Scipedia: Documents published in 2018

¿Cómo pueden las bibliotecas contribuir al aprendizaje y al éxito académico?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:29:12 +0200

El objetivo principal de los proyectos del programa Assessment in action (AiA): Academic libraries and student success de la Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) ha sido encontrar cómo puede medirse, de una manera óptima, el impacto de las bibliotecas universitarias en el aprendizaje y el éxito educativo del alumnado de instituciones de educación superior. El informe recoge los resultados de los más de 60 proyectos individuales vinculados al programa durante su segundo año (abril 2014-junio 2015) y sintetiza los resultados del primer año. https://apply.ala.org/aia

¿Cómo serán las bibliotecas académicas y de investigación en 2022?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:29:03 +0200

El New Media Consortium (NMC) ha publicado la tercera edición del informe de tendencias y retos para las bibliotecas académicas y de investigación a corto, medio y largo plazo. https://www.nmc.org/ publication/nmc-horizonreport- 2017-library-editionLa edición del Horizon report: 2017 library edition (traducido al castellano y catalán por la Biblioteca de la UOC) nos permite nuevamente mirar hacia el futuro e intentar interpretar cuáles son los retos y tendencias a los que se enfrentan las bibliotecas universitarias y académicas de todo el mundo. Dado que es la tercera edición, hemos querido no sólo intentar las principales tendencias y retos de 2017, sino también hacer un breve ejercicio de seguimiento de las anteriores predicciones.

El edificio de biblioteca como recurso estratégico

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:28:55 +0200

El edificio de biblioteca, así como el espacio disponible para colecciones y para servicios a los usuarios, son percibidos a menudo como una limitación pero son, al mismo tiempo, un recurso que puede representar una oportunidad estratégica para alcanzar el éxito en la misión de la biblioteca. El espacio disponible es un recurso escaso que es preciso optimizar. En relación con esto, a menudo es necesario tomar decisiones estratégicas, y para ello es esencial disponer de información fiable; datos de referencia que permiten evaluar la situación actual y las posibles alternativas.

Las necesidades de los usuarios y la biblioteca del futuro: reseña del informe de Axiel 2015

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:28:42 +0200

Axiell es una empresa que da servicios a las bibliotecas públicas del Reino Unido, y que encuestó a más de 2.000 personas mayores de 16 años de ese país para saber en qué medida estaban evolucionando estas instituciones para responder a las necesidades de su comunidad. El objetivo era:- identificar cómo y por qué se estaba utilizando la biblioteca pública; - explorar cómo se podría aumentar su aprovechamiento de acuerdo con las nuevas expectativas de los usuarios.

Las bibliotecas: espacios de creación. Cómo evaluar su impacto

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:28:30 +0200

Las bibliotecas han sido responsables de garantizar el acceso a la información y al conocimiento, de promover la lectura y la cultura, de promover y facilitar la formación a lo largo de la vida. Desde mediados de la década de los 90 las bibliotecas se están reorientando. Esta reorientación ha sido propiciada, en parte, por el fácil acceso a contenidos digitales (internet lo ha cambiado todo), pero también por los cambios de la propia sociedad.

Bibliometrics and university libraries: Adding to the professional profile?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:27:58 +0200

The creation of bibliometric services within university libraries opens up new professional possibilities for libraries, when they are in the midst of rethinking many of their functions. Services to the researcher, such as supporting the management of their curricula vitae through CRIS (current research information system), finding quality measures of journals, or providing advice during the evaluation processes, along with elaborating bibliometric reports in order to support the governance of the University, are postulated as new tasks that can be carried out by the library staff. For these new tasks to be effective, librarians must have some transversal and specific competences. Moreover, they need some of the skills associated with communication competences, because of the importance of communicating properly the work that has been done by the Unit, within the library and for the users and institution.

The library and its future challenges: Do we need the same strategy?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:27:46 +0200

The term ‘one-person library’ is used within the English-speaking world in order to refer to libraries managed by just one person; ‘solo librarian’ refers to the professional in charge of those libraries. Although in Spain official statistics do not reflect this, the situation of most of the Spanish public libraries is similar to these ‘one-person libraries’; precarious working conditions, lack of resources, and professional loneliness are typical. If we take into account a working environment that is far from easy, we can see that everyday work does not provide enough time to think about the relevance of the services that the library offers, instead it is almost compulsory to replicate, without much thought, what other public libraries are doing, usually with more resources and different realities. To delegate the construction or essence of the library to others can be counterproductive to successfully face the challenge of adapting to a new digital environment. To adopt someone else’s strategies without taking into account its own peculiarities can make us fail and take us far from the essence of a suitable library for our community.

