Showing papers in "Hispania in 2015"

Adult Second Language Learning of Spanish Vowels

Abstract: The present study reports on the findings of a cross-sectional acoustic study of the production of Spanish vowels by three different groups of speakers: 1) native Spanish speakers; 2) native English intermediate learners of Spanish; and 3) native English advanced learners of Spanish. In particular, we examined the production of the five Spanish phonemic monophthongs (/i e a o u/) in two prosodic positions: stressed and unstressed. Since Spanish and English vary in the nature of the difference between stressed and unstressed vowels, a logical question is: How does the relationship between stressed and unstressed vowels differ across the three groups of participants? Do the learners transfer English patterns to their Spanish? The findings are discussed in terms of their significance for current models of second language speech learning and provide important information regarding the paths of pronunciation development in the second language acquisition of Spanish.

An Overview of Medical Spanish Curricula in the United States

Abstract: The US health care system faces linguistic challenges. Disparities in language-concordant care for Spanish speakers persist due to current demographics and a paucity of bilingual providers. A proliferation of courses in Spanish for health care professions suggests that universities and post-graduate institutions are attempting to meet this need; however, the quantity of programs does not necessarily indicate quality or achievement of desired outcomes. The current study examined medical Spanish programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level that were described in academic literature over a 38-year period. Programs generally were underreported and not comparable, well evaluated, nor easily replicated. Regrettably, in the medical domain, modest language proficiency is considered adequate and programs targeting advanced proficiency are rare. Suggestions are offered to make curricula in Spanish for health care more evidence based, longitudinal, and collaborative.

Where are the Experts

Abstract: Most collegiate departments where one can find Spanish, French, German, and other non-English disciplines are referred to as “language departments,” either formally or informally. Such designations are interesting as they suggest to the outsider (i.e., non-language person) that these departments consist of experts in language. In this essay, I will lay out the argument that this is not the case. I will argue that a focus on literature and culture does not make for expertise in language. I will then offer representative demographic research on the percentage of language faculty that can be considered experts in language. As will be seen, the percentage is quite low. Subsequently, I will describe some of the consequences of this low percentage, and I will conclude with an open letter to deans and other administrators regarding the current state of affairs. As will become evident, underlying the issues raised in this essay are the development of language proficiency and the nature of language teaching in university settings. Because language departments are generally charged with language instruction, and because students (and others) often expect some kind of proficiency at the end of an undergraduate career in languages, it is not trivial to ask: who is driving the bus of language development?

On Voice-onset Time as a Cue to Foreign Accent in Spanish: Native and Nonnative Perceptions

Abstract: Although previous research has documented the relationship between voice-onset time (VOT) and the production of foreign accent in English and Spanish, less is known about the role of this cue in perception. VOT refers to the aspiration that occurs between the release of a stop consonant and the beginning of the following segment. In Spanish and English, voiceless stop VOTs differ cross-linguistically in the duration of the aspiration. This study presents a quantitative analysis of VOT as it is associated with the degree of foreign accent perceived by 26 native speakers of Spanish and 160 native English speakers learning Spanish. The results show that both listener groups perceived and used VOT duration differences in their judgments of degree of foreign accent in Spanish, although nonnative listeners' assessments varied according to their course enrollment. The findings suggest that language learners have a concept of what constitutes native-like Spanish and native-like VOTs in Spanish, information that they draw on in judging foreign accent. These results have implications for language instructors and adult language learners as well.

The Effect of Input-based Instruction Type on the Acquisition of Spanish Accusative Clitics

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to compare structured input (SI) with other input-based instructional treatments. The input-based instructional types include: input flood (IF), text enhancement (TE), SI activities, and focused input (FI; SI without implicit negative feedback). Participants included 145 adult learners enrolled in an intermediate Spanish course. Learners completed a pretest, treatment, immediate posttest, delayed post-test (three weeks after treatment) and an extended delayed post-test (six weeks after treatment) measuring both interpretation and production of the Spanish accusative clitics. The results revealed significant findings for all groups on the interpretation task, with SI being the most robust. The findings for the production measures are not so straightforward; however, all groups showed some improvement. The theoretical and methodological ramifications of these findings are discussed.

