An analysis of sempre, mesmo and bem:Brazilian Portuguese word order as applied to EFL instruction

The aim of this paper is to present a contrastive analysis of three high frequency words, sempre ‘always’, mesmo ‘even/really’, and bem ‘well’, in order to inform the instruction of Brazilian Portuguese speakers in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. This work is largely inspired by Ambar, (2008) who compares these same three adverbs’ semantic and syntactic expression in European and Brazilian Portuguese. A multifactorial approach (Costa, 2004) to the analysis of these English/Brazilian Portuguese words demonstrates how the syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning) are inextricably linked and interdependent. While this paper focuses on adverbs, the analysis extends to include the analysis of mesmo as intensifier and adjective in order to clarifying this issue for English language instruction. The findings reveal that in order for Portuguese speakers to avoid common errors influenced by their first language (L1), they will need to understand these syntax-semantic relationships. For example, sempre ‘always’ in Portuguese allows an additional ‘correlation of events’ interpretation, four distinct interpretations of mesmo ‘really/even’ in Portuguese translate to four different English words, and an evaluative reading of bem ‘well’ requires a change in emphasis and intonation in English. A discussion of these results suggests that pedagogical practices which focus on both form and meaning are key for successful adverb use by second language learners

What Students Do with Words: Language Use and Communicative Function in Full and Partial Immersion Classrooms

Over the past 35 years, language immersion programs have been steadily increasing in number throughout the U.S. The popularity of these diverse, linguistically complex educational programs has led to a rather extensive body of research on language immersion and dual language contexts. Research, however, has thus far focused primarily on the quantification of language use (the amount of target language versus first language use) in different settings and with different interlocutors. Very few studies have probed the interesting and significant sociolinguistic question of what students ‘do’ with languages in the classroom. The present study fills this research gap by investigating the communicative functions of student language use in full and partial Spanish immersion classrooms among kindergarten, first and second graders. Twelve hours of recorded spontaneous classroom speech were analyzed for communicative functions. The results show that contrary to the existing research, students in this classroom use Spanish for a wide variety of communicative functions. These findings suggest that previous depictions of the diglossic classroom speech community may be influenced by the concept of figured worlds (Holland et. al., 1998), whereby our imagined typical immersion classroom differs from the actual reality of student language use

Linguistic Terrorism in the Borderlands: Language Ideologies in the Narratives of Young Adults in the Rio Grande Valley

In the U.S./Mexico borderlands, local language varieties face frequent discrimination and delegitimization or “linguistic terrorism.” The present study uses the three-level positioning framework to analyze how young adults in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in south Texas construct borderland identities by positioning themselves with respect to “linguistic terrorism” in sociolinguistic interviews. In their narratives, young adults enact, ascribe, and accept but also reject, subvert, and reconstitute language ideologies, including national identities, raciolinguistic ideologies, and standard language ideologies. An understanding of these multiple and contradictory borderland positionalities holds important implications for critical language awareness as a way for language educators to counter “linguistic terrorism” in both physical and metaphorical borderlands

Dominant Discourses and Language Socialization in the Literacy Practices of a Spanish-Speaking Church

Over the years, research has investigated language in communities, schools and homes, community programs and to a lesser degree research investigates language use in religious communities. In particular, there is a lack of research on religious language and literacy practices in Hispanic communities, especially those in the United States, although incipient work has revealed the importance of religious literacy among women Mexican immigrants (Farr, 2000) and for the socialization of children into a Mexican identity (Baquedano-López, 1997). Given the hostile local sociopolitical environment of Spanish in the state of Arizona in the Southwestern United States, the church is one of the few contexts in which Hispanic communities maintain Spanish, especially Spanish literacy. The present study investigates a Spanish-speaking church in the Southwest of the United States through ethnographic and participant observation methods. Observations, field notes and transcribed audio-recordings of literacy practices in this context over the course of one year were analyzed based on dominant Discourses (Gee, 2008) and language socialization. The analysis demonstrates how a dominant Discourse of “holiness” is produced and reproduced within the community adherence to authoritative texts and socialization into specific community literacy practices such as scripture reading, directing worship services and interpretation of Biblical stories

Comparing native speaker ratings and quantitative measures of oral proficiency in IELTS interviews

Research on second language acquisition has used various quantitative and qualitative measures to assess oral proficiency, yet there is little empirical research comparing these measures. Comparisons between quantitative measures and native speaker ratings are especially rare. Four of the most common quantitative measurements applied in L2 research include the type-token ratio as a measure of lexical diversity; the T-unit as a measure of syntactic complexity; the error-free t-unit as a measure of grammatical accuracy; and average speech rate as a measure of fluency. The present study compares these four quantitative measures of oral proficiency and one qualitative measure of oral proficiency, i.e., native speaker ratings, based on the speech of three non-native English speakers during the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) oral interview. The results indicate that measures of syntactic complexity and speed fluency correlate with native speaker ratings; however, the measure of lexical diversity does not correlate with the native speaker ratings. Interestingly, the measure of grammatical accuracy displays an inverse relationship to the native speaker ratings. These results are discussed in light of an accuracy-fluency continuum. This finding demonstrates the importance of careful consideration in determining which measure of oral proficiency is appropriate for a given research context

