Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine if processing speed, measured as visual reaction time (RT), of 10 month-olds obtained through an IPLP (Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm) in a word learning task, can be an indicator of communicative abilities such as productive vocabulary, during the second year of life. Participants were 13 infants of 9-12 months of age (X=10.15) at the beginning of the study, whose native language was Spanish and without visual or auditory problems reported by parents. The same group of infants was evaluated when they were between 24 and 30 months of age. Infants’ RTs were obtained at the age of 10 months in a word learning task, and related to communicative abilities measured with the Inventario de Habilidades Comunicativas MacArthur Versión II (CDI-II) when the infants were between 24 and 30 months of age (X=27.10). A linear regression analysis was performed using the RT from the experimental task as a predictor and the CDI-II vocabulary score as dependent variable. It was found that RT measured at 10 months of age can be used as a predictor of the vocabulary size in the same infants 18 months later. The results presented here imply that infants who take longer in processing a novel object associated with a novel word, are the ones who will have more words in their productive vocabulary during the second year of life, as reported by parents. The measures of processing speed in this study, demonstrates the length of time it takes a child to process non-familiar information in real time. The results obtained, support the study of processing speed at early ages in tasks that measure cognitive abilities other than word recognition. It suggests taking into account the analysis of individual differences, either processing speed or vocabulary, to better understand the relationship between these two variables in the first years of life. Furthermore, the results obtained in this paper highlight the importance of the study of RT in early ages and give information about the effects of slower or faster information processing over different linguistic abilities in infants.

Abstract

In this paper I will study the presence and use of the words do, vide y vido in Lope de Vega’s works, by analyzing twenty seven critical editions based on Lopean holographs. The restricted and particular way in which Lope used these terms will allow me to identify passages from different plays that were surely manipulated, probably by directors of theatrical companies. By studying these examples, I will think about the need to analyze the vocabulary in order to prepare a critical edition and about the reliability and limits of the vocabulary as a method for determining the authorship of a Golden Age comedia.

Abstract

This paper analyses the vocabulary of body parts in Cha’palaachi, an Amerindian language of the Republic of Ecuador. A number of basic roots refers to (a) forms or (b) parts of the body, although in some cases reference is made to general areas more than to specific parts. These areas, as well as the general vocabulary of forms, points to the importance of spatial elements in Cha’palaachi, which is also identifiable in other parts of the vocabulary and grammar. A significant point is that the body-part terms are organised on the basis of the reference to form, in such a way that the body-part element itself is only of secondary importance. Metaphorical and metonymic extension is more frequently applied to these form-terms than to the body-part terms proper.

Abstract

In this study we analyze the English translations of Ausiàs March already carried out (Terry, Conejero-Ribes-Keown, Wittlin and Archer), and we pay attention to the criteria and the solutions used. Here the emphasis is on those questions related to the lexicosemantic choice that determines the general strategy of the new translation into prose that the author of this study has carried out for IVITRA. The article is also concerned about the interaction between translation and the improvement of the knowledge of the original itself, as a consequence of translating it and having to understand it completely, even up to the point of proposing some amendments to the criticophylologic fixation.

Abstract

Mobile technologies are increasingly finding their way into classroom practice. While these technologies can create opportunities that may facilitate learning, including the learning of a second or foreign language (L2), the full potential of these new media often remains underexploited. A case in point concerns tablet applications for language practice: while tablets allow writing, as in pen-and-paper exercises, current applications typically offer multiple-choice exercises or fill-in-the-blank exercises that require typing and tapping. This change in medium and practice modality might have an impact on the actual second language-learning. Based on the embodied cognition perspective, this study hypothesizes that, for the learning of French L2 vocabulary, writing leads to better memorization, spelling, and use of diacritics in comparison with typing and completing multiple-choice exercises. This hypothesis is tested in a quasi-experimental classroom-based study in which learners (N=282) practiced French vocabulary on a tablet in one of three modalities: multiple choice, typing, and writing by means of a stylus. Whereas all three practice modalities aided learning, results show that pupils who had practiced vocabulary by writing or typing obtained higher scores on spelling and use of diacritics than the pupils who had practiced by means of multiple choice. Spending more time on learning vocabulary at a higher processing level leads thus to greater vocabulary gains.

Abstract

In the discourse of fashion the presentation and the evaluation of acts and objets are often mixed. Depaning from this assumption the present work investigates the lexical and pragmatical reasons that intensify the moral connotation of expressions about fashion and allow their use for persuasive means; at the same time this work also illustrates the importance of the familiarization with these expressions for education, both as communicative facts and as reasons for moral reflection.