Libraries, games and gamification: A current trend with a lot of future

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:27:22 +0200

Gamification is the inclusion of game elements in contexts other than those traditionally related to leisure and entertainment. In recent years, it has grown as a trend as shown by the increase in the number of reports, papers, meetings, platforms, and software programs, as well as the number of gamification experiences that have been developed in multiple environments. The application of gamification to the library can generate important benefits, but for this to happen, a series of requirements are necessary to guarantee successful application. With the right processes in place, libraries can take advantage of the predisposition that we all have to play. The proper channeling of the game will serve to motivate and change user behaviors related to spaces, collections, services, and activities.

Librariness: a discussion about the essence of the library in times of change

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:26:45 +0200

Librarians have made attempts to transform and adapt libraries in order to avoid obsolescence, but librarians face the opposition of broad sectors of society and the profession. This article discusses the need and opportunity for new services, and considers whether or not changes might pervert the spirit of the library. Even if the need for updating is recognized, these opinions must be taken into account. Therefore, the evolution of the library should be guided by the library’s essence, by its “librariness”, which is helping and improving people through information, education, and culture.

¿Cómo podemos valorar la preparación de los bibliotecarios?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:26:38 +0200

La desorientación que causa la cambiante realidad en la que actúan los profesionales de la información, principalmente los bibliotecarios, hace necesaria la indagación permanente en su capacitación para enfrentarse a las tareas que les corresponden. A ello viene a contribuir este informe de un proyecto de investigación financiado por Cilip (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) y cuyo objetivo busca identificar las certezas sobre las que se fundamenta la selección adecuada de los profesionales mejor cualificados, por lo tanto, acreditados competencialmente y certificados académicamente, para los diferentes empleos del sector. Las evidencias se identifican, analizan y clasifican a partir de una rigurosa revisión de la correspondiente literatura publicada en inglés.

ThinkEPI based on questions

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:26:17 +0200

Questions are proposed for helping to think about the information world and the libraries.

Labour, training and publication reciprocity between Library and Information Science and Social Communication

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:26:03 +0200

This is a brief review of the relationship between Library and Information Science (LIS), Social Communication Sciences, and their journals in order to assess the validity of collaborative spaces. Professional profiles are analyzed that link the common competencies of both sectors. Then, we consider whether or not the necessary training to achieve these professional competencies is being supported in hybrid university programs. To conclude, the contributions of each sector in the scientific journals published by the reciprocal sector are considered, in particular those corresponding to ID. It is concluded that professional exchanges are more intense than university training and scholarly production, although there have been rapid and recent changes in publishing behavior.

Towards a social theoretical foundation for Information Science

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:25:32 +0200

The scientific nature of Information Science and its interdisciplinary relationships with other fields are discussed. I review some of the theoretical positions that coexist, oftentimes in conflict with each other, including the Mathematical Theory of Communication, Social Epistemology, Floridi’s Philosophy of Information, and theoretical positions in areas such as information technologies, information retrieval, bibliometrics, and big data. I conclude that the theoretical project of Social Epistemology, in its original conception by Egan and Shera, in its current manifestations in the philosophy of Steve Fuller, and in the paradigm of domain analysis by Hjørland, is one of the most solid proposals for providing a social, theoretical foundation for Information Science.

Information seeking and retrieval systems: Components and evolution

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:25:16 +0200

A description and presentation of the universal components of information seeking and retrieval systems including query system, search results page, and record (metadata) model. Bibliographic information systems as an environment for bibliographic retrieval systems is considered. The main trends in the recent evolution of user interfaces in the case of academic databases are discussed.

Ideas map for the transformation of IFLA's strategy

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:25:08 +0200

This is the report of the International Federation of Libraries Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 2017-2019 President’s Program. It is the narrative of the presidential program based on the Ideas Map inspired by an exhaustive analysis of how IFLA is developing in accordance with its strategic plan 2016- 2021. The activities that IFLA has recently started are focused on this new approach, taking advantage of the opportunity of transformation that has been provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Libraries Legacy. I also discuss the needs that I have identified and I consider necessary to fulfil the expectations defined in my presidential theme: Libraries: motors of change.

Report. The academic Information Schools network: Origins, evolution and future

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:24:32 +0200

The Information Schools (iSchools) are a prominent international academic network of information schools. Since its creation in 2005, about 80 universities have joined the network, through the respective faculties or departments thematically involved. The faculties or academic departments that are part of the iSchools study information, in close relationship with people and technology. We present a general overview of the iSchools that includes: the history of its origins and evolution, an updated review of its academic activity, and future trends. This overview is done through a critical review of a selection of existing literature on this academic movement. The review includes opinion and academic debate documents, scientific studies based on the collection and analysis of data from all the universities in the network or representative samples of them, and a look at the iConference, an annual world congress organized by this academic network.

