RLA. Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada

Presentación

Anita Ferreira — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

El volumen 61 (1) - 2023 de la Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada (RLA) lo integran ocho artículos, variados en su temática, provenientes de autores extranjeros y nacionales. El espectro de los trabajos, como es el sello de RLA desde su primer volumen del año 1962, abarca diversas interdisciplinas de la lingüística aplicada y teórica.

A SCOPING REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENJOYMENT (2014-2021): PANORAMA, MEASUREMENT AND NOMOLOGICAL NETWORK

CARLOS FERNÁNDEZ-GONZÁLEZ — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The purpose ofthis scoping review is to offer an overview ofthe empirical research on foreign language enjoyment (FLE), an emerging construct in the field of Applied Linguistics. After a first search across 15 databases and a second one applying the snowballing technique, 130 empirical studies published between 2014 and 2021 were included in the review. Among other results, the analysis of 20 bibliometric and methodological variables revealed a steady increase in the number of studies on FLE over the last seven years (Mdn = 2020), particularly in Asian contexts (n = 89, 68 %), and a clear predominance of the quantitative (n = 67) and mixed (n = 51) approaches over the qualitative research paradigm (n = 12). In order to measure the levels of FLE, operationalized as a unidimensional, bidimensional or tridimensional construct, the majority of the studies have used one of the five most well-known scales (n = 77), while the rest have used adapted versions or (very) different instruments. Complementarily, a total of 133 variables analyzed in relation to FLE were identified, classified in two groups (85 learner-internal variables, 48 learner-external variables) and six subgroups (22 linguistic and demographic, 37 motivational, 9 emotional and 17 personality variables, 25 professor- and 23 context-related variables) and ordered by their frequency of inclusion in the studies. Having found several problematic or still under-explored aspects, the study concludes with some suggestions for future research on FLE.

SEXUAL EDUCATION IN ARGENTINE SCHOOLS: DISCURSIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

GABRIEL DVOSKIN, SOFÍA ANSALDO — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The aim of this article is to analyze, within the framework of Discourse Analysis (Hodge & Kress, 1979; Martin & White, 2005) the first collection of textbooks developed for specific high school subjects in Argentina that incorporated Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE; ESI in spanish) as a distinctive feature. The Llaves más collection, published by Estación Mandioca, is the focus of our study, particularly the materials for the subjects Language and Literature and History in the first year of secondary education. Our aim is to investigate how CSE is integrated into the specific content of each discipline and what social representations about gender and sexuality are conveyed in these textbooks. To achieve this, in the first stage of the research, we analyze the ideational function of language in the syntactic-semantic dimension of the texts; and in a second stage, we examine the semantic-discursive dimension of the texts in order to analyze the identities that the speaker configures of themselves and their addressees, as well as the attitude they assume towards the different voices and discursive positions evoked.

USING CORPORA IN LANGUAGE TEACHING: THE CASE OF SEAH PROJECT

CLAUDIA COLANTINO — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The corpus-based approach to linguistics and language education has gained prominence over the past decades: this article reports on applying the findings of corpus-based linguistics especially to the learning of a language for specific purposes (LSP). The lack of proficiency in academic language for the study of the specialist sector often constitutes an obstacle to student mobility and may limit the acquisition of technical and professional knowledge during the period of the Erasmus stay in the host institution. The article outlines practical considerations for the integration of language corpora in the learning of the LSP in the field of Architecture and Construction (AC), presenting not only the Sharing European Architecture Heritage (SEAH) project, but also an academic-professional language module based on Spanish.

WEBQUESTS TO PROMOTE ORAL COMPREHENSION AND REDUCE ANXIETY IN FLIPPED LEARNING AND IN TRADITIONAL ENGLISH CLASSES: A MIXED METHOD STUDY

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Online education has become a necessity and blended approaches have gained momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic. Nowadays, the use of online resources combined with traditional strategies is being widely adopted in education. The new scenario is outpacing theoretical frameworks and research results, and empirical data is needed to assess the effectiveness of new teaching modalities to promote learners' achievement. In the field of language teaching, there is a paucity of studies offering empirical data on the use of combined educational strategies. The current paper aims to investigate the effect of WebQuests in two settings -Traditional (face-to-face) classes and flipped learning classes- on improving English listening skills and decreasing L2 listening anxiety. The study adopts a quasi-experimental design, with 96 participants of preparatory education learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Egypt. Three groups were selected randomly: The first experimental group used WebQuests in flipped learning; the second experimental group studied with WebQuests in a traditional (face-to-face) setting; and the control group studied through regular teaching with no WebQuests. A pre-test was used to assess students' L2 listening competence in the three groups. After the intervention, a post-test was given to the three groups to explore the improvement in their listening skills. Additionally, a pre-and-post foreign language listening anxiety questionnaire was used to check the effect of WebQuests on decreasing listening anxiety in the English classroom. The results showed that WebQuests are efficient strategies in teaching English, but the results are more significant in flipped learning.

