Showing papers in "Hispania in 1995"

The Development of Complex Syntax and Mood- Selection Abilities by Intermediate-Level Learners of Spanish

Abstract: Foreign language learners of Spanish seemingly cannot master mood selection-the indicative/ subjunctive distinction-by the end of the intermediate level of instruction (within four semesters). Yet their courses ordinarily reserve a considerable amount of time for the study of mood selection. An analysis of two oral-production tasks suggests that, by the end of the intermediate level, learners are not likely to reach a stage at which they have the essential linguisticfouwndation to fully benefit from instruction in mood-selection. These learners still struggle to generate complex syntax, such as subordinate clauses. The strain of process- ing complex syntax probably leaves learners with an insufficient amount of energy to process morphology, thus resulting in poor mood-selection accuracy. Results of the investigation imply that, in addition to assisting learners with the morphological aspects of mood selection, instructors should seek ways to assist learners with the syntactic aspects, namely, with the production of complex syntax.

How Does Varying Pre-listening Activities Affect Second Language Listening Comprehension?.

Abstract: L'etude compare les performances en comprehension orale d'apprenants en espagnol langue seconde qui ont suivi trois activites preparatoires differentes avant d'etre testes sur leur niveau de comprehension. Les resultats de ces tests ont des repercussions pour la pedagogie

Can Cross-Cultural Understanding Aid Second Language Acquisition? Toward a Theory of Ethno-Lingual Relativity.

Abstract: This article explores the hypothesis that having a mind which is open to other ways of looking at the world may facilitate one's ability to learn a new language. The term "ethno-lingual relativity" is a perspec- tive that is not limited by one's own cultural and linguistic experiences, but rather is open to the contrasting cultural and linguistic patterns of other peoples. Having such a perspective might facilitate second language acquisition, in view of support for this hypothesis-drawn from second language research in language apti- tude, motivation, personality differences, social and psychological factors, acculturation theory, and pragmatic competence.

Analyzing syntactic variation with computer-based corpora: the case of modern Spanish clitic climbing

Abstract: Un corpus informatise a fournit les donnees necessaires aux recherches sur la variation des constructions clitiques en espagnol parle et ecrit (lo debe comprar vs. debe comprarlo)

The Acquisition of Lexical Meaning in a Study Abroad Context: the Spanish prepositions "por" and "para"

Abstract: L'A. examine le developpement des relations forme/fonction des prepositions por et para a differents niveaux de competence dans l'interlangue d'etudiants en espagnol L2. Les utilisations incorrectes les plus courantes de ces prepositions sont des substitutions par d'autres prepositions ou conjonctions. L'utilisation de por et para pour exprimer la fonction de duree dans le temps amene l'A. a affirmer que le choix d'une preposition pour cette fonction est dicte par le contexte temporel du syntagme prepositionnel

Preterite/Imperfect Half-Truths: Problems with Spanish Textbook Rules for Usage

Abstract: Preterite/imperfect usage has the reputation of being one of the hardest grammatical features of Spanish to learn. While this is partly due to the fact that English does not indicate aspectual differences in the same way Spanish does, some of the blame lies with misleading textbook explanations which often are only half-truths, at best. A discussion of problematic P /I textbook explanations shows why the presentation of a more reliable, simpler set of principles serve as a preferable alternative to the problematic rules of thumb.

Marked and Unmarked Choices of Code Switching in Bilingual Poetry

Abstract: Le modele de la Marque de Carol Myers-Scotton rend compte des motivations socio-psychologiques du locuteur dans le changement de code (qui peut etre interprete comme un choix marque ou non marque du mode de discours). L'A. utilise une adaptation de ce modele pour analyser la poesie bilingue dans une perspective sociolinguistique. On peut dire que le poete fait un choix marque lorsqu'il souhaite provoquer des considerations particulieres chez le lecteur; un exemple de cela est l'utilisation de mots empruntes a l'espagnol et lies a l'identite ethnique. Le choix non marque est l'utilisation, dans des groupes de communication orale, des formes privilegiees par les individus bilingues

Raising General Awareness of Language Learning Strategies: A Little Bit Goes a Long Way.

Abstract: Une etude experimentale examine l'effet, chez des apprenants en espagnol L2, d'activites permettant aux etudiants d'acquerir de maniere dynamique une conscience des strategies d'apprentissage de la langue

A Pragmatist Philosophy of Life in Ortega y Gasset

Abstract: Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), the most widely known and well liked of Spanish philosophers, was much admired in the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s for \"Revolt of the Masses,\" \"History as a System,\" and \"Dehumanization of Art,\" among other works. Those popular works, however, poorly reflected the complexity of Ortega's philosophy. In this first historical analysis of all the parts of Ortega's total thought, John Graham explores the extent to which Ortega's metaphysics was built not only on a native Spanish realism but also upon the pragmatism of William James. Graham details the extent to which Ortega developed an existentialsim before Martin Heidegger and a new historicism less absolute than Benedetto Croce's, by means of a phenomenological method-all within a comprehensive philosophy of life similar to Wilhelm Dilthey's, but more realist and social. In addition, an extensive bibliographical essay examines how Ortega's philosophy, as a whole and in each part, has stood in the estimation of critics worldwide from the 1920s to the present.Over ten years in preparation, \"A Pragmatist Philosophy of Life in Ortega y Gasset\" reveals how open, adaptable, and inventive was pragmatism as Ortega elaborated its philosophical implications and applications for Spain, Europe, and the Americas. It is based on extensive use of the twelve volumes of \"Ortega's Obras completas,\" the eighty microfilm reels of his archive in the Library of Congress, and his private library of fifteen hundred volumes in Madrid. These sources, many of which have not been available previously, provide the essential evidence needed to demonstrate the novelty and subtlety, the diversity and unity, of Ortega's thematic \"system\" of thought.Students and scholars of intellectual history, Spanish literature, and philosophy will welcome this important new study.\