Library and information university education figures in Spain: 2016

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:24:08 +0200

A picture is presented of the state of library and information university education in Spain. Statistical data is provided about both the number and type of the university education describing existing institutions, degree levels and providing data on student enrolment and teachers.

eGamers’ influence in brand advertising strategies. A comparative study between Spain and Korea

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:15:51 +0100

The eGames business (online video games) in Spain generated more than 1.8 trillion euros in profits in 2016. Advertising is no stranger to the potential of this market, and brands study the best ways of approaching and adapting to the world of eGames. In this report, we analyze which the most effective advertising strategies for brands in the online video game world are. To do this, the players (eGamers) answered a 60 question survey that addressed issues such as playful habits, the viewing of advertisements in games, the purchase of advertised items and advertising in competitions. Korean and Spanish players answered the same questionnaire considering that South Korea has the most advanced video game industry in the world and Spain is the fourth European country in eGames and our subject of study. After the investigation, some of the most relevant results indicate that conventional online advertising does not attract the attention of gamers as consumers. We determined that the best strategy would be based on brand presence through products that are prescribed or used by professional gamers, since spectators, as they watch the games, also observe what elements and accessories the players use.

Multiple intelligences and video games: Assessment and intervention with TOI software

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:15:29 +0100

Howard Gardner revolutionized the concept of intelligence with his Multiple Intelligences Theory. His vision was widely supported by the educational community, which considers different forms of learning and accessing knowledge. Despite its impact, there is still a lack of development of tools that can easily, practically and reliably evaluate multiple intelligences. This work describes the design, development, and piloting of TOI (Tree of Intelligences) software, a digital tool to evaluate multiple intelligences and perform interventions through video games. The aim of the study is to present the design of the TOI software and test its operation, analysing the distribution of the results game by game and checking whether there are differences according to gender or school year. A total of 372 primary school students participated, aged 5 to 9 years old (M=7.04, SD=.871), from three schools in Asturias and Madrid. The results show that 9 out of 10 games had a normal distribution and that there were no gender differences in most games, but there were differences in relation to the school year. We concluded that due to its operation and design TOI software has the potential be a suitable instrument for the evaluation and intervention of multiple intelligences.

Google or Gutenberg Generation: Chilean university students’ reading habits and reading purposes

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:15:02 +0100

It has always been in the public interest to know the reading habits of readers of various ages and levels of schooling, as well as their opinions with regard to the consumption of reading materials. Lately, researchers have given increased attention to digital texts. Although progress on these topics has been made as reported in published research, there is yet incomplete information regarding readers’ habits and opinions at university and professional levels. This study describes the self-reported habits of university students belonging to two disciplinary domains (Human Sciences and Economic and Business Sciences) regarding reading on paper or on digital media for three purposes: academic, entertainment, and information seeking. The results reveal that the readers’ preferences vary according to the three purposes. These readers reported using different media but had a clear preference for paper; they also reported distinguishing between cognitive processes (memory, comprehension, and learning), with the discipline to which they belonged having no radical effect on their preferences. All of this leads us to conclude that currently there exists a generation in transition, a ‘Gutenberg-Google’ generation, which still recognizes the relevance of paper, in particular for academic purposes.

Exploring the influence of the teacher: Social participation on Twitter and academic perception

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:14:37 +0100

Analyzing the influence of social media on the learning process is no longer a novel idea; however, due to its importance for students and consequently for teachers, research continues to explore the pedagogical potential of social media. The main objective of the present study was to analyze the influence of teacher roles (guide or facilitator) on students’ social participation in Twitter and their perceived academic experience. The sample consisted of 525 future teachers, all of the Master’s degree students at Spain’s National Distance Education University (UNED). We used a mixed triangulation design, a theoretical model, quantitative methods (descriptive analysis and contrast of means) and qualitative methods (content analysis following the principles of grounded theory). Our results showed that the teacher’s role as a facilitator exerted a more positive influence on how students assessed their experience and on their participation on Twitter than the role as a guide. We conclude that the use of social media sites in education offers a motivating and satisfying framework that is not provided by other more traditional means such as forums, and that a role that facilitates independent learning is a better strategy when using social media in the classroom.

Conflicts in the professional roles of journalists in Spain: Ideals and practice

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:14:17 +0100

Based on a survey of 122 journalists from four Spanish newspapers carried out from 2015 to 2016, this paper analyses to what extent these professionals perceive a disconnection –a gap– between their role conception and their perceived role enactment, that is between their professional ideals and their journalistic practice, and which are the most “conflicting” roles in a Polarized Pluralist media system. According to the perceptions of the professionals surveyed, journalists in Spain hold a role conflict when they work in a newspaper. The findings show significant differences between the role conception and the perceived role enactment in six of the seven professional roles. The biggest divergences are located in the watchdog, civic and disseminator roles. The conflict between the professional ideals and their implementation in the news is always resolved in favor of the media organizations. Our results are consistent and support the previous studies that have defined the Polarized Pluralist media system as a media ecosystem where journalists accumulate little power compared to the media organizations, which are in financial debt and dependent on political and economic powers. Results are discussed according to the literature review as well as the context in which the study was developed.