Which Features of Spanish Learners' Pronunciation Most Impact Listener Evaluations?

Abstract: This study explores which features of Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) pronunciation most impact raters’ evaluations. Native Spanish speakers (NSSs) from regions with different pronunciation norms were polled: 147 evaluators from northern Mexico and 99 evaluators from central Argentina. These evaluations were contrasted with ratings from non-native SFL instructors. Evaluators rated speech samples in terms of comprehensibility and pleasantness, and identified the specific features of the learners’ pronunciation that they found either acceptable or unsatisfactory. For all groups, negative personal attributes were associated with less accurate pronunciation. Significant quantitative differences were found in groups’ ratings, with the non-native raters falling between the two groups of NSSs. The different groups of NSS raters were largely in agreement in terms of the specific pronunciation features that they identified as important, however. Compared to non-native raters, the NSSs focused more on suprasegmentals and global voice qualities. Phonemes that appear to have the greatest impact on listeners’ evaluations are identified, and teaching implications are discussed.

Directing Attention to Pronunciation in the Second Language Classroom

Abstract: Motivated by predictions of the theory of Input Processing, this study adds to previous research on second language (L2) Spanish pronunciation learning by investigating the impact of two distinct types of pronunciation assignments on first language (L1) English L2 Spanish students’ improvement in pronunciation of the vowels /e, o/. Two sections of a Spanish conversation class (n = 28) received identical instruction in Spanish articulatory phonetics over the course of one semester. One section (n = 15) completed a production-based pronunciation assignment five times throughout the semester in addition to this instruction. In this assignment, students recorded themselves and received feedback from the instructor. The other section (n = 13) completed a perception-based pronunciation assignment designed to force students to attend to English and Spanish phonetic differences five times throughout the semester. This assignment required students to listen to non-native Spanish speakers speaking in Spanish and to provide feedback on their pronunciation. Findings suggest that when students are forced to attend to differences in L1 and L2 articulatory phonetics, they are likely to improve their own pronunciation more than when they only receive articulatory phonetic instruction or when they complete assignments that do not require strict attention to L1 and L2 phonetic differences, such as speaking and receiving feedback.

Second Language Acquisition of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ by Native English Speakers

Abstract: The present article reports on the findings of a cross-sectional acoustic study of the production of the Spanish /e/-/ei/ contrast, as in pena-peina and reno-reino , by native-English intermediate and advanced learners of Spanish. The acoustic parameter that distinguishes Spanish /e/ from /ei/ is formant change—/e/ is a monophthong and /ei/ is a diphthong. English, on the other hand, has a mid front monophthong /ɛ/ ( bet, debt ) and a mid-to-high front diphthong /eɪ / ( bait, date ). These vowels differ in both their overall place of articulation and in their dynamic characteristics. Spanish /e/ is similar to both English /ɛ/ and /eɪ / but is not identical to any of the two vowels; Spanish /ei/ is similar, but also not identical, to English /eɪ /. This situation creates complex inter-lingual interactions for the learners. The study addresses these interactions as they are evidenced in speech production. The findings are discussed in terms of their significance for current models of second language speech learning and provide important information regarding the paths of pronunciation development in the second-language acquisition of Spanish vowels by adult native speakers of American English.

How Native Do They Sound?: An Acoustic Analysis of the Spanish Vowels of Elementary Spanish Immersion Students

Abstract: Language immersion students’ lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic competencies are well documented, yet their phonological skill has remained relatively unexplored. This study investigates the Spanish vowel productions of a cross-sectional sample of 35 one-way Spanish immersion students. Learner productions were analyzed acoustically and compared to those of Spanish-English bilingual peers. Findings reveal that learners’ productions differ from those of their native Spanish-speaking peers on nearly all measures; observed differences may be the result of transfer of first language phonetic and phonological tendencies and the nature of the input received.

