Sobre la validez legal del texto traducido: análisis de un "End User License Agreement" y su traducción al español

This article aims to analyse the different factors that shape the translation of an End User Agreement into Spanish and to scrutinise the linguistic peculiarities which arise during such process and which allow the reader to identify the resulting document as an alien product rather than an original legal text that needs to be observed by its end users. Bearing such issues in mind, both the contents that may violate the current Spanish legislation and the validity of the End User Agreement as a legal instrument within the Spanish legal system are subsequently analysed.El presente artículo tiene como objeto analizar los distintos factores que conforman la traducción de un End User License Agreement al español y examinar las peculiaridades lingüísticas que se originan durante dicho proceso y que permiten al lector identificar el texto resultante como un producto extraño en lugar de como un texto surgido de forma original en el ordenamiento jurídico español y que ha de ser observado como tal por sus destinatarios. Con ello en mente, se analizan aquellos contenidos que pudieran contravenir la normativa vigente y se debate acerca de la validez del End User License Agreement como instrumento jurídico en su forma traducida

Remarks on the validity of the translated text: Analysis of an End User License Agreement and its translation into Spanish

El presente artículo tiene como objeto analizar los distintos factores que conforman la traducción de un End User License Agreement al español y examinar las peculiaridades lingüísticas que se originan durante dicho proceso y que permiten al lector identificar el texto resultante como un producto extraño en lugar de como un texto surgido de forma original en el ordenamiento jurídico español y que ha de ser observado como tal por sus destinatarios. Con ello en mente, se analizan aquellos contenidos que pudieran contravenir la normativa vigente y se debate acerca de la validez del End User License Agreement como instrumento jurídico en su forma traducida.This article aims to analyse the different factors that shape the translation of an End User Agreement into Spanish and to scrutinise the linguistic peculiarities which arise during such process and which allow the reader to identify the resulting document as an alien product rather than an original legal text that needs to be observed by its end users. Bearing such issues in mind, both the contents that may violate the current Spanish legislation and the validity of the End User Agreement as a legal instrument within the Spanish legal system are subsequently analysed

Developing Writing Skills in The Classroom: A Corpus-based Analysis of Multi-Genre Structures

This paper introduces a pedagogical proposal for the development of writing skills based on the analysis of multi-genre structures (AMS). The objective of this AMS model is to help teachers design genres that may be used in the language classroom. This genre analysis can be performed with software tools for corpus analysis. This study is based on a previous model of genre analysis designed to determine the forms of the macrostructure, microstructure, and the format of the target genre (Casañ-Pitarch, 2015) and focuses on ESP students at tertiary education. The AMS model is expected to help students improve their writing skills and gain specific knowledge on professional and academic genres

Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge and Attitudes toward Digital-Game-Based Language Learning

There is a good body of literature about digital-game-based language learning (DGBL), but research has mainly focused on students as game players rather than as future educators. This paper reports on a research conducted among 154 teacher candidates at a higher-education institution in Spain regarding the adoption of digital games in education. It analyzes the participants’ knowledge of and attitudes toward digital games in foreign language learning. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre/post-test, digital game presentations, and student blog posts. The research comprised five stages associated with critical thinking skills (definition, selection, demonstration, discussion, and reflection), including a game learning module. In the first two stages, preservice teachers completed the module activities and selected different games aimed at teaching English to children in preschool and elementary education. In the last two, they illustrated, discussed, and evaluated the digital games in class following a rubric and reflected on their perception in blog posts. In this four-week research based on a mixed method and convenience sampling, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre- and post-test survey about student perceptions toward the use of video game in the classroom, class discussion, and blog posts. Statistical data analysis unveiled gender-based differences related to gameplay frequency and genre preferences. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used as a nonparametric statistical hypothesis test to compare the two sets of scores resulting from the same participants, and it showed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) after the treatment in two of the five dimensions in the survey about teacher candidates’ attitudes toward game usage in education, namely, usefulness (U) and preference for video games (PVG). Research findings revealed preservice teachers’ positive attitudes but lack of practical knowledge about the use of digital games in foreign-language learning

Using Chatbots as AI Conversational Partners in Language Learning

Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have paved the way for the increasing adoption of chatbots in language learning. Research published to date has mostly focused on chatbot accuracy and chatbot–human communication from students’ or in-service teachers’ perspectives. This study aims to examine the knowledge, level of satisfaction and perceptions concerning the integration of conversational AI in language learning among future educators. In this mixed method research based on convenience sampling, 176 undergraduates from two educational settings, Spain (n = 115) and Poland (n = 61), interacted autonomously with three conversational agents (Replika, Kuki, Wysa) over a four-week period. A learning module about Artificial Intelligence and language learning was specifically designed for this research, including an ad hoc model named the Chatbot–Human Interaction Satisfaction Model (CHISM), which was used by teacher candidates to evaluate different linguistic and technological features of the three conversational agents. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre-post-survey based on the CHISM and the TAM2 (technology acceptance) models and a template analysis (TA), and analyzed through IBM SPSS 22 and QDA Miner software. The analysis yielded positive results regarding perceptions concerning the integration of conversational agents in language learning, particularly in relation to perceived ease of use (PeU) and attitudes (AT), but the scores for behavioral intention (BI) were more moderate. The findings also unveiled some gender-related differences regarding participants’ satisfaction with chatbot design and topics of interaction.This study is part of a larger research project, [The application of AI and chatbots to language learning], financed by the Instituto de Ciencias de la Educacion at the Univesity of Alicante (Reference number: 5498)