Distributed digital contexts and learning: Personal empowerment and social transformation in marginalized populations

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:14:00 +0100

The role of digital media and learning has often been synonymous with the use of open education resources in formal institutional settings. Further, open and distance learning has been criticized for focusing narrowly on educational objectives, ignoring socio-political issues of access and participation by marginalized populations. This study examines the lived experiences of female migrant domestic workers (N=20) in Singapore attending Open University. Mobile and social media supplement open and distance learning resources to allow for open practices of consumption, production and sharing in distributed contexts of digital learning. Marginalized students engaged in participation and collaboration activities, with specific privacy practices due to their social positions. Digital learning led to substantive learning for personal empowerment and social transformation, with aspirational strategies often involving digital skills. The discussion reflects on identity management across formal and informal digital settings as a means of transforming societal discourses of discrimination.

Young people learning from digital media outside of school: The informal meets the formal

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:13:47 +0100

The dissonance between what teenagers learn in classrooms and their everyday lives is not a recent phenomenon, but it is increasingly relevant as school systems are unable to follow the evolution of media and society beyond traditional concerns regarding the protection of young people. An overly scholarly view of learning continues to prevail in our society, which seems to marginalize the knowledge that young people develop with and through media and digital platforms. Based on questionnaires, workshops, and interviews conducted with Portuguese teenagers, aged 12 to 16 years old (N=78), attending an urban and a rural school in the North of the country, this paper aims to understand how these teens are learning to use the media, what motivates them, and if their media practices contribute to the acquisition of skills and competencies useful to their lives inside and outside school. The research main results confirm the existence of a gap between formal and informal education. Informal education is mainly motivated by their needs and peer influence. Colleagues and family, alongside the Internet and self-discovery, appear as important sources of knowledge. Another important conclusion is that informal learning strategies contribute to the development of skills and competencies that are useful from a school viewpoint.

Connected learning ecologies as an emerging opportunity through Cosplay

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:13:31 +0100

Connected learning explains how people can build learning pathways that connect their interests, relationships, and formal learning to lead toward future opportunities such as careers. However, most learning systems are not set up ideally for connected learning; for instance, most schools still teach disciplines as discrete units that do not connect to students’ interests outside of school. We do not yet know enough about the structure of naturally occurring connected learning ecologies that do connect youth learning across contexts and help them follow pathways toward careers and other desired outcomes. Learning more about what works well on these pathways will allow us to design connected learning environments to help more youth have access to these desired opportunities. This paper analyzes two case studies of cosplayers –hobbyists who make their own costumes of media characters to wear at fan conventions– who benefited from well-developed connected learning ecologies. Cases were drawn from a larger interview study and analyzed as compelling examples of connected learning. Important themes that emerged included relationships with and sponsorship by caring others; unique pathways that start with a difficult challenge; economic opportunities related to cosplay; and comparisons with formal school experiences. This has implications for how we can design connected learning ecologies that support all learners on unique pathways toward fulfilling futures.

The ‘danmu’ phenomenon and media participation: Intercultural understanding and language learning through ‘The Ministry of Time’

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:13:08 +0100

While research on Western multimedia platforms, such as YouTube, is prolific and interdisciplinary, Asian portals remain unknown. We explore this field by analyzing the juvenile and intercultural uses of a popular visualization system in Japan and China, known as “danmaku” or “danmu”. This technology inserts dynamic and contextualized comments on a photogram, with several typographical possibilities. Based on a corpus of 1,590 comments on “The Ministry of Time,” collected from a fandom platform with millions of users, we analyzed the topics that arouse the most interest among Chinese fans. We combine content analysis, which incorporates coding and counting techniques of the categories with the most interventions (n"16), with multimodal discourse analysis (TV series, Asian platform and user comments). Results show that the viewers are most interested in the film genre (time travel), the characters, the plot, certain sociocultural contents, and the Spanish language. Their discussions address issues of interculturality, some topics that are taboo in China and the fandom culture in Asia. Our study illustrates the potential of participation, communication, and learning in Asian social media, and constitutes an interesting and innovative contribution to the field of media and digital literacy, with various suggestions to promote intercultural competence with the use of popular culture.

Designing for deep learning in the context of digital and social media

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:12:46 +0100

There is today a great deal of controversy over digital and social media. Even leaders in the tech industry are beginning to decry the time young people spend on smartphones and social networks. Recently, the World Health Organization proposed adding “gaming disorder” to its official list of diseases, defining it as a pattern of gaming behavior so severe that it takes “precedence over other life interests”. At the same time, many others have celebrated the positive properties of video games, social media, and social networks. This paper argues that a deeper understanding of human beings is needed to design for deep learning. For the purposes of this study “design for deep learning” means helping people matter and find meaning in ways that make them and others healthy in mind and body, while improving the state of the world for all living things, with due respect for truth, sensation, happiness, imagination, individuality, diversity, and the future. In particular, fifteen features related to human nature are suggested based on recent scientific developments to answer the question: What is a human being? Consequently, proposals that are linked to learning and transformation, as well as social improvement, should fit with the ways in which humans, as specific sorts of biological and social creatures, learn best (or can learn at all) and can change for the better.

