hyper-awareness of existing ethno-religious divisions, a product of the prominence of religion in the historical relations between Iberia and the Maghreb. In this essay, I discuss the differences in Spain’s educational policies between …

Tuteo O Ustedeo: Un Estudio De Las Formas De Tratamiento En Las Publicidades De Escaparates / Tutoiement Ou Vouvoiement: Une Etude Des Formes D'Adresse Dans Les Publicités Des Vitrines, Charlotte M. Klein

Senior Independent Study Theses

In both French and Spanish, there exist two pronouns of the second person singular form of address: tu/vous and tú/usted, respectively. While the first of each pair is typically considered the ‘informal’ pronoun of address, the second is more ‘formal’, creating a complicated distinction that every person must resolve when speaking. This project analyzes the difficulty of choosing between the two forms of address through the lens of politeness theory, emphasizing the concepts of solidarity and power as well as other important factors that contribute to this complex decision. To show how the pronouns are …

Maternal Perceptions Of Agency In Intergenerational Transmission Of Spanish: The Case Of Latinos In The U.S. Midwest, Isabel Velázquez

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

This article examines the ways in which a group of first-generation Latino immigrants to the U.S. Midwest conceptualized their role in their children’s bilingual development. Respondents were asked to identify the individuals or institutions on which their children’s language and academic development depended, as well as household practices perceived as conducive to Spanish maintenance, and perceived obstacles to their children’s use of Spanish in the domains of home, school, and community. Discussion centers on maternal perceptions of agency because of the centrality of the mother in intergenerational minority language transmission. It is argued here that immigrant mothers’ perceptions of agency …

Learning Context Matters: Communication Strategy Development Through Spanish Interaction, Sonya Hildebrand

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

University studies in the Spanish language are often times confined to the classroom. However, more and more programs have been implementing civic engagement in the Hispanic community into the curriculum to create a service-learning experience. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of service-learning in enhancing communication techniques. Twenty undergraduate students at the University of Kentucky were surveyed at the onset and the conclusion of one semester while simultaneously serving the Hispanic community. The students, on average, increased the frequency of communication techniques after a semester of service-learning. Students who participate in a service-learning program often times see a result …

Patterns Of Spanish-English Code-Switching In Children's Literature In The Us: The Use Of Español In Books Para Niños, Megan Rae Vasatka

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Spanish-English code-switching is a prevalent and significant form of communication in bilingual and bicultural communities. Authors who wish to reflect and validate cultural and linguistic diversity in their written works may incorporate code-switching in their texts. The purpose of this study is to explore the growing trend of the inclusion of the Spanish language in English-based books written for children in the United States. In order to better understand how code-switching is utilized by authors of varying Spanish language proficiency, fourteen non-native Spanish speakers were surveyed and seventeen examples of their children's books that include Spanish-English code-switching were analyzed in …

Officialization And Linguistic Acculturation Of Spanish In The United States Catholic Church, Antonio Medina-Rivera

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

The present investigation brings to light some of the changes associated with the use of English and Spanish in the US Catholic Church. The first part is an examination of the process of officialization from a historical perspective, acknowledging the impact of some groups or associations in the use of vernacular la!_lguages within the Church. The second part examines the role of acculturation during this process of officialization; and the final section analyzes the use of inclusive language in the Church, as an attempt to have a more gender-balanced institution. These three elements serve to provide a more complete perspective …

Enhancing Listening And Spoken Skills In Spanish Connected Speech For Anglophones, Elena Paz Vizcaya

Doctoral

Native speech is directed towards native listeners, not designed for comprehension and analysis by language learners. Speed of delivery, or economy of effort, produces a speech signal to which the native listener can assign the correct words. There are no discrete words in the speech signal itself therefore there is often a linguistic barrier in dealing with the local spoken language.
The creation, development and application of the Dynamic Spanish Speech Corpus (DSSC) facilitated an empirically-based appreciation of speaking speed and prosody as obstacles to intelligibility for learners of Spanish. “Duologues”, natural, relaxed dialogues recorded in such a manner that …

The Making And Breaking Of A Language: The French And Spanish Effect Upon The Catalan Regional Language, Margaret Emilyn Cychosz

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Almost four hundred years ago, the French and Spanish governments divided the Catalan border regions located between their respective countries. The subsequent centuries have seen the expansion and development of the Catalan language in Spain and the demise of the Catalan language in France, where it has nearly deteriorated to disuse. Is this a reflection upon the French and Spanish culture or was it simply governmental policy? If so, what did the central governments of Madrid and Paris do in the centuries following the division that resulted in this contrasting development of Catalan? What effect did the usage of Catalan …

Sabbatical Leave Proposal And Report, Melissa Leach

Sabbaticals

I propose a renewed emphasis on my Spanish language skills -reading, writing, speaking and listening- through: 1) speaking with native speakers; 2) immersion in Spanish media -magazines, newspapers, television, movies, etc.; 3) travel to Spanish speaking countries; and 4) a journal project in my target language. These activities will refresh and improve my Spanish and give me newfound connections with the Spanish speaking world and its cultures, making me a better Spanish teacher.