Impositive Speech Acts in Northern Andean Spanish: A Pragmatic Description

Abstract: Northern Andean Spanish NAS possesses a complex system of structures which are used in impositive speech acts. NAS speakers choose from several grammatical possibilities when they ask their in- terlocutor to perform an action. The selection seems to be governed by the complex rules of politeness in the NAS communities. We summarize the grammatical possibilities and attempt to explain how the different forms are used to indicate different levels of politeness. The discussion of pragmatics and semantics in impositive sentences gives insights into Andean societies and their "forms of talk."

Mujeres y cultura en la Argentina del siglo XIX

Abstract: Durante los primeros tres dias del mes de junio del ano 1992 se llevo a cabo en la ciudad de Buenos Aires el congreso “Mujeres y Cultura en la Argentina del Siglo XIX”, organizado por Feminaria Editora y auspiciado por el Centro de Estudios Avanzados (UBA) y el Instituto de Literatura Argentina “Ricardo Rojas” (UBA). Participaron treinta y cinco expositoras de Argentina y los Estados Unidos ante un auditorio de mas de doscientas personas. Los trabajos que componen este libro recogen en gran parte estas ponencias.

"Gustar" and Other Psych Verbs: A Problem in Transitivity.

Abstract: Les verbes psychologiques montrent des variations dans deux domaines syntaxiques: la sous-categorisation et la transitivite. Ces variations rendent difficile la mise en place de structures distinctes permettant de definir une echelle du caractere transitif. L'A. propose une theorie syntaxique et semantique permettant d'expliquer le comportement des verbes espagnols du type gustar

Indirect Object Doubling: Saying Things Twice in Spanish

Abstract: Indirect object doubling is the use of the pronoun le with a corresponding NP within the same sentence (Le regald elanillo a Karen). Theoretical and pedagogical difficulties arise in trying to explain why propositional information is presented twice in the same sentence. Revisiting an approach that redefines pronominalization as verb agreement leads to hypotheses that explain the construction's use within discourse. Data from an Argentine novel by Manuel Puig shows correlations between doubling and highly identifiable, topical nouns. Findings suggest implications for pedagogy and future research.

Word from New Spain: The Spiritual Autobiography of Madre Maria de San Jose (1656-1719)

Abstract: This is the account of the social and spiritual difficulties of an aspirant nun in Mexico at the end of the seventeenth century. In an extensive introduction, Myers discusses the chronology and provenance of Madre Maria's manuscript and gives biographical details of her life; surveys literary aspects of the text; and, seeks to show the socio-historical value of the striking scenes of family life which the text offers. Notes and guidance are given on style, orthography and pronunciation; and a bibliographical essay complements a selected bibliography.

Some Unresolved Issues in Spanish Mood Use

Abstract: Spanish mood has traditionally been taught through a framework of categorical rules. However, for some years now there have been efforts to find empirical data to clarify the exact nature of certain rules and to better understand the patterns of rule variability that exist outside the classroom. At some stage of study it is useful for instructors to provide feedback to students concerning those mood use issues which are still not fully resolved or fully explored in terms of actual usage. Issues examined here include the intersection of mood with notions like habituality, general truths and shared knowledge-as well as mood use in certain linguistic contexts entailing quasi-dubitatives, and dubitatives with double embedding. Empirical data for this study comes from two border varieties of Spanish.

Preposicion + Sujeto + Infinitivo: "Para yo hacerlo"

Abstract: L'A. examine la construction espagnole [Preposition + sujet + infinitif] telle qu'elle apparait dans le discours cultive dans douze villes espagnoles et sud-americaines. L'emploi de cette construction est significatif seulement a Caracas et San Juan. Les prepositions utilisees sont a 94 % de et para. Les sujets sont majoritairement (82 %) pronominaux, generalement yo et el. La coreferentialite des sujets matrices et de l'infinitif est moins frequente (41 %) que l'emploi de sujets differents

Is Talk Cheap? The Role of Conversation in the Acquisition of Language.

Abstract: The influence of face-to-face communication using a foreign language on the development of a learner's interlanguage has long been the focus of research; however, this relationship has yet to be fully characterized. The authors conducted a study to test the hypothesis that focused conversations with native speakers of Spanish held on a weekly basis will contribute to the development of learners' internal grammars of Spanish. Specifically, it centered on the interlanguage growth of a group of college-level Spanish students as they developed an appreciation of the different contexts requiring the preterite or the imperfect tense through interaction with native speakers. The results support the hypothesis that regular, focused interactions with native speakers helped learners recognize the obligatory contexts of these tenses in Spanish. These findings have implications for classroom practice and language acquisition models.