Radio studies: An overview from the Ibero-American academia

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:12:31 +0100

Due to its penetration and access, radio is a very important mass media in the Ibero-American context. However, radio has not received much scholarly attention. In this framework, the present study analyses the situation of Ibero-American radio studies from the perspective of their scientific community. This approach is new in that it focuses on the work, perceptions, and assessment of radio research at supranational level, shedding light on similarities and differences in terms of how Communication is seen as a scholarly field. A questionnaire was used to understand the importance, themes, and quality of radio research from the personal, national and global perspectives, according to its 63 respondents. Participants were also asked to share their perceptions, assessments, and prospects. Despite contextual differences, our study has confirmed that radio studies are a minority field, even in areas of high impact such as new technologies. Likewise, the research career paths of those involved in radio research show how this field is still in its infancy, although some indicators such as participation in projects or cooperation rates point towards a positive evolution in the mid-short term. As per their quality perception, academics are critical of radio studies in the general framework of Communication research.

University training on entrepreneurship in communication and journalism business projects

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:12:14 +0100

The current scenario of crisis and change has prompted the idea of entrepreneurship as a way to develop new media business models that can be promoted by university training. In this study, we aim to assess the effects of such training. A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews of Spanish journalism and communication entrepreneurs who have undergone university training in business creation and management. Our results show the positive effects of this training on entrepreneurship both in general and on specific aspects of entrepreneurial projects such as organization, business plan/model, marketing, innovation, social aspects and quality of life. Different patterns between the effects of university training on new initiatives and advanced projects were also observed. In this respect, the training supported the creation of new businesses and the development of existing ones. Finally, the suggestions for improving training and the limitations to entrepreneurship have revealed the importance of providing this type of education with a more practical, up-to-date approach that is interconnected with the business and university world. Therefore, examples of this work can be of vital importance in opening up new opportunities for sector development to enable future generations of journalists to fulfill their important social function.

Towards understanding young children’s digital lives in China and Australia

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:11:53 +0100

This article develops insights and generates new lines of inquiry into young children’s digital lives in China and Australia. It brings to dialogue findings from a national study of young children's digital media use in urban settings in China with findings from studies in Australia. This is not presented as a direct comparison, but rather as an opportunity to shed light on children’s digital lives in two countries and to account for the impact of context in relatively different social and cultural circumstances. The article outlines findings from a study of 1,171 preschool-aged children (3 to 7-year-olds) in six provinces in China, including the frequency of their use of television, early education digital devices, computers, tablet computers and smartphones, music players, e-readers and games consoles. It also focuses on various activities such as watching cartoons, using educational apps, playing games and participating in video chat. Methods included a multistage sampling process, random selection of kindergartens, a weighted sampling process, the generation of descriptive data and the use of linear regression analysis, and a chi-square test. The study demonstrates the significance of a range of factors that influence the amount of time spent with digital media. The contrast with Australian studies produces new insights and generates new research questions.

YouTubers' social functions and their influence on pre-adolescence

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:11:30 +0100

This study focuses on the relationship between preadolescents and youtubers, with the objective of observing how tweens integrate youtubers as referents of a teen digital culture. From a socio-psychological and communicological perspective, a mixed methodological design was applied to carry out the audience study, which was divided into two parts: a quantitative analysis of the audience via a survey administered to 1,406 eleven-twelve year old students of Catalan Secondary Schools, and a qualitative analysis of the preadolescence audience using three focus groups. The quantitative data was analysed with SPSS and the qualitative data with the help of the Atlas.ti software. The results demonstrate that tweens consider youtubers as referents for entertainment and for closeness to a teen digital culture, but not really as a role models or bearers of values as influencers. Also, preadolescents show some dimensions of Media Literacy, since they recognise youtubers’ commercial strategies and their role as actors and professionals. The study notes gender bias in some aspects, and is an introduction to observation of the social functions of youtubers amongst teenagers, individuals who are in the process of constructing their identity and on the point of becoming young adults.

Digital natives: Online audiovisual content consumption, creation and dissemination

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:11:14 +0100

Teenagers inhabit a virtual universe with their own model of entertainment, learning and communication. This research work defines the consumption, creation and diffusion patterns of online audiovisual contents young students of Guipúzcoa have acquired in the fields of leisure and complementary information resources for school use, attending to three different variables: gender, grade (age) and type of educational institution (public or private). The research methodology focuses on a self-administered questionnaire filled out by 2,426 adolescents of secondary school (12 to 16 years old). The sample consists of a random selection of 120 student groups, which are distributed in 60 schools and 30 groups each course. The results verify the existence of monolithic and opposed male/female patterns in the way young people consume, create and diffuse leisure contents. Video games are the central backbone of male consumption and creation, as long as girls prefer to take pictures and videos of themselves using smartphones and to share them on social networks. These practices repeat gender stereotypes, transforming the education in equality into a relevant issue. Finally, sources of information that are complementary to formal education, especially Wikipedia, are the main references among adolescents. Consequently, it seems essential to guarantee their solvency for appropriate knowledge acquisition.

