Matching Items (48)
Description
Spanish is a pluricentric language spoken within the linguistic continuum with high variation. The understanding of the attitudes towards such variation with regard to its geography (diatopic variation) is key to capacitate its students and speakers as a foreign language to successfully communicate in changing and emerging transnational contexts. The research of linguistic attitudes is a topic that has traditionally been approached in Western contexts, with scholars requiring alternative research environments to provide a richer picture of this construct. China, given its steady growth in the number of Spanish as a foreign language students and its current role in the global, transnational arena, becomes a research environment where the study of linguistic attitudes gain even more relevance. Based on this reality, this study seeks to unveil the attitudes towards diatopic variation and towards the five most widely spoken diatopic varieties of Spanish (i.e., Mexico, Argentina, the United States, Spain, and Colombia) in Chinese students of initial level (n = 95) and their professors (n = 16). In doing so, this study collected data through (1) empirically validated questionnaires on attitudes towards diatopic variation, (2) perceptual dialectology tasks and (3) interviews.
The main findings of this research showed the presence of positive attitudes towards diatopic variation by students and teachers. Such attitudes can be explained in light of their previous sociolinguistic knowledge and their previous experience as learners of a second pluricentric language. Regarding the attitudes toward the most spoken varieties, this study showed that the variety associated with Spain was the best known by the observed students and teachers, and received the categorization of prestige variety by students. Teachers did not show affective or status assessments toward any of the diatopic varieties. Further analysis of these results, based on ethnolinguistic vitality , and the levels of familiarity of students/teachers with each variety, suggests that teaching expansive proposals from initial levels can provide a more inclusive view of the diatopic variation of the Spanish language in class.
The main findings of this research showed the presence of positive attitudes towards diatopic variation by students and teachers. Such attitudes can be explained in light of their previous sociolinguistic knowledge and their previous experience as learners of a second pluricentric language. Regarding the attitudes toward the most spoken varieties, this study showed that the variety associated with Spain was the best known by the observed students and teachers, and received the categorization of prestige variety by students. Teachers did not show affective or status assessments toward any of the diatopic varieties. Further analysis of these results, based on ethnolinguistic vitality , and the levels of familiarity of students/teachers with each variety, suggests that teaching expansive proposals from initial levels can provide a more inclusive view of the diatopic variation of the Spanish language in class.
ContributorsAlgue-i-Sala, Lluis (Author) / Beaudrie, Sara (Thesis advisor) / Gradoville, Michael (Committee member) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
After continuous transnational migrations to Spain in the last few decades, a second generation of migrants has begun to experience an identity struggle as a result of the tensions between their culture of origin and the prevailing local customs and values. As such, this places them in what is called a third space. Considering the concept of imagined communities as advanced by Benedict Anderson, this dissertation contextualizes the testimonies of women from three migrant origin communities –Morocco, Equatorial Guinea, and China– to understand their way of inclusion and belonging.The study explores the works of Najat El Hachmi, Laila Karrouch, Miriam Hatibi, Lucia Mbomio, Carolina Nve Díaz San Francisco, Desiree Bela-Lobedde and Quan Zhou Wu. It includes fictional narrative, documentary, graphic novel and journalism. The discourse by Moroccan origin authors relates the discrimination that they experience to the tension between the dominant culture and the intersectional feminism with which they identify. Marianne Hirsch’s concept of postmemory enriches the understanding and helps to define the ongoing generational trauma, afropessimism, of women of Equatoguinean origin as a result of their experiences of colonialism and racism. Finally, Chinese-Spanish women write of discrimination in their close circles as a result of being heritage speakers, and also by being subjugated to their male counterparties in the family hierarchy.
ContributorsBeltran de Heredia Carmona, Edurne (Author) / Garcia Fernandez, Carlos Javier CJGF (Thesis advisor) / Hernandez, Manuel de Jesus MH (Committee member) / Horan, Elizabeth EH (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Drawing on previous empirical works in the field of Intercultural Competence (ICC) and telecollaboration (Chun, 2011; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Furstenberg, 2004; Schulz, 2007), this study investigates how a completion of Cultura Project tasks in L1 and L2 helped to determine students' cultural values and behaviors, find out how their mental lexicons are structured, and assess a state of their critical cultural awareness. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Byram's (1997) work on ICC. As a part of their course work, Spanish language learners from a lower-division class participate in three Cultura Project tasks and provided their comments afterwards. The findings revealed cultural values and believes of the participants, as well as the organization of their mental lexicons. Moreover, the findings illustrated how the level of critical cultural awareness, as one of the components of ICC, could be assessed using the rubrics developed based on Byram's (1997) work on ICC and Bloom's (1990) revised taxonomy of learning skills. The results of the study contributed to the field of SLA on what is known about the roles of culturally-based questionnaires in critical cultural awareness assessment and the structure of mental lexicons of L2 learners.
ContributorsVaskivska, Tetiana (Author) / Lafford, Barbara A. (Thesis advisor) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / González-López, Verónica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Curricular Design in Languages for Specific Purposes: The Case of a Needs Analysis for the Design of a Spanish for Pharmacists Course is a thesis project that argues for the creation of a Spanish course for pharmacists based in the model of Languages for Specific Purposes courses. In order to do this, a needs analysis was conducted by surveying and interviewing a pharmacist and medical Spanish instructor. Based on these results, objectives, activities, and evaluation criteria were created for such a course. The needs analysis found that Spanish use in a pharmacy is not limited to one ability or task, but rather an integration of many such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This course would be an invaluable addition to pharmacy schools in the United States due to the growing Hispanic population across the country.