The Effect of Multiplayer Video Games on Incidental and Intentional L2 Vocabulary Learning: The Case of Among Us

Vocabulary learning has been traditionally considered central to second language learning. It may take place either intentionally, by means of deliberate attempts to commit factual information to memory, or incidentally, as a consequence of other cognitive processes involving comprehension. Video games, which have been extensively employed in educational contexts to understand lexical development in foreign languages, foster both exposure to and the production of authentic and meaning-focused vocabulary. An empirical study was conducted to explore the effect of playing an online multiplayer social deduction game (i.e., a game in which players attempt to uncover each other’s hidden role) on incidental and intentional second language (L2) vocabulary learning. Secondary school pre-intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students (n = 54) took a vocabulary pre-test that identified eight unknown words likely to appear in the video game Among Us. Then, students were randomly assigned to different groups of players and to different learning conditions—within each group, half of the players were given a list of phrases containing such target words, which they were encouraged to meaningfully use in the game by means of written interaction. In doing so, students learnt some target words intentionally and provided contextualized incidental exposure to other players. They took a vocabulary test after two sessions of practice with the game to explore intentional and incidental L2 vocabulary learning gains. The pre- and post-tests suggested, among other results, that players using new L2 words in the game Among Us would retain more vocabulary than players only encountering them, that vocabulary intentionally input helped other users trigger incidental vocabulary learning, and that repetition had a positive effect on L2 vocabulary learning

His or Her? Errors in Possessive Determiners Made by L2-English Native Spanish Speakers

Native Spanish speakers commonly confuse third person singular possessive determiners when making gender agreements, which is considered an error-prone grammatical feature because there are syntactic differences in their use between English and Spanish. This study conducted an elicited production task to explore whether proficiency in English affects the correct use of his/her by Spanish speakers in speech production, whether participants make more errors depending on the gender match or mismatch between the possessor and the possessum in the noun phrase, and whether there are differences in the number of errors made due to the gender of the possessor. The results showed that sentences with a gender mismatch condition had higher error rates and that advanced L2 speakers made fewer mistakes than less proficient ones. However, proficiency did not mitigate the number of errors in sentences which required the use of the feminine possessive determiner, which is in line with the theory of the default masculine gender in Spanish. The study provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by native Spanish speakers when producing possessive gender agreements in English and highlights the need for more targeted instruction to address these issues in the teaching of English as a foreign language.This research was funded by the Department of Language Sciences of the University College London; an honorarium of GBP 450.00 was provided to cover costs for printing, copying and participation, out of which GBP 10.00 was given to each participant

Games, video games, and serious games: Analysing what makes playing fun

A lo largo de la historia, numerosas teorías han tenido como objetivo explicar las razones que subyacen al ejercicio de la actividad lúdica. Con independencia de cualquier marco teórico, parece obvio que se juega a juegos y a videojuegos como consecuencia de que proporcionan diversión al jugador. Distintos autores sugieren que los videojuegos son óptimas herramientas educativas, desde la premisa de que atraen al jugador y favorecen el proceso de aprendizaje de diversas maneras. Como consecuencia de ello, educadores y docentes han favorecido el desarrollo e implementación de determinados videojuegos en el ámbito educativo conocidos como videojuegos serios con la esperanza de que faciliten la adquisición de contenidos académicos por parte del alumnado. Sin embargo, los videojuegos tradicionales poseen unas características particulares que, a diferencia de los videojuegos serios, les convierten en herramientas atractivas ante los ojos la mayor parte del público. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo poner de relieve los aspectos que hacen de los videojuegos herramientas divertidas, al tiempo que analiza las diferentes teorías que explican la actividad lúdica y propone una definición de juego y videojuego con el objeto de entender la peculiar idiosincrasia de los videojuegos serios.Throughout history, it has been often hypothesised on the reasons underlying game and play. Whatever the theoretical framework, it seems obvious that both games and video games are played upon the premise that they provide players with enjoyment and fun. Different authors have suggested that video games are optimal tools in education, since they engage players and trigger learning in different ways. In light of this, educators and policy-makers have seen an opportunity to devise and implement video games in education in hopes that they will infuse academic knowledge into students. However, traditional video games have specific traits that, unlike serious games, make them appealing and engaging to a vast majority of players. This paper attempts to highlight the aspects that make video games successfully entertaining by analysing the different theories that provide insight into the reasons why the human being plays. It also analyses the engagement-related core characteristics of play, and proposes a working definition of games and video games to highlight the idiosyncrasy of serious games