Video artivism: The poetics of symbolic conflict

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:10:57 +0100

The relationship between signs and human action is one of the most widely studied theories in art and communications. Humans are constantly producing new discourse and new discursive devices and the issue of the relationship between signs / action not only remains open, but is branching off and forming hybrids with other matters. This work explores one of its branches. We performed theoretical research on the foundations of video artivism, with the aim of achieving a conceptual definition. Firstly, the purpose of the study is defined and the historical background and basic sources of influence described in order to trace a map of its fields of application in teaching practices and empirical research. The results therefore come from a bibliographic review of academic as well as artistic and activist sources, which were based on sections of the differentiating features they respectively recognize and self-recognize as artivist. Six identified features are described: the intervention function, the hybrid code, against domination, disruption, disavowal and subversion, which are aimed at establishing processes, procedures, subjects and the specific forms in which artivism has an impact on society. The article also refers to selected cases as a conceptual sample of the theoretical assumptions made and to describe their capacity of transformation.

Postdrama culture in Ecuador and Spain: Methodological framework and comparative study

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:10:44 +0100

This paper results from a neo-functionalist constructivist theory as the one allowing us to understand that dialogue processes and social participation build culture with a dynamic and civic vision, as opposed to organic and much more conservative visions. The main objective is to create a panel of analysis of plays from the point of view of drama (sense) and post-drama (nonsense), introducing cross-cutting concepts such as identity, interculturality and participation. The second objective, and as a way to validate these panels, is to analyze in a comparative way the similarities and differences of two types of post-theater manifestations in Spanish, Europe and Andean theater, particularly in Ecuador. This descriptive and qualitative research applies the analytical-synthetic method to approach the study of seven plays of dramatic and postdramatic nature. As a result, the usefulness of these panels developed to carry out this type of study on the elements of order and chaos, as well as to understand internal and external participation, is validated. As a general conclusion, it is observed that the current Ecuadorian plays respond to a post-drama culture that uses elements of the unitary dramatic stage and differential factors of Andean character.

Artivism and NGO: Relationship between image and 'engagement' in Instagram

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:10:28 +0100

Due to the increasing importance of acquiring technological tools in communication strategies, and while taking into account that non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) use Instagram as a potential artivist tool to disseminate their initiatives and needs, the present article aims to investigate the form and content of photographs published in the social website Instagram during 2017 by the 20 most relevant NGOs at the international level. Specifically, we study the choice of formal elements, such as the design and editing, the intended purpose and feeling of the message transmitted in the photographs, as well as the type of actor or actors of the images (including their role, number, gesture, sex and age). In addition, we study the use and the engagement generated by children’s images. Content analysis, non-parametric statistical analysis with Chi-square test and variance analysis (ANOVA) are used as methodologies. The results of the study show how prototypical images used by NGOs (young children enjoying the benefits of aid with positive appearance and gestures) present content and formats that do not correspond to the type of image that generates more engagement from the target audience.

Artivism and social conscience: Transforming teacher training from a sensibility standpoint

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:10:13 +0100

This article incorporates research involving artivist and pedagogical curatorships (200717) that were developed by contemporary artists, university professors, students from the Faculty of Education, practising teachers and students from nursery, elementary and secondary school. It intends to showcase a series of artistic research projects financed by public institutions, facing the challenge of transforming teacher training. These contemporary artivismbased projects have been able to break academic barriers and obsolete routines in teacher training. One of the results of this experimentation has been materialised in exhibitions at renowned museums and contemporary art centres. They have managed to expand teaching models beyond the classroom space, as the emergence of the collective and the educational interest in the commons. A/r/tography was used as a research methodology that unveils the three interconnected identities of the 'artist, researcher and teacher' as the person who, in his or her teaching practice, is capable of developing a creative practice with students through experimental processes in artistic research. A/r/tography generates a learning space where educational meanings can be broken. It is in this intermediate zone of intellectual incitement that curators propose artivist projects capable of generating tactics of proximity between two apparently separate fields: art and education.

Artivism: A new educative language for transformative social action

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:09:48 +0100

This study describes the concepts, historical precedents, language and fundamental experiences of artivism. It shows the research activities from two main universities (Complutense de Madrid in Spain and Nottingham Trent in UK) as well as other cultural institutions (Élan Interculturel from France and Artemiszio from Hungary), which have explored the educational potential of artivism as a new way of achieving social engagement using innovation and artistic creation. The paper defines precisely artivism as a new language which appears outside the museums and art academies, moving towards urban and social spaces. Artivism is a hybrid form of art and activism which has a semantic mechanism to use art as a means towards change and social transformation. The analysis collects some central experiences of the artivist phenomenon and applies semantic analysis, archiving artivist experiences, and using urban walks and situational research, analyses the educational and formative potential of artivists and their ability to break the classroom walls, and to remove the traditional roles of creator and receptor, student and professor, through workshop experiences. Finally, it reflects upon the usefulness of artivism as a new social language and an educational tool that breaks the traditional roles of social communication.

