Cross-linguistic investigation of Greek and Latin prefixes: Spanish and English contrastively

This manuscript sets forth an in-depth study of competing pairs of prefixes of Greek and Latin origin: hyper- vs. super-, micro- vs. mini-, and polyvs. multi- from a contrastive Spanish-English perspective. Two major source corpora, the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual for Spanish, and the British National Corpus for English were used for the purpose of this research. The prefixes were further analysed within the framework of a corpus of 200 translational equivalences, compiled from a lexicographic bilingual source, the Oxford Spanish Dictionary (2003); the results were then corroborated with the use of the prefixed words in a bilingual text-based online source, Linguee. This research sheds light on similarities and differences between such pairs of prefixes. The present contribution confirms the higher use of prefixation in Spanish. A much more frequent use of Latin prefixes, mainly super- and multi-, is attested in both languages. The cross-linguistic study reveals that prefixes seem to overlap semantically and syntactically across Spanish and English. Nevertheless, a representative percentage of Spanish prefixed words contrastively exhibit a non-morphological equivalence in English. Hence, a single different word, or a multiword unit may be used in English where derivational expansion of the base is preferred in Spanish.Montero Fleta, MB. (2013). Cross-linguistic investigation of Greek and Latin prefixes: Spanish and English contrastively. Onomázein : Revista de Linguística, Filología y Traducción. 27(1):269-285. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/43534S26928527

Review of Los poderes notariales (y documentos relacionados) en el Reino Unido, EE. UU. y España: teoría y práctica aplicada a la traducción (inglés-español-inglés) by Esther Vázquez y del Árbol

El presente volumen constituye una importante aportación a varios campos y se caracteriza por un enfoque didáctico, fruto de años de investigación, docencia y ejercicio profesional de la autora. La investigación se ha organizado en base a cuatro pilares (bloques) fundamentales, que dibujan la macroestructura del manuscrito.Montero Fleta, MB. (2012). Review of Los poderes notariales (y documentos relacionados) en el Reino Unido, EE. UU. y España: teoría y práctica aplicada a la traducción (inglés-español-inglés) by Esther Vázquez y del Árbol. LSP Journal - Language for special purposes, professional communication, knowledge management and cognition. 3(1):74-77. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/46561S74773

Neoclassical internationalisms in scientific and popular terminology: a case study on Romance and Germanic languages

The paper reports on a comparative study of equivalence in scientific and popular terminology across Romance and Germanic languages. The study is carried out within the framework of Languages for Specific Purposes lexicography, and focuses on a corpus of medical terminology in seven European languages. The first aim of the study was to confirm or reject the international character of the terms of the corpus. The neoclassical etymology of the international words was highlighted, as well as the changes experienced in the loanwords to be adapted to the host lexical system. A second aim of the research undertaken was to analyse the corresponding popular language equivalents to the scientific medical terms studied. The hypothesis that Romance languages had a higher tendency to use international words in popular communication than Germanic languages, as stated by Stichele (2000), was only partially confirmed; English and French lexical items had more cases of overlap of scientific and popular terms than German and Spanish. As most of the scientific terms are mainly known by professionals but appear less accessible to lay audiences, the study claimed that specialized words should be substituted for their popular equivalents to reach a successful communication in doctor-patient healthcare interactions. Keywords. Internationalisms; Word formation; Scientific terminology; Popular termsMontero Fleta, MB. (2013). Neoclassical internationalisms in scientific and popular terminology: a case study on Romance and Germanic languages. English for Specific Purposes World. 40(14):1-15. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/46944S115401

