Exploring Male and Female Voices through Epistemic Modality and Evidentiality in Some Modern English Travel Texts on the Canaries

This article describes authorial voice through evidential and epistemic sentential devices in a corpus of 19th and early 20th century travel texts. The corpus contains four works written by female travellers and the other four by men. Therefore, apart from providing a catalogue of the strategies deployed by the authors in order to mark modality and evidentiality, we also report on expected differences in their frequencies of use in relation to the writer’s gender. In addition, the interest of this study lies in the fact that, to the best of our knowledge, no research on writer stance has previously been carried out in texts belonging to the genre of travel writing

Exploring the dynamics of English/Spanish codeswitching in a written corpus

This investigation is part of a much larger ongoing research project which approaches a corpus of popular romance fiction novels from a multidisciplinary perspective. The paper focuses on the usage of Spanish words and expressions in the English written discourse of two samples of romances taken from the corpus we are compiling for Research Project FFI2014-53962-P. When analyzing the occurrences of Hispanicisms in the samples, we will specifically address the issues of both their forms and the different socio-pragmatic functions that these cases of language switching seem to play. It is only recently that scholars have studied the patterns of codeswitching in literary writing, but, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no previous research has focused on codeswitching in this particular subgenre, which has always been doubly stigmatized for being both popular and feminine.Funding received from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) for Research Project FFI2014-53962-P, Discursos, género e identidad en un corpus de novella rosa inglesa ambientada en Canarias y otras islas atlánticas, is hereby gratefully acknowledged

La pragmática y la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras: una propuesta docente

This paper examines the important role that pragmatics is playing nowadays, not only as a young flourishing linguistic discipline, but also as an academic subject in most Spanish universities. Its significant contribution as a complement for foreign language students (particularly for EFL students), who need to consolidate their language learning process and their linguistic tools, justifies the inclusion of pragmatics -one of the latest scientific paradigms in language studies- in the new curricula dealing with languages that are being designed for the forthcoming Common European Framework. After teaching this subject for a number of years, we propose a syllabus for a university subject on pragmatics and offer a brief annotated bibliography that can be of use for the teaching of both the theoretical and practical issues related to the discipline. A selection of some of the supporting comments made by our university students after finishing their course on pragmatics is also included.El presente artículo analiza el importante papel que juega la pragmática en nuestros días, no sólo como una nueva disciplina en auge, sino también como una asignatura del currículum académico de la mayor parte de las universidades españolas. La inclusión de la pragmática (uno de los paradigmas más recientes en los estudios sobre la lengua) en los nuevos grados EEES que incluyen el estudio de lenguas se justifica por la importante contribución que supone como complemento para los estudiantes de lenguas extranjeras (en particular para los estudiantes de EFL) que necesitan consolidar su proceso de aprendizaje lingüístico y sus herramientas lingüísticas.Tras enseñar esta asignatura durante varios años, proponemos un programa para un curso académico de pragmática y ofrecemos una breve bibliografía anotada que puede ser útil para enseñar tanto los aspectos teóricos como los prácticos relacionados con esta disciplina. Se incluye también una selección de los comentarios que nuestros estudiantes universitarios realizaron a final de curso

Anglicização do lazer: a presença multimodal do inglês em anúncios televisivos espanhóis