Teaching Spanish To Beginning Spanish Students, Amy Baldini

World Languages and Cultures

During my time in college and studying abroad, I have developed a passion for languages.  As a result, I plan on teaching Spanish in High School.  Therefore, my senior project will involve tutoring beginning-level Cal Poly students in Spanish and evaluating the difficulties that students encounter while learning a second language.  I will tutor for a minimum of 30 hours and complete a write-up which summarizes my experience.  In this write up, I discuss the tutoring sessions and the different obstacles and successes I encounter.  I will also discuss what tutors must consider when tutoring students.  I will outline my …

La Traducción Del Software De Mindbody Al Español, Molly Kathryn Mcfarland

World Languages and Cultures

This project entails the translation of the business management software of MINDBODY to Spanish to facilitate international communication and commerce for the company. This translation is meant to better equip MINDBODY with the tools necessary to engage in bilingual international commerce. Translation of this software demo is intended to aid the company’s Spanish speaking clientele and prospective clients by breaking down many of the language barriers they currently face with the software in English, and also to promote the recognition of the growing need for bilingualism in the rapidly changing world, both within and outside the realm of business.

The …

Sabbatical Leave Proposal And Report, Don Bergfield

Sabbaticals

The primary goal of my sabbatical is to become more proficient in Spanish by cultural immersion. Additionally, I plan to study various forms of agriculture in Central America and possibly South America. The time afforded through this sabbatical will allow me to have an extended stay in Costa Rica to interact with colleagues teaching agriculture at the University of Costa Rica and to immerse myself in the Latino culture.

Sabbatical Leave Proposal And Report, Renato Rodríguez

Sabbaticals

Through my academic preparation, I have developed a very solid background in Spanish Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, Teacher Education, ESL/TEFL, and Spanish Language and Literature. In my 13 years at Parkland College I have applied all of my areas of expertise to develop our Spanish Program as well as to address our students' needs. I have worked tirelessly and I feel that the time for me to re-evaluate, recharge my energy, and to relax in a productive manner has come.

Besides my interest and desire to recharge my impetus to continue teaching the best I can, I want to …

A Comparison Of Joseph Greenberg’S “Language Universals” As Shown In The Palestinian Arabic, Spanish, And Korean Languages, Devon R. Guerra

Senior Honors Theses

In 1963, Joseph Greenberg presented a way of describing the world’s languages by means of universal tendencies. This thesis will examine three languages representative of the three main language typologies—Palestinian Arabic, Spanish, and Korean. It will compare each of the languages to applicable language universals in order to understand the languages’ syntactical systems and prove the validity of Greenberg’s work.

Phonological Facilitation Through Translation In A Bilingual Picture-Naming Task, Paul Amrhein, Aimee Knupsky

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture-word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming …

Introduction: Selected Proceedings Of The Third Workshop On Spanish Sociolinguistics, Jonathan Holmquist, Gerardo Augusto Lorenzino, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

This introduction to the Selected Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics describes the conference and provides a synopsis of each paper in the proceedings. It includes acknowledgments for the conference, which was held at Temple University in 2006.

Usos Del Aprendizaje Basado En Proyectos En La Enseñanza Del Español Como Lengua Extranjera, Pilar Munday

Languages Faculty Publications

El APRENDIZAJE BASADO EN proyectos es un modelo educativo que toma como base una actividad en grupo, relacionada con el mundo real y para la que se usan medios tecnológicos reales, que se completa durante un periodo de tiempo determinado de antemano y que tiene como resultado final un producto, presentación o actuación. Se diferencia de las actividades de clase tradicionales en que no es corta, ni se realiza de manera aislada por un estudiante que sólo hace lo que le dice el profesor.

Introduction: Selected Proceedings Of The Second Workshop On Spanish Sociolinguistics, Lotfi Sayahi, Maurice Westmoreland

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

This introduction to the Selected Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics includes descriptions of the papers chosen for the volume and acknowledgments.

Nomadismos Lingüisticos Y Culturales En Yo-Yo Boing De Giannina Braschi (Linguistic And Cultural Monadisms In 'Yo-Yo Boing' By Giannina Braschi), Laura R. Loustau

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Articles and Research

"En la novela Yo-Yo Boing Giannina Braschi plantea un bilingüismo e identidad nomádica. Huye del concepto de permanencia y arraigo, definiéndose en sus personajes como un ser errante y proponiendo una yuxtaposición lingüística propia. Braschi utiliza un code-switching para subrayar la complejidad de vivir simultáneamente en más de una cultura y una lengua. El concepto teórico que da impulso a este artículo es la definición sobre la conciencia nómada que plantea Rosi Braidotti. Para Braidotti lo que define el estado nomádico es la subversión de convenciones fijas y estáticas. Braschi, en Yo-Yo Boing subvierte las convenciones lingüísticas al incorporar un …

Spanish Speakers And Early 'Latino' Expression, LáZaro Lima

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Spanish speakers have been present and writing in what is today the United States since the late sixteenth century, when Spanish explorers and colonizers described their experiences in chronicles, prose, poems, and epistolary exchanges. But it was not until the nineteenth century that Spanish speakers from various Latin American countries and Spain began to develop a cultural identity within the United States that was linguistically, racially, and culturally distinct from the Anglo-American majority culture. In the nineteenth century Spanish speakers comprised three principal groups: American citizens of Spanish ancestry, Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Americans, and exiled political figures in the …

Sabbatical In Mexico, Robert Frost

Sabbaticals

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Selected Proceedings Of The First Workshop On Spanish Sociolinguistics, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

This introduction to the Selected Proceedings of the First Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics includes the background for the conference, descriptions of the papers chosen for the volume, acknowledgments, and references.