Suffixes in word-formation processes in scientific English

Scholars have stated the particularities of the language used in specialized discourse but little attention has been so far paid to the role derivational morphology may play in register variation. The present research makes a contribution to the study of word-formation in scientific registers by means of a corpus-based approach to the productivity of 14 suffixes in two scientific English registers, i.e., computer science and medicine. In order to empirically examine the productivity of the suffixes in each register, types, tokens and hapaxes ratio were used. Results obtained were then contrasted with the presence of the same suffixes in the written language wordlist of the British National Corpus (BNC). The study shows that suffixes are a productive word-formation resource in scientific registers and that their productivity differs in the registers under study. Findings ranked higher productivity of abstract noun-forming suffixes such as -ity, -ion and -ness in scientific registers than in the BNC. The suffix –ize reached values in the scientific corpora highly over the ranking drawn from the BNC. On the contrary, the BNC yielded an outstanding productivity rate of –free and -like, suffixes which proved to be fully unproductive in the scientific registers under study.Montero Fleta, MB. (2011). Suffixes in word-formation processes in scientific English. LSP Journal - Language for special purposes, professional communication, knowledge management and cognition. 2(2):4-14. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/46766S4142

Knowledge construction and knowledge sharing: A Wiki-based approach

The present research, based on constructivist learning paradigms, describes the outcomes of a project which complies with real life projection into the professional world: a Wiki-based approach is devised to construct knowledge, manage own learning and develop communication and linguistic skills in English. The paper aims to analyze the process and product of students¿ contribution to group work. A qualitative analysis reveals the students¿ positive and negative feedback. The study complies with the shift of current learning paradigms in the focus of learning: from gaining knowledge to producing knowledgeMontero Fleta, MB.; Pérez Sabater, C. (2011). Knowledge construction and knowledge sharing: A Wiki-based approach. Elsevier. 28(1):622-627. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.11862262728

Pragmatic competence and social power awareness: The case of written and spoken discourse in non-native English environments

Following one of the new challenges suggested by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, a treatment was developed to enhance pragmatic ompetence, since this competence is not easy to acquire by non-native speakers. Within this context, we focused on pragmatic awareness in the workplace, an area of expertise in growing demand today. Specifically, we centred on the power variable and the distinction between powerful and powerless speech styles through negotiation, co-planning and goal-oriented interactions. Powerful speech has been envisaged as the language of success; however, the positive implications of powerless speech in the workplace have been recently posited. After an instruction phase, the results confirmed that powerless markers were prone to be used adequately in writing, while in oral interactions non-native speakers were not able to employ them fluently or, at least, naturally. The treatment encouraged the critical engagement of students in the process of learning new ways of communicating at work.Pérez Sabater, C.; Montero Fleta, MB. (2014). Pragmatic competence and social power awareness: The case of written and spoken discourse in non-native English environments. International Journal of English Studies. 14(2):21-38. doi:10.6018/j.191071S213814

A first glimpse at Mobile Instant Messaging: some sociolinguistic factors

Despite the vast body of research on the linguistic peculiarities of Instant Messaging and Short Messaging Service, little is known about the language used in Mobile Instant Messaging in a cross-generational and cross-cultural context. To fill in this gap, the cross-linguistic study addressed here is an attempt to approach age-specific variation from a blended ethnography approach. The current research is grounded on an analysis of a naturally-occurring dataset of WhatsApp messages from the point of view of oralisation and deviations from standard forms. Two distinct generations of English and Spanish texters provide empirical data on the parameters of the oralised written discourse suggested by Yus (2011): emoticons, orthographic mistakes, phonetic orthography, abbreviations, acronyms and clippings, and the use of words in other languages. Subsequently, an analysis of the interviews held with the writers approaches the factors that may determine language variation in the messages. The conclusions drawn highlight the persistent use of deviations from standard language of English and Spanish teenagers. The study confirms a higher frequency of a conversational style in Spanish than in English. Not only brevity and speed reasons but also familiarity, playfulness and intimacy with the addressee are behind the intentional variations used.Pérez-Sabater, C.; Montero Fleta, MB. (2015). A first glimpse at Mobile Instant Messaging: some sociolinguistic factors. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics. 51(3):411-431. doi:10.1515/psicl-2015-0017S41143151

