Request formation in Ecuadorian Quichua

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Colonial differences in intercultural education: on interculturality in the Andes and the decolonization of intercultural dialogue

This article pushes for the possibility of alternative ways of thinking about the concept of interculturality depending on where and by whom it is being articulated (the geopolitics and body politic of knowledge). To illustrate this, the focus is shifted away from the policies of the European Union and UNESCO to the Andean region of Latin America where the notion of interculturalidad is not only a subject on the educational agenda but has also become a core component of indigenous social movements’ demands for decolonization. Part of the argument of this article is that interculturalidad, with its roots in the historical experience of colonialism and in the particular, rather than in assertions of universality, offers a perspective on interculturality that relies on other epistemologies. It concludes by arguing that interculturality should be seen as interepistemic rather than simply intercultural

Regional pragmatic variation in the use of the discourse marker pues in informal talk among university students in Quito (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile) and Seville (Spain)

The discourse marker pues in spoken Spanish has been studied extensively in Peninsular Spanish (cf. Fuentes Rodríguez 1987; Portolés 1989; Garcés Gómez 1992). There is also a growing body of studies on pues in Latin American varieties of Spanish (cf. Zavala 2001; Travis 2005; Vázquez Carranza 2013). Less attention, however, has been given to this discourse marker in Chilean and Ecuadorian Spanish (cf. Poblete 1998; Olbertz 2013). Taking a variational pragmatics perspective (Schneider and Barron 2008; Placencia 2011; Schneider and Placencia forthcoming), this paper examines the impact of region in the use of pues among university students in Quito (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile) and Seville (Spain). It is based on a corpus of 60 role-play interactions within each location eliciting advice-giving and complaint talk in –SD (social distance) –P (power) scenarios. The paper looks at variation in relation to form, position and distribution relating to turns and sections of the conversations. It also looks at the function of pues across data sets, noting its use as both a connector and an operator (Fuentes Rodríguez 2003, 2009), and thus highlighting the close interconnection between position and discursive function. Some shared features as well as features of variation were observed. Concerning function, for example, pues was found to occur as both a connector and an operator across varieties; however, we found a clear preponderance of pues as an operator in Quito and Santiago, and of pues as a connector in Seville

On the typology of motion events in Aymara

This paper investigates the lexicalization pattern of motion events in Aymara, an Andean language spoken in Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. After providing a description of the morphosyntax of translational motion events, this study aims at a preliminary typological classification of Aymara within the framework of Talmy’s typology (Talmy 2000). With this purpose, three diagnostic tests have been used to determine the basic framing-typology of motion events. These tests consider i) the size of manner-of-motion lexicon and, more broadly, the degree of manner salience, ii) the complex-path constructions and the use of ‘plus-ground’ clauses, iii) the expression of boundary-crossing. The results of this analysis are in line with predictions of expected values according to Talmian typology, and suggest that Aymara is a predominantly satellite-framed language

Affordances of Historic Urban Landscapes: an Ecological Understanding of Human Interaction with the Past

Heritage has been defined differently in European contexts. Despite differences, a common challenge for historic urban landscape management is the integration of tangible and intangible heritage. Integration demands an active view of perception and human-landscape interaction where intangible values are linked to specific places and meanings are attached to particular cultural practices and socio-spatial organisation. Tangible and intangible values can be examined as part of a system of affordances (potentialities) a place, artefact or cultural practice has to offer. This paper discusses how an ‘affordance analysis’ may serve as a useful tool for the management of historic urban landscapes