Excessive use of social networks: Psychosocial profile of Spanish adolescents

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:08:49 +0100

Understanding the factors that predict excessive use of social networks in adolescence can help prevent problems as addictive behaviours, loneliness or cyberbullying. The main aim was to ascertain the psychological and social profile of adolescents whose use of SNSS is excessive. Participants comprised 1,102 adolescents aged between 11 and 18 from Girona (Spain). Those who made excessive use of social networks were grouped together. Their personality and social profiles were explored, the former using NEO FFI, NEO PI-R and Self-Concept AF5, and the latter through the use of Social Support Appraisals, self-attributed type of ICT use in the family and rules regarding ICT use at home. The prevalence of excessive use was 12.8%, being higher among girls. The personality profile was characterized by neuroticism, impulsivity and a lower family, academic and emotional self-concept. The social profile was defined by the perception of high ICT consump¬tion in the mother and siblings, and a lack of rules. The protective factors were conscientiousness, the existence of rules, and being a boy; risk factors were the use of SNSS as a distraction and for fun, and the perception of high sibling consumption. Interventions based on gender and working on responsible ICT use within the family environment are proposed to prevent more serious psychological problems.

Problematic uses of ICTs among young people in their personal and school life

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:08:24 +0100

Studies on ICT use in education usually focus on ICT’s contribution to training processes. However, scarce research has concentrated on the problematic use of ICT among young people in the school context, and most of it approaches the problem from a psychopathological perspective. The purpose of this paper, in contrast, is to analyse problematic ICT use among young people in their personal and school setting. The methodology involved applying a questionnaire to a sample of 1,052 youths aged between 12 and 18 years old. The study starts with a univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis. Subsequently, three Poisson regression models were developed to evaluate the contribution of several predictor variables to the three types of problematic uses identified in their sphere, learning processes and classroom relationships. Results show a relationship between problematic ICT use in personal and school settings, with older youths who use smartphones (the) most likely to engage in this type of behaviour. The use of mobile technology largely explains the problematic behaviour in the use of ICT among young people in personal and school contexts, which justifies the need to promote actions contributing to more responsible use of this type of technology in all areas of their personal, school and social life.

Spies and security: Assessing the impact of animated videos on intelligence services in school children

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:07:57 +0100

Making the work of security organizations known to school children is a means of mitigating feelings of insecurity provoked by the diffusion of information on terrorist attacks in communications media and through social media. Whilst there is a longer tradition of projects to educate school children on the police and the armed forces, no comparable projects have been found on the intelligence services. With the objective of filling this gap, the authors designed and produced two animated educational videos for Spanish school children on the Spanish intelligence service: The National Intelligence Center (CNI). In this paper, the impact of the videos is measured in relation to the knowledge, the stereotypes, and the attitudes of school children towards the CNI. To do so, two questionnaires were administered to 1,092 school children aged 8 and 12, before and after viewing the videos. The results of the questionnaire prior to screening the videos showed that the school children held no knowledge of the intelligence services, and expressed highly developed stereotypes, and moderately negative attitudes towards them. Student-t tests for related samples were used to confirm the responses, on the basis of which it was found that the videos modified both knowledge and stereotyping, as well as attitudes towards the CNI. Specifically, following the screenings the knowledge of the school children improved, stereotyping diminished, and positive attitudes increased.

Online risk perception in young people and its effects on digital behaviour

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:07:37 +0100

An important part of current research regarding online risks is aimed at analysing cyber aggression according to its frequency and type. By contrast, there is less scientific knowledge available on risk perception, the analysis of its components, and the measurement and impact on the behaviour of minors on the Internet. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to establish a classification of minors based on their perception of risk, digital consumption habits, family and/or educational protection factors, and the flow of communication. A structured questionnaire was used from a sample of 865 minors aged 10 to 17 from the Autonomous Region of Madrid. Data were processed using SPSS 15.0 and SPAD 5.0. After a factor and classification analysis was conducted, seven different groups were obtained. The predominant profile, in 42% of the cases, is that of a ‘prudent person’, characterized by a high perception of risk, not spending an excessive amount of time on the Internet, avoiding unsafe behaviour, talking with parents about online difficulties, receiving advice, and having clear rules on Internet use. The perception of risk is shown as a relevant construct in relation to other indicators such as child-rearing techniques used by parents, the time children spend on Internet, dependency on the device, and the type of digital behavior involved.