Comparing Interaction and Use of Space in Traditional and Innovative Classrooms.

Abstract: Despite myriad changes to language teaching methods over time, university-level classroom spaces have largely remained the same—until now. Recent innovations in classroom space design center on technological advances, include movable furniture and coffee-shop style rooms, and are believed to facilitate language learning in several ways. Specifically, compared to traditional classrooms, innovative spaces are designed in the hope of decreasing pre-task set up, increasing student-centered interaction, and facilitating collaborative work with multiple partners—features believed to be important for classroom learning. However, whether or not such features are present in these innovative spaces, or more so than in traditional classrooms, has yet to be tested empirically. This study set out to compare student interaction and the use of space in traditional and innovative classrooms, examining the presence of the aforementioned features. Data collected from university Spanish language and linguistic courses demonstrate that while some differences in use of space and interaction were observed when lessons in traditional and innovative classrooms were compared, notable differences were only present when the instructor was teaching all sections of a course in an innovative classroom and had adapted his/her lesson plans accordingly. Implications for language teaching, instructed language acquisition, and classroom space design are discussed.

El antropónimo precedido de artículo en la historia del español

Abstract: Los coloquialismos el Juan y la Francisca entroncan con la estructura culta latina ejemplificada en ille Achiles ‘el famoso Aquiles’. En el presente trabajo, se analizan cuantitativa y cualitativamente los ejemplos de articulo seguido de nombre propio de persona en el Corpus diacronico del espanol (CORDE). Se tiene en cuenta la correlacion entre el tipo textual y los valores pragmaticos y discursivos de la estructura. De acuerdo con el corpus academico, que se complementa con documentos archivisticos ineditos, se constata un uso distinto de la construccion dependiendo del genero discursivo en que aparece. En la prosa historica y en las declaraciones de testigos, el articulo ante nombre propio tiene valor anaforico, equivalente a ‘el dicho’; en textos humanisticos de caracter didactico o moralizador, se emplea para aludir a personajes famosos de la antiguedad clasica; por ultimo, en textos literarios que imitan la lengua hablada, se refleja el uso coloquial de la estructura, con diferentes matices de cercania y valoracion subjetiva. Desde el punto de vista metodologico, se evidencian las debilidades del CORDE, toda vez que en el estan infrarrepresentados algunos tipos textuales clave para la historia de este grupo nominal.

La metáfora en el lenguaje económico: Una aproximación sociometafórica al concepto de burbuja inmobiliaria

Abstract: La potencialidad metaforica no ha pasado inadvertida al estudiar fenomenos y discursos economicos. En este trabajo sometemos a examen la metafora de la burbuja, que suele imbricarse con otras para desplegar su capacidad sociodiscursiva. A partir de una integracion teorico-metodologica, cuyas bases son la sociolinguistica critica del discurso y el analisis sociometaforico, planteamos un estudio de textos periodisticos espanoles sobre la burbuja financiera e inmobiliaria. Como principal conclusion, se extrae que gran parte del entramado discursivo sobre la burbuja presenta una traslacion semantica a partir de un fenomeno fisico natural caracterizado por su inevitabilidad. Ese discurso viene impregnado de todas las apreciaciones profundas del neoliberalismo, tendente a ocultar la posible consideracion de la actividad cientifico-financiera como una actividad social.