Mitigación del Impacto de las Opiniones de Desacuerdo en el Proceso de Revisión por Pares entre Estudiantes de una Segunda Lengua y Hablantes Nativos en una Clase de Escritura a Nivel Universitario

Peer review is now a commonplace practice in process-oriented writing instruction. A crucial aspect of peer review is assessing another classmate’s work, which encompasses the act of disagreement. Given its prevalence in the classroom, it is necessary to analyze how L2 learners mitigate disagreement in the context of peer review with other L2 learners and native speakers. The present paper presents a qualitative analysis of action research from an introductory English writing class at the university level including native speakers of English and international students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The conversation-based peer review sessions were analyzed for various mitigation strategies including token agreement, hedging, prefacing positive remarks and requests for clarification. The analysis shows that L2 learners and native speakers of English use similar mitigation strategies, and it demonstrates the coconstruction of meaning in peer review interactions.Actualmente la revisión por pares es una práctica común en la instrucción que orienta los procesos de escritura. Un aspecto importante de la revisión por pares, es evaluar el trabajo de otro compañero de clase, lo cual puede provocar opiniones de desacuerdo. Dada la incidencia de esta situación en el aula de clase, es necesario  analizar cómo los estudiantes de una segunda lengua pueden mitigar el impacto de las opiniones de desacuerdo generadas durante el ejercicio de revisión por pares con otros estudiantes de una segunda lengua y con hablantes nativos. Este artículo presenta un análisis cualitativo de un proyecto de investigación acción desarrollado en una clase introductoria de escritura de inglés a nivel universitario, con la participación de hablantes nativos de inglés  y estudiantes universitarios de diferentes orígenes lingüísticos y culturales. El análisis de las conversaciones generadas durante el proceso de revisión por pares fue realizado teniendo en cuenta diversas estrategias de mitigación, entre ellas, llegar a acuerdos simbólicos, manifestar con cortesía la opinión de desacuerdo, realizar comentarios positivos,  y solicitar clarificación. El análisis muestra que los estudiantes de una L2 y los hablantes nativos de inglés usan estrategias de mitigación similares y demuestra la construcción conjunta de significado en las interacciones del proceso de revisión por pares

An Ecological View of Language Choice in a Bilingual Program: A Dynamic Model of Social Structures

The present paper proposes a Dynamic Model of Social Structures as a model of language choice which highlights and synthesizes two significant themes repeated throughout the history of language choice research: agency and function. This model stems from ecological frameworks advanced in the fields of language planning (Hornberger, 2002) and language learning (Lam, 2007). Central to the model is the notion of language as a social structure (Gafaranga, 2005) among infinite other social structures (e.g., broader society, social network, local context, and individual linguistic behaviors). The Dynamic Model of Social Structures integrates the concept of agency and function in demonstrating how social structures influence one another and how individuals enact social identities through the discursive functions of their individual language choices. Research from a primary school Spanish immersion program in Arizona illustrates the application of this model and its value as a framework especially suited for classroom language choice research