NEEDS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE ELABORATION OF A CULTURAL DICTIONAR Y (SPANISH-CHINESE) IN THE CONTEXT OF MEDIA CONVERGENCE

YUN LUAN — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The present work intends to verify the need for a dictionary (Spanish-Chinese) specialized in teaching and learning of language and culture, and to reflect on the innovations of structure and functions that are required for the elaboration of dictionaries, in the context of media convergence. Through a survey based on two questionnaires, the practices, needs and lexicographical expectations of Chinese students, in terms of their learning of the language and culture, have been observed. From the results obtained, it can be deduced that no dictionary available to students integrates everything necessary for its use and cultural/pragmatic information, and multimedia or multimodality resources are the aspects least addressed in current dictionaries. The results also show that the need to be able to communicate with the editor and lexicographical, the function of linking relative information by establishing links and relationships between different concepts, and the inclusion of exhaustive information and of different modalities in each entry, as well as the accessibility and ease of handling, are the features that students believe dictionaries should have properly today. For this reason, in this work, the need and tendency to apply media convergence to the design of dictionary structure have also been verified with the expectation of applying this technology in future lines of research.

A STUDY OF READING AND WRITTEN SKILLS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS THROUGH SYNTHESIS TASKS

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The present research compares the reading and writing skills of students from two Spanish universities at the beginning and at the end of their studies of Graduate in Primary Education Teaching. An exploratory research design with cross-sectional observations was selected to replace the absence of random assignment. From the inferential statistical analysis of the data, collected through a questionnaire and a test of basic reading comprehension skills that requires the performance of two synthesis tasks, it can be seen that there are no significant differences between study groups. The results obtained show a lower level of comprehension competence than expected for university students, due to their difficulties in identifying important ideas at paragraph level and in organizing these ideas hierarchically by elaborating a concept map. It is observed that these students, regardless of the stage of their education and the university in which they are enrolled, do not use adequate task models that allow them to obtain satisfactory results. These findings may be of interest for university institutions responsible for initial teacher training to analyze the reading comprehension skills of their students, as well as to develop teacher training plans in this area.

ENGLISH PEDAGOGY STUDENTS' MOTIVATIONS TOWARDS THE C1 ADVANCED TEST AS A TOOL TO MEASURE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The following study aims to explore and describe the opinions and motivations of senior English pedagogy undergraduate students from a private university in Chile towards the C1 Advanced test, a standardized English language proficiency test by Cambridge. In order to answer the research questions, a study following both a quantitative and qualitative approach with a descriptive design was carried out. This included a questionnaire that was completed by 82 students from four different regions where the English pedagogy program has current students enrolled. The main results show that students nationwide generally agree with the importance of taking international standardized English language proficiency test, although there are some discrepancies among the degree of agreement among students from different regions. Students also indicate high levels of anxiety, stress, and nerves as driving feelings they experience leading up to taking the exam.

BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF IMMIGRANT SCHOOLCHILDREN IN CHILEAN EDUCATION: AN APPROACH FROM THE APPRAISAL SYSTEM

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

This Collective Case Design describes the evaluative resources produced by fourteen immigrant schoolchildren, who construct a narrative discourse shaped by their experiences, educational transitions and academic-professional expectations. For this purpose, in-depth interviews and a collective participatory methodology, both of a biographical-narrative nature, were carried out. Positioned from the APPRAISAL system, the semantic-discursive component of ATTITUDE and its three levels of expression are examined: AFFECT, JUDGMENT! and APPRECIATION. The results highlight the incidence of factors such as: family support, racism, the role of teachers and the expectations of university education and access to work. These elements emerge as key variables in the educational transitions of those immigrant students who have experienced changes in culture and space.