Yes, No, or Maybe? Transitions in Chilean Society in Pablo Larraín's No

Abstract: Pablo Larrain’s film No (2012) has been widely viewed and reviewed both at home in Chile and internationally. Some reviewers have focused on the film’s representation of the triumph of hope and optimism over tyranny. Others have criticized the film’s historical inaccuracy, citing a list of details that the film either got wrong or left out. Neither of these groups, however, has touched on the core argument at the heart of Larrain’s film. The present article examines No, and proposes that the film presents a satirical representation of the transition in Chile. While on the surface the film appears to celebrate the political transition from dictatorship to democracy that began with the 1988 referendum, a closer analysis reveals how No actually emphasizes the success of another transition: the economic transition that had been carried out brutally by the military regime, a transition that was not undone by the referendum. Positioning the adman as the hero whose victory in the referendum is due to a strategic marketing of democracy as if it were a soft drink, No highlights one of the many triumphs of Pinochet who, despite being removed from office, had already succeeded in transforming Chile into a consumer-based capitalist society.

Entre la paz y el caos. Acción subversiva y actividad pacificadora en las élites urbanas. Toledo, 1441-1495

Abstract: In the fifteenth century peace, public order and justice depended in Castile on the kings, but these were forced to operate in a consensual manner, seeking the maximum possible support. In this search the cities will erect as the pillars on which to build the frame of a Crown energetic and authoritarian. Local elites, who had in their hands the governments of the cities, eventually became a factor basic in the stability or instability of the kingdom. One of the Castilian cities in which the influence of elites was more visible was Toledo, whose insurgent activity in the fifteenth century could be compared to other famous by factional attitude european cities, such as Ghent and Florence. The social elite of Toledo projections during the reigns of John II, Henry IV and Elisabeth I come from a model in two ways: in their ability to shock people, causing riots and deaths, but also relating to pacification measures in times of calm, in order to promote their own domain, submission of the city to the kings and prosperity of the region.

Mother Earth, Earth Mother: Gabriela Mistral as an Early Ecofeminist.

Abstract: Historians have noted that male bureaucrats and natural resource experts tended to dominate early twentieth-century national and hemispheric conservationist movements in Latin America, but a constellation of female activists, notable among them Gabriela Mistral, strengthened conservationism in the cultural sphere. Capitalizing on her leadership in Pan-Americanism, transnational feminist networks, and cutting-edge teaching, Mistral functioned throughout her career as an advocate for conservationism, gendering the natural environment in strategically essentialist ways. Important tropes throughout her poetry, Nature and Mother Earth became specific themes in Mistral’s journalistic prose. Here, Mistral blended conservationism with anti-imperialism, arguing that Mother Earth was threatened both by man’s failure to care for her and by predatory imperialists. Environmental stewardship also played a central role in her Pan-American initiatives and complimented the “official” Pan-American Conservation Movement of the interwar period. Mistral’s de facto ecofeminism is echoed in Latin American women’s writing of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, suggesting that Nature represented an alternate sphere for women beyond the urban manifestations of modernization. The gathering of female voices around the gendered image of Mother Nature also represents a corpus of early environmental prophets in Latin American letters and culture.

La enseñanza del español en la era del antropoceno: Hacia la integración de la sostenibilidad en las clases de español como lengua extranjera

Abstract: El presente ensayo argumenta que los programas de espanol de las universidades norteamericanas tienen la oportunidad y el potencial para desempenar un papel mucho mas activo y relevante en la educacion para la sostenibilidad. La primera parte del ensayo introduce la situacion actual del debate sobre la funcion de la educacion superior en la sociedad en general y en la alfabetizacion ecologica en particular. Se hace hincapie en la poca presencia de los departamentos de espanol en un debate tan crucial en el contexto actual de crisis ecologica global. La segunda parte demuestra que muchos de los libros de texto de espanol a nivel universitario perpetuan valores poco ecologicos. Se proponen estrategias para transformar cursos de niveles iniciales, intermedios y avanzados con el fin de incorporar de manera integrada la ensenanza para la sostenibilidad. La conclusion es que el resultado de esta convergencia seria muy positivo para los programas de espanol, ya que ganarian relevancia para los estudiantes, aportarian y aprenderian de los candentes debates interdisciplinares en torno a temas relacionados con la globalizacion y environmental humanities , al tiempo que contribuirian a promocionar un necesario cambio de paradigma educativo basado en el fomento de un pensamiento sistemico, critico y ecologico crucial para enfrentar los complejos retos socio-ecologicos globales.