Initial combining forms across registers: the case of aero-, hydro- and cyber-

This study investigates to what extent certain lexical differences can be attributed to factors such as register. To this end, the paper addresses the empirical domain of a word-creation process by means of initial combining forms (ICFs) of neoclassical origin. The research undertaken is based on the use of ICFs in the Corpus of Contemporary American English, a corpus compiled from texts drawn from spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper and academic sources. The study focuses on the variation of neoclassical elements across registers, and questions their morphological status and currency. The findings confirm the hypotheses of the higher presence of initial combining forms in science and technology domains n magazine and academic journals, and the lower use in spoken registers. It also confirms that nowadays some initial combining forms have developed into free morphemes, a fact which contradicts the essence of the bound nature of combining forms. The study highlights that neoclassical forms are a salient resource in the lexical expansion of terminology and claims their pedagogical implications in ESP word-formation processes.Montero Fleta, MB.; Pérez-Sabater, C. (2016). Initial combining forms across registers: the case of aero-, hydro- and cyber-. English for Specific Purposes World. 50(17):1-14. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/82839S114501

The Study of Motivation in Library and Information Management Education: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

The application of new technologies and media has changed the concept of teaching and learning, offering effective and attractive possibilities to the educational system, particularly to the learning of languages in specific contexts. Educators in general will agree on the importance of motivation as a key to success in language acquisition as it is both a condition and a result of effective in-struction. However, although research has recognized the positive effect of intrinsic motivation on learning and academic achievement, little is known about the impact of different technology-supported learning activities on students¿ intrinsic motivation, the most critical factor for success in language teaching through computers according to some scholars. In this paper we present a university course project carried out in the English class in a degree of Library and Information Management. By means of an integrated analysis which includes qualita-tive and quantitative research, we see the influence of a CMC (Computer-mediated Communica-tion) genre, that of weblogs, in learning, and the way this new learning environment enhances motivation. In the project we present, students were asked to participate in blogs dealing with top-ics of their field of studies, a fact that constitutes the authentic learning environment suggested by some scholars in the field of education. Blogging was the key activity of their writing course. Students¿ participation in blogs implied exchanging posts, making comments, agreeing and dis-agreeing on what was discussed in the posts, asking for clarification, etc., always with the hope of raising the interest of other bloggers and starting a discussion. Questionnaires administered to the students and interviews have provided insightful data to the research about the students¿ perception of the experience, in other words, their levels of involve-ment in learning, their engagement in efficient and creative thinking processes, and their use of problem-solving strategies. Language achievement tests as well as daily one minute papers supplied information on the students¿ acquisition of the content dealt with. The innovative approach of this research is that it has allowed students to partici-pate in real-world environments: blogs where students were able to apply theo-retical knowledge acquired in the degree of Information and Management Education in the medium of English. Writing for a purpose, a truly novel component of the educational application of blogs used in the present project has resulted in a positive attitude of the students and, thus, has enhanced motivation.Pérez Sabater, C.; Montero Fleta, MB. (2012). The Study of Motivation in Library and Information Management Education: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice. (11):213-226. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/34426S2132261

Analysing the myth of digital natives in an English course: A higher education collaborative approach

[EN] Researchers nowadays claim that educators must accommodate the learning styles of digital natives . Thus, many new and challenging educational experiences have tried to cater for the singularity of digital natives. These studies have focused on facilitating the communication between teachers and students using the students own language and style. In this context, we analyse the use of a Web 2.0 application in higher education integrated in a traditional language course. The paper questions the technical expertise of digital natives and observes the contribution of Web 2.0 to promote construction of knowledge while developing a proficiency in English. The conclusions signal the rewarding benefits of Wikis to construct knowledge collaboratively and the positive effects on the improvement of linguistic skills. Additionally, the study suggests that the incorporation of new online projects into traditional higher education requires careful planning with consideration given to sound pedagogy so as to lead to effective learning.Montero Fleta, MB.; Pérez Sabater, C. (2014). Analysing the myth of digital natives in an English course: A higher education collaborative approach. LSP Journal - Language for special purposes, professional communication, knowledge management and cognition. 5(2):24-43. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/49765S24435