ContributorsFrazier, Victoria E (Author) / Lafford, Barbara (Thesis director) / Petersen, Michelle (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
This paper seeks to propose a new accelerated French course within the School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University for students who are previously fluent in Spanish. French and Spanish are both Romance languages and exhibit many lexical and structural similarities. Students learning French with a Spanish background would be able to draw on prior knowledge to learn their target language faster and with fewer credits. This paper serves as a preliminary proposal offering background research on third language acquisition as well as the rationale for the course. French for Spanish speakers would present numerous benefits to both students and the university. Students would gain access to increased fast-paced French learning, which can offer career opportunities and cognitive benefits later in life. Furthermore, the School of International Letters and Cultures would be able to use this innovative course to draw students into French programs. Research was conducted regarding the current environment of language courses offered at Arizona State University to show how this new course would fit in. Additionally, the two existing cases of French for Spanish speakers courses offered in the United States were considered in creating this proposal. Also included in the paper are the following specific course suggestions: a textbook to be used in a flipped classroom setting, pre-requisite courses, as well as proficiency expectations for the end of one semester taken from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. If implemented, Arizona State would become the third university in the country to offer this innovative course, which could be highly successful.
ContributorsGarza, Amanda Maria (Author) / Bahtchevanova, Mariana (Thesis director) / Bezerra, Ligia (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Hiatus resolution, also explained by vowel sequence realization, occurs when a vowel sequence that occupies two syllables in normative speech is reduced to a monosyllabic sequence. In this study, vowel sequence realization was examined by measuring the duration of word-boundary vowel sequences in the speech of Spanish speakers from Cali and Barranquilla, Colombia. Four variables (speaker gender, regional variety, speaking rate, and two-word string frequency) were analyzed to determine their effects on the duration of the unstressed vowel sequences , , , and .
ContributorsO'Connor, Christopher (Author) / Gradoville, Michael (Thesis director) / Walton-Ramirez, Anne (Committee member) / File-Muriel, Richard (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Over the centuries, definite articles in Romance languages have expanded their use to include generic, collective, and abstract nouns, essentially becoming noun markers. This usage is not confined to just a few languages, either, but is found in most, if not all, Romance languages, major and minor. This thesis examines the question of how this came to be, whether through diffusion from one language to all others, or through independent parallel development. I first trace the history of definite articles in three major Romance languages, French, Spanish, and Italian, starting with the emergence of the definite article in Late Latin as it derived from Classic Latin demonstratives. It includes an analysis of the use of definite articles in six works of literature, one in each language from the late thirteenth century, and one in each language from around the year 1500. The results show definite articles were used more frequently than expected in the earlier Spanish work, perhaps hinting at diffusion from Spain. Nevertheless, placing these results in historical context, I argue that this use arose through independent parallel development through the process that gave birth to definite articles in the first place - grammaticalization.
ContributorsPerry, Mabry (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Pruitt, Kathryn (Committee member) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Technology (i.e. the WhatsApp mobile application) can play a positive role in a student’s language and culture learning when it is used in collaboration with a language curriculum that uses a modular framework. When technology tools are used in an intensive language learning environment, those mobile devices will allow students certain affordances (like modifying, authoring, and reviewing content) as well as opportunities to work independently (e.g., create their own content to demonstrate cultural understanding) and/or to reflect upon cross-cultural issues that impact their intercultural sensitivity (Lee, 2011). Barker (2016) adds that cultural discussions performed during a student’s language learning process can lead to intercultural sensitivity development and learning if done communicatively and in engaging environments. In this study, participants intensely interacted in a three week immersion experience where they used WhatsApp to communicate with each other, with their instructors, and with their host families by completing tasks in three modules that were a part of an Advanced Spanish Conversation and Culture Course.
The argument in this study is that if WhatsApp is well integrated into the course activities and curriculum of an upper level Spanish university course while abroad, the students will use more innovative ways to communicate, thus, allowing for more intercultural sensitivity growth. In this study, the author analyzed the intercultural sensitivity development and Spanish language use of twelve university level students as they learned Spanish in a 13 week study abroad program abroad in Segovia, Spain. The goal of the study was to gauge how effectively the students communicated with one another while simultaneously measuring their intercultural sensitivity growth to see if the integration of the mobile app, WhatsApp, had any effect on their intercultural learning capabilities. The author analyzed data from twelve learners’ interactions while they studied abroad in a country that they were mostly unfamiliar with. As a result of WhatsApp’s various modalities and capabilities, the findings showed that all of the 12 students showed modest intercultural sensitivity growth along the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Bennett, 1993) to assist them in more effectively communicating in the target language about the host culture.
The argument in this study is that if WhatsApp is well integrated into the course activities and curriculum of an upper level Spanish university course while abroad, the students will use more innovative ways to communicate, thus, allowing for more intercultural sensitivity growth. In this study, the author analyzed the intercultural sensitivity development and Spanish language use of twelve university level students as they learned Spanish in a 13 week study abroad program abroad in Segovia, Spain. The goal of the study was to gauge how effectively the students communicated with one another while simultaneously measuring their intercultural sensitivity growth to see if the integration of the mobile app, WhatsApp, had any effect on their intercultural learning capabilities. The author analyzed data from twelve learners’ interactions while they studied abroad in a country that they were mostly unfamiliar with. As a result of WhatsApp’s various modalities and capabilities, the findings showed that all of the 12 students showed modest intercultural sensitivity growth along the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Bennett, 1993) to assist them in more effectively communicating in the target language about the host culture.
ContributorsAshe Jr, Timothy (Author) / Beaudrie, Sara (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Bryan (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / García-Fernández, Carlos Javier (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020