Writing Virtue and Indigenous Rights: Juan Bautista De Pomar and the "Relación de Texcoco".

Abstract: In his Relacion de Texcoco, Juan Bautista de Pomar (c. 1535–90) takes a political and moral stance against Spanish colonialism in Texcoco and the entire viceroyalty of New Spain. Responding to the Instruccion y memoria’s (1577) request for information about the history and cultural practices of local populations, Pomar narrates the history of preconquest Texcocoan civilization as a civilized proto-Christian society, with monotheistic rulers and a virtuous community. In doing so, he enters into the polemic about indigenous rights and contests anti-indigenous discourses that justified conquest and colonialism in the sixteenth century. In particular, Pomar attacks the argument that indigenous populations could be enslaved because of their lack of natural reason. This article analyzes Pomar’s manipulation of Christian discourses, which relocates the Spanish conception of morality in a preconquest indigenous context and enables his criticism of colonial policies of forced labor.

"¡Pobre pierna que sólo sirve para andar!" Female (Dis)empowerments, (Dis)ability, and Space in Literary and Filmic Tristana

Abstract: This current study explores the function of physical space as a metaphor for freedom and sexual expression in Benito Perez Galdos’s novel Tristana (1892) and Luis Bunuel’s loose filmic adaptation (1970). The female walk, a foundational activity in the formative process of the subject, will serve Tristana as a path towards emancipation and freedom, and as an access to dangerous physical and social spaces. Tristana embodies a deviation from the “women belong in the home” cultural logic that existed in the late-nineteenth century and still prevailed in the first half of the twentieth century. The amputation marks a decisive turning point in the development of Tristana’s journey. However, as I show, the powerful relation between the female and her dwelling space pre- and post-amputation, along with the role of disability, establish significant differences—explained to a certain extent by the historical conditions—between the literary and filmic enunciations: while for Galdos, deviance and restraint go together and disablement serves to incapacitate the able-bodied female and wed her to a life of domesticity, Bunuel enables the disability to provide an empowering physical and social environment and challenge the traditional order.

Más allá del fútbol: Teaching Highland Afro-Ecuadorian Culture and Engaging Race and Racism through Documentary Film

Abstract: This study presents strategies for teaching highland Afro-Ecuadorian culture and for broaching the topic of race and racism through the documentary film Mas alla del futbol. Produced in 2008 by the author, this film explores afrochoteno identity and culture as well as the issues of race and racism in Ecuador through a discussion of bomba, a genre of song and dance. The film’s narrative and discourse speaks to the current afrochoteno struggle for social equity and also indexes recent shifts in perceptions and representations of national and ethnic identity in Ecuador. As such, Mas alla del futbol provides educators an opportunity to go beyond grammatical structures and to address not only Afro-Ecuadorian history and culture, but also relevant social, cultural, and political issues. The instructional strategies presented therefore attend to the film’s context, content, and discourse through a variety of critical and reflexive assignments and activities, including readings, viewing guides, journaling, songwriting, dance, and discussion. These activities allow students to reflect on the epistemological value of such oral and embodied traditions as music and dance. Taught in this way, Mas alla del futbol advances the goals of translingual and transcultural competence.