This paper examines the presence of English in a corpus of commercials recorded from four Spanish TV channels with high audience shares between 2013 and 2015. We aim to contribute to the study of the dynamics of the usage of anglicisms in Spain. Drawing data from a wider sociolinguistic research project, our analysis will focus on the corpus of adverts related to three specific fields which have to do with recreational activities, namely, technology, entertainment, and food and drinks. In addition to the linguistic level, the audiovisual modes of communication will also be explored. This multimodal analysis will not only provide a record of the different types of lexical anglicisms employed, but will also reveal the significant role of the audiovisual mode in the transfer of linguistic material and socio-cultural values of the English-speaking world.Keywords: anglicisms, TV advertising, sociolinguistics, European Spanish.Este artigo analisa a presença do inglês em um corpus de anúncios comerciais gravados entre 2013 e 2015, a partir de quatro canais de televisão espanhóis com índices de audiência elevados. O nosso objetivo é contribuir para o estudo das dinâmicas de uso de anglicismos em Espanhol. A partir de dados de um projeto de pesquisa sociolinguística mais amplo, a amostra sobre a qual incidirá a nossa análise relaciona-se com três domínios específicos, que estão associadas com atividades de divertimento, a saber: tecnologia, entretenimento, alimentação e bebidas. Além do nível linguístico, serão explorados os modos de comunicação audiovisuais. Esta análise multimodal irá não só pôr em evidência diferentes tipos de anglicismos lexicais utilizados, como também mostrar o papel significativo do modo audiovisual na transferência de material linguístico e de valores socioculturais veiculados pela língua inglesa.Palavras-chave: anglicismos, anúncios comerciais, sociolinguística, Espanhol Europeu

Attitudes to Language and Culture in the EFL Classroom: British versus American English?

The main purpose of this article is to report on the results of an empirical study carried out among the students of English Philology at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University in order to elicit data about their attitudes toward the British and the American varieties of English. In view of the outcome, we try to suggest ways in which we can cope with students’ tendency to put too high a value on British English and to judge the other varieties as inferior. Specifically, we argue that when teaching English in the 21st century, it makes little sense to restrict the limits of the language and the culture to the British sphere. In fact, the evolution of English into an international language requires that all of its speakers, learners, and teachers recognise and reaffirm the diversity of cultures English represents throughout the world today.

El contacto lingüístico anglocanario en la ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: algunas consideraciones para su estudio

Up to now, most studies on the effects of the settlement of the British colony in Las Palmas within the period 1880-1914, approximately, have focussed on its significant contribution to the economic development of the city, as well as on the major role it played in the growth of the island as an international winter resort. But the co-existence of English and Spanish speakers also provoked a situation of languages in contact, which affected both native and British residents, as it is evidenced by the written records they left. Apart from corroborating the mutual influences received, a linguistic approach can determine the range of the social contact performed between the two communities. But it is obvious that before carrying out this kind of research, we should consider several points, since some difficulties may be encountered. These are the aspects this article is concerned with

Anglicização do lazer: a presença multimodal do inglês em anúncios televisivos espanhóis

This paper examines the presence of English in a corpus of commercials recorded from four Spanish TV channels with high audience shares between 2013 and 2015. We aim to contribute to the study of the dynamics of the usage of anglicisms in Spain. Drawing data from a wider sociolinguistic research project, our analysis will focus on the corpus of adverts related to three specific fields which have to do with recreational activities, namely, technology, entertainment, and food and drinks. In addition to the linguistic level, the audiovisual modes of communication will also be explored. This multimodal analysis will not only provide a record of the different types of lexical anglicisms employed, but will also reveal the significant role of the audiovisual mode in the transfer of linguistic material and socio-cultural values of the English-speaking world.Keywords: anglicisms, TV advertising, sociolinguistics, European Spanish.Este artigo analisa a presença do inglês em um corpus de anúncios comerciais gravados entre 2013 e 2015, a partir de quatro canais de televisão espanhóis com índices de audiência elevados. O nosso objetivo é contribuir para o estudo das dinâmicas de uso de anglicismos em Espanhol. A partir de dados de um projeto de pesquisa sociolinguística mais amplo, a amostra sobre a qual incidirá a nossa análise relaciona-se com três domínios específicos, que estão associadas com atividades de divertimento, a saber: tecnologia, entretenimento, alimentação e bebidas. Além do nível linguístico, serão explorados os modos de comunicação audiovisuais. Esta análise multimodal irá não só pôr em evidência diferentes tipos de anglicismos lexicais utilizados, como também mostrar o papel significativo do modo audiovisual na transferência de material linguístico e de valores socioculturais veiculados pela língua inglesa.Palavras-chave: anglicismos, anúncios comerciais, sociolinguística, Espanhol Europeu