COMPARACIÓN DE LA EVALUACIÓN DE HABLANTES NATIVOS CON LOS INDICADORES CUANTITATIVOS EN LA ENTREVISTA DE IELTS

Research on second language acquisition has used various quantitative and qualitative measures to assess oral proficiency, yet there is little empirical research comparing these measures. Comparisons between quantitative measures and native speaker ratings are especially rare. Four of the most common quantitative measurements applied in L2 research include the type-token ratio as a measure of lexical diversity; the T-unit as a measure of syntactic complexity; the error-free t-unit as a measure of grammatical accuracy; and average speech rate as a measure of fluency. The present study compares these four quantitative measures of oral proficiency and one qualitative measure of oral proficiency, i.e., native speaker ratings, based on the speech of three non-native English speakers during the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) oral  interview. The results indicate that measures of syntactic complexity and speed fluency correlate with native speaker ratings; however, the measure of lexical diversity does not correlate with the native speaker ratings. Interestingly, the measure of grammatical accuracy displays an inverse relationship to the native speaker ratings. These results are discussed in light of an accuracy-fluency continuum. This finding demonstrates the importance of careful consideration in determining which measure of oral proficiency is appropriate for a given research context.Las investigaciones sobre la adquisición de segundas lenguas (L2) han utilizado varios indicadores cuantitativos y cualitativos para medir la competencia oral. Sin embargo, hay poca investigación empírica que compare dichas medidas. De hecho, las comparaciones con los referentes de hablantes nativos son especialmente raras. Cuatro de los indicadores cuantitativos que se aplican con mayor frecuencia en las investigaciones de L2 incluyen la proporción type-token como medida de la diversidad léxica; el T-unit como medida de la complejidad sintáctica; el error-free t-unit como medida de la precisión gramatical; y la velocidad media de habla como medida de la fluidez. El presente estudio muestra una comparación de cuatro indicadores de competencia oral basadas en el habla de tres hablantes no nativos de inglés durante la entrevista oral del International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Los resultados indican que los indicadores de complejidad y fluidez sintácticas se correlacionan con los valores de hablantes nativos; sin embargo, las medidas de precisión gramatical y diversidad léxica no se correlacionan con los valores de hablantes nativos. De hecho, la medida de precisión gramatical muestra una relación inversa con respecto a los valores de hablantes nativos. Dichos resultados se analizan bajo la perspectiva del continuo precisión-fluidez. Este resultado demuestra la importancia de determinar cuidadosamente qué medida de competencia oral es apropriada para un contexto de Investigación.Research on second language acquisition has used various quantitative and qualitative measures to assess oral proficiency, yet there is little empirical research comparing these measures. Comparisons between quantitative measures and native speaker ratings are especially rare. Four of the most common quantitative measurements applied in L2 research include the type-token ratio as a measure of lexical diversity; the T-unit as a measure of syntactic complexity; the error-free t-unit as a measure of grammatical accuracy; and average speech rate as a measure of fluency. The present study compares these four quantitative measures of oral proficiency and one qualitative measure of oral proficiency, i.e., native speaker ratings, based on the speech of three non-native English speakers during the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) oral  interview. The results indicate that measures of syntactic complexity and speed fluency correlate with native speaker ratings; however, the measure of lexical diversity does not correlate with the native speaker ratings. Interestingly, the measure of grammatical accuracy displays an inverse relationship to the native speaker ratings. These results are discussed in light of an accuracy-fluency continuum. This finding demonstrates the importance of careful consideration in determining which measure of oral proficiency is appropriate for a given research context. 

On playful language divergences. Code-switching among Spanish-Portuguese bilinguals

Uruguayan Portuguese, a variety of Portuguese which occurs in contact with Spanish in northern Uruguay along the Uruguayan-Brazilian border, has been perceived to be a mix of Portuguese and Spanish, in which speakers are either unable to separate languages or engage in code-switching for pragmatic purposes. Here, we analyze in-group communication using visual and verbal data extracted from video recordings of conversations among bilinguals in northern Uruguay, in order to investigate whether all language mixing is random or if speakers engage in pragmatically meaningful code-switching. We identify instances where Portuguese was inserted into Spanish segments with the intention to shift the frame from serious to non-serious, and offer a sequential analysis of code-switches which, together with gestures and prosody, clearly function to perform irony, sarcasm, disparagement, and teasing. This analysis illustrates how speakers draw on their bilingual repertoire to enact playful roles, adding to previous literature that has shown that despite prolonged bilingualism, the distinction between cognate languages is available for the manipulation of discourse functions, such as the construction of humor. - El portugués uruguayo, una variedad en contacto con el español en el norte de Uruguay en la frontera con Brasil, ha sido clasificado como una mezcla de lenguas, y sus hablantes como incapaces de separar los idiomas o usar la alternancia entre ellos con propósitos pragmáticos. Ese estudio utiliza datos verbales y visuales extraídos de grabaciones de video de conversaciones entre grupos de amigos y familiares bilingües, con el propósito de investigar si todas las alternancias de códigos son en realidad al azar o si los hablantes las usan como recursos pragmáticos. Los resultados muestran ocasiones donde los hablantes cambian del español al portugués con la intención de alterar el marco de la conversación de serio a no-serio. A través de un análisis secuencial de alternancias, acompañadas de gestos y prosodia, se muestra claramente cómo los hablantes usan la alternancia como recurso lingüístico en la construcción pragmática de ironía, sarcasmo, menosprecio y burla. Se concluye que los hablantes usan su repertorio bilingüe en la ejecución de roles chistosos, lo que apoya el argumento que, a pesar de un largo periodo de bilingüismo, la distinción entre las lenguas cognadas sigue siendo un recurso pragmático disponible, como por ejemplo en la construcción del humor

Student perceptions of community-engaged scholarship courses: Developing a sociolinguistic corpus on the U.S.–Mexico Border

The well-documented benefits of community engagement experiences have resulted in its incorporation across a wide variety of disciplines, from health care (Alexander et al., 2020) to aviation science (Belt & Sweetman, 2021) to statistics (Schanz & Giles, 2021). The field of sociolinguistics is no exception with plentiful examples of community-engaged scholarship (CES) or “research of mutual benefit to community and academic interests” (Delugan et al., 2014, p. 155). One way that linguistics and language courses have integrated CES is through the development of community-based sociolinguistic corpora or collections of informal interviews with community members. In these courses, students are trained in sociolinguistic methods as research assistants to conduct, transcribe, and analyze sociolinguistic interviews. Although personal experience and practitioner reports attest to the benefits of students participating in building sociolinguistic corpora, there has been little research documenting student perceptions. Additionally, there is a dearth of research on CES experiences involving underrepresented college students, including students of color, first-generation students, and low-income students. The present study examines the perceptions of underrepresented college students on CES courses where they participate in developing a community-based sociolinguistic corpus