Television as Textbook: Cuéntame cómo pasó in the Spanish (Literature) Classroom

Abstract: The long-running Spanish television program Cuentame como paso represents not only a wildly successful series for Radio Television Espanola, but also an excellent example of the project of historical memory. Premiering in 2001 (but set, in the first season, in 1968), the story of the multigenerational Alcantara family forms a microhistory which reflects the larger sociohistorical context of the end of the Franco era and the transition to democracy. This program, its authentic rendering of recent history, and its connection to the polemics of historical memory in contemporary Spain prompted us to create an upper-level hybrid (cultural studies/literature) course using this series as the primary text. This article elaborates the challenges we encountered in creating a course based on the series and our solution to those problems. In addition, we explain our pedagogical approach to using the program as text, including examples of visual interpretative strategies we explored with students. Finally, we reflect on the student experience in this course, the outcomes they reported and that we observed, making the case that use of the visual text created a distinctive and effective learning experience.

Examination of Learner and Situation Level Variables: Choice of Speech Act and Request Strategy by Spanish L2 Learners.

Abstract: This study focuses on variation within a group of learners of Spanish (N = 253) who produced requests and complaints via a written discourse completion task. It examines the effects of learner and situational variables on production—the effect of proficiency and addressee-gender on speech-act choice and the effect of perception of imposition on request strategy. Unique to the design are 1) learners were not told what speech act to produce (but rather they chose how to respond); and 2) the design and sample size allowed for statistical techniques appropriate for nested data (regression in single level analyses and hierarchical linear models for nested data in multilevel models), which let one determine simultaneously the effects of learner and situation level variables on an outcome without violating the assumptions of the analytic technique. The following findings are described: more proficient learners produced requests more often, and less proficient learners produced complaints more often, net of other effects; female addressees were less likely than males to receive requests; and learners’ perception of the imposition of the scenario did not significantly influence their production. The results highlight the need to account for learner and situational variables simultaneously when predicting speech-act production, using techniques appropriate for nested data.

Memory, Trauma, and Phantasmagoria in Claudia Llosa's La teta asustada

Abstract: The film La teta asustada (Claudia Llosa, 2009) was inspired by the text titled Entre projimos: El conflicto armado interno y la politica de la reconciliacion en el Peru by the medical anthropologist Kimberly Theidon. In this study, Theidon compiles the testimonies of a group of indigenous women who were sexually assaulted by members of revolutionary groups and the Peruvian army during a period of intense political and economic turmoil in the country. Llosa reinterprets the essence of the testimonies and the imprint of trauma in the film without depicting explicit violence, but rather through a highly poetic narrative and aesthetics. This study highlights the significance of breast milk in the film, the fear that invades the protagonist's body, and the use of singing as a catalyst of oppression. Walter Benjamin's "phantasmagoria" is the central theoretical concept used to examine physical patterns associated with the distress hidden in the individual and collective unconscious. The potato plant, the arid landscape, and the old aristocracy relics that carry high metaphorical signification are discussed using this theoretical framework, while also emphasizing the effectiveness of Llosa's visual subtleness in depicting the essence of trauma as a shocking consequence of violence against civilians in a state of war.

Facciones, linajes y conflictos urbanos en la Europa bajomedieval. Modelos y análisis a partir de Castilla y Toscana

Abstract: Urban conflicts are a main historiographical field which study has been often conditioned by prejudices and misconceptions that prevented an appropriate knowledge of the development and consequences of their social, political, anthropological and cultural manifestations. In Italian cities, the so-called weigh of the political values from the Ancient world that would have been transferred to the Western civilization, has burdened our perception of the historical reality. Particularly regarding conflicts: an aspect that did not fit the ideal political virtues of the Italian comune. In the Castilian case, the main problem is the excessive political prominence attributed to royal power and its institutional and legal system, an approach that was reinforced in the 80’s when it was linked to the origins of the «Modern State». These perspectives have limited the study of urban conflicts in a complex political society that also managed the control of violence. The article proves that, by putting aside some of the mentioned perspectives, it is possible to achieve new findings regarding conflicts, social behavior in urban history.

Lope on YouTube: Film Analysis and Amateur Video Production in a Comedia Course

Abstract: Teachers of early modern theater often recognize that it is difficult for today’s generation of students to approach old dramatic works as actual plays instead of written texts. Two methods for dealing with this difficulty have emerged in recent decades. On the one hand, some teachers have increasingly emphasized the value of performance activities in the classroom as a way to not only bring the works to life for students, but also as an interpretive methodology. This strategy has the advantage of requiring an active approach to learning, but has the disadvantage of obligating students to participate in a genre with which they are generally unfamiliar. On the other hand, some teachers have come to recognize the importance of viewing and analyzing film versions of early modern works with their students. This strategy has the advantage of connecting the works to a medium that students regularly consume, but has the disadvantage of being a fairly passive engagement with the plays. This article argues that the way to achieve the best of both approaches is to assign an amateur video project, and reports on the outcomes of a course in which such a project was used.

From Sanhattan to Nashvegas: The Aesthetics of Detachment in Alberto Fuguet's Filmmaking

Abstract: This current study focuses on the effects of neoliberalism on the Chilean sociopolitical period of postdictatorship (1990-2010) by studying a new generation of filmmakers in the work of Alberto Fuguet. In the trilogy of Se arrienda (2005), Velodromo (2010), and Musica campesina (2011), Fuguet reviews the flâneur figure exploring the aesthetic of detachment and disaffection in the contemporary urban space, a topic that has become critical in Chile's postdictatorship. As they cross urban spaces, these characters oscillate between estrangement and detachment from a local identity, a past time and/or origin. They are flâneurs embodying a division between time and space, incarnating a melancholic view towards the past, present, and future. Distant from their community, these individuals are unable to participate in any collective project. This feature of Fuget's filmmaking arguably reflects a Chilean sociopolitical trend of the postdictatorship period, whereby filmmaking has adopted a repression of memory and history that mimics the tension between resistance and adhesion to the neoliberal model. I propose that this sort of political detachment is the result of what I call the politics of detachment of the Chilean postdictatorship as depicted in Fuguet's understudied cinematography.

Theorizing Iberian Studies

Abstract: In recent years, a series of proposals have been made with the aim of radically reconceptualizing the discipline of peninsular literary and culture studies (see Moraña, Resina, Santana). These proposals have in turn led scholars interested in peninsular literatures and cultures to reimagine the field from an Iberian perspective, as a means to recognize the national and linguistic diversity of the Iberian Peninsula. This diversity has too often been obscured by the implicit or explicit monolingualism of Hispanism and Lusofonia as disciplinary paradigms for the study of the language, literature, and culture of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. The growing number of scholars invested in Iberian Studies have instead asked how peninsular literary and cultural studies might be reimagined, and reinvigorated, by placing the Spanish and Portuguese canons into critical dialogue with each other, and with Galician, Catalan, Basque/Euskadi, and Latin American and North African immigrant writers, cultural actors, texts, and traditions. Major Iberian Studies symposia have been held in recent years at the University of Lisbon (2011), Stanford University (2011), The Ohio State University (2013), and UC Santa Barbara (2013). And Iberian Studies working groups have been formed in Europe (Project DIAA—Diálogos Ibéricos e Ibero-Americanos), the US Midwest (Midwest Iberian Studies Group), and California (UC Comparative Iberian Studies Working Group). It is within this context that Robert Patrick Newcomb of the University of California, Davis, on behalf of the MLA Division on Luso-Brazilian Language and Literature, and in collaboration with the AATSP, convened a panel discussion on “Theorizing Iberian Studies,” which took place during the afternoon of Friday, January 9, 2015 at the MLA Convention in Vancouver. The panel reacted to a discrepancy recently noted by Santiago Pérez Isasi and Ângela Fernandes, who observe, “The field of Iberian Studies, which could be defined as the methodological consideration of the Iberian Peninsula as a complex, multilingual cultural and literary system, has known an exponential development in the last years; however, it still lacks solid theoretical and methodological reflections”(1). The Theorizing Iberian Studies panel brought together researchers who have actively contributed to the ongoing Iberian Studies debate, and who approach this emerging field from a variety of geographic, disciplinary, and linguistic perspectives. The panel’s first speaker, Mario Santana (University of Chicago), delivered comments titled “Besides Theory: Critical Practices in Iberian Studies.” Santana noted that recent conferences and symposia have generated discussion on the (perceived) need to have a “theory” of Iberian Studies. However, rather than ‘theories,’ Santana argued that what is urgently needed are theoretically informed ‘practices’ that would facilitate the expansion of material archives, which in turn may facilitate the discovery and articulation of critical problems relevant to the field. Santana’s comments focused specifically on one of these areas in need of exploration, namely the role of translation in the constitution of literary inter-relations in the Iberian Peninsula. The second speaker, Jorge Pérez (University of Kansas), asked, “¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de Estudios Ibéricos?” Pérez contended that a federal model of cultural coexistence within the Iberian Peninsula, though necessary, is insufficient if scholars are to truly reconfigure

Relaciones culturales en el «Nuevo orden»: la Alemania nazi y la España de Franco

Abstract: The article analyzes the role that culture played in German-Spanish relations during National-Socialism. This is a relevant historiographical question for two main reasons. The first, that we still lack an overall approach on the cultural relations between the two countries in that period. The second, that when the national-socialists came to power in 1933, culture had already become for a long time an essential part of foreign politics of the most important European powers, and consequently also of Germany. The article explains the motivations for intensifying cultural relations for both countries. Its ultimate objective is to get a clearer idea about the affinities between Nazi Germany and the Francoist regime. We base the analysis in our own research in archives as well as in the already existing literature on partial aspects of the cultural relations between the two countries. We conclude that the tensions between the different political sectors which looked for hegemony inside the francoist regime were not the decisive factor to explain the variations in the intensity of the cultural relations between the two countries. The decisive element was the negative evolution of the Second World War for Germany. Finally, the research proves that the ideological coincidences between the two regimes and the level of fascistization of Franco’s dictatorship in its first stages should not be underestimated.

Teaching Hispanic Linguistics: Strategies to Engage Learners

Abstract: Even though many post-secondary institutions offer a variety of Hispanic linguistics classes (Hualde 2006; Lipski 2006), research on the pedagogy of Hispanic linguistics is an underdeveloped or non-existent area of the discipline. Courses in Hispanic linguistics can present not only linguistic challenges for non-native speakers of Spanish, but also conceptual obstacles, for many students lack a background in linguistics as an academic subject. While some students might prefer a traditional lecture-style approach to the course “Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics,” the authors advocate for a student-centered, hands-on approach to the course and recommend that instructors of this course seriously consider incorporating collaborative learning techniques, as well as some or all of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, particularly those relating to all genres of communication.

La singular prostitución de La Regenta

Abstract: Los candentes debates y regulaciones que surgen en torno a la prostitucion a lo largo de las ultimas decadas del siglo XIX en Espana se vieron proyectados principalmente en las novelas de los llamados naturalistas radicales. Mi trabajo integra en este debate la voz de Leopoldo Alas. Planteo como Clarin participa en esta cuestion con La Regenta a raiz del estudio de Pierre Dufour, Historia de la prostitucion (1854). Para ello me baso en las tres referencias hechas del libro del historiador en la novela. A la luz de la obra de Dufour, La Regenta se aleja de la denominada prostitucion comercial e introduce otros tipos: la sagrada y algunos tintes de la hospitalaria, lo que aporta nuevas claves de interpretacion a la escena de la procesion de Semana Santa. Este estudio atiende a una prostitucion que escapa del ambito de lo marginal y se adentra en el burgues. La nocion de entrega sexual, esclavitud, escandalo y verguenza se reconfiguran en la marcha que Ana hace como nazarena, de ahi su sensacion de hallarse prostituida de una forma extrana.