Communication research in Spain: Weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:07:20 +0100

This article presents the methodological strategies, results and a critical analysis of the national research project MapCom “The Research Sphere on Communication Studies Social Practices, Map of Projects, Groups, research objects and methods”. We present the results obtained within the first two phases of the research project. The complete sample of objects for analysis was selected within this time span, all doctoral research and research projects were included. We performed a specific analysis of descriptive variables associated to gender, objects of study, funding, more present methodologies, as well as a comparative analysis between research projects and doctoral theses from a perspective of the objects of study and the methodologies implemented. We contextualize the work with a comparative analysis of research in Social Science and Humanities in the same period analysed in Spain. We performed an analysis of the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities which were detected within the analysis, and we propose recommendations aimed at developing a “Strategic Action Plan for Competitive Research in Communication”. The analysis of this research concludes with the observation of similarities between the objects of study, but also of the differences between the objectives of the investigations when we compare doctoral theses and research projects in the analysed period. We also carried out a comparative analysis of the 12 most relevant universities in Spain, in order to identify differences, similarities and research patterns in research teams or groups, associate doctoral programs and universities.

Cyberbullying and problematic Internet use in Colombia, Uruguay and Spain: Cross-cultural study

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:06:52 +0100

The goal of this cross-cultural study was to analyze and compare the cybervictimization and cyberaggression scores, and the problematic Internet use between Spain, Colombia and Uruguay. Despite cultural similarities between the Spanish and the South American contexts, there are few empirical studies that have comparatively examined this issue. The study sample consisted of 2,653 subjects aged 10-18 years. Data was collected through the cyberbullying questionnaire and the Spanish version of the “Revised generalized and problematic Internet use scale”. Results showed a higher prevalence of minor cyberbullying behavior in Spain between 10-14 years. In the three countries compared, there was a higher prevalence of two types of bystanders: the defender of the victim and the outsider, although in Colombia there were more profiles of assistant to the bully. Regarding the problematic use of the Internet, there were not differences between the three countries. We provide evidence on the relationship between cybervictimization and cyberaggression and problematic use of the Internet. The dimensions of compulsive use and regulation of mood are the best predictors of cyberbullying. We discuss our results in relation to the possible normalization of violence and its lack of recognition as such.

'Asegúrate' Program: Effects on cyber-aggression and its risk factors

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:06:21 +0100

Intervention against cyberbullying and other risks associated with the misuse of ITC and social networks is an important social demand. The «Asegúrate» Program tries to support teachers in this intervention. This research shows the impact of the program among those that have shown to be less sensitive to other ones: cyber-aggressors. Concretely, the impact of the program on the prevalence of aggression in cyberbullying and bullying, sexting and abusive use of the Internet and social networks are analyzed. The evaluation of the program was carried out with a sample of 479 students (54.9% girls) of Compulsory Secondary Education (age M=13.83. SD=1.40) through a quasi-experimental methodology, with two measures over time. The instruments used were the “European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire”, the “European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire”, the ”Internet Related Experiences Questionnaire” and two items about sexting involvement. The results show that the involvement in cyber aggression, sexting, and intrapersonal dimension of abusive use of Internet and social network increases without intervention, whereas it diminishes when the intervention is carried out. Moreover, a significant decrease in the aggression and cyber aggression among cyber aggressors is evidenced. Thus, “Asegúrate” Program is effective for decreasing the prevalence of aggressions and cyber aggressions as well as the involvement in other phenomena considered cyberbullying risk factors.

Teachers’ and students’ perception about cyberbullying. Intervention and coping strategies in primary and secondary education

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:05:57 +0100

Currently, schools face the challenge of dealing with the phenomena of cyberbullying, which is increasingly present among teenagers. This study analyses teachers’ and students’ perception of the problem, as well as the strategies that both groups use to avoid it. Its findings will allow advances in prevention and intervention in the schools. The study was conducted on 1704 primary and secondary school students and 238 teachers who completed questionnaires about cyberbullying. We used a cross-sectional descriptive method. Findings show significant differences in the motives teachers attributed to cyberbullying. These depend on the educational stage they work in, whereas, among students, it depends on the role they have in the cyberbullying: victim or aggressor. We also find differences in the intervention strategies used by teachers, depending on the type of school, educational stage, and gender. Those used the most are communicating, mediating and seeking help. For students, the predominate strategies are avoidance, protection, and reporting. Schoolchildren, in general, show little confidence in their teachers' ability to solve the problem of cyberbullying. The study highlights the importance of training teachers and providing them with action models when faced with this issue, and it points out the necessity of coordinating the efforts of both teachers and students.

Socio-cognitive and emotional factors on perpetration of cyberbullying

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:05:25 +0100

Research on the characteristics shown by children who cyberbully others is scarce. The objective of this research is to know the variables that predict the involvement of youngsters in cyberbullying perpetration. The current study examined the relation between socio-cognitive and emotional variables and cyberbullying perpetration. It examined the cyberbullies' beliefs about moral disengagement towards cyberbullying. It tested also the social support and emotional reactions to cyberbullying with the aim of understanding their association with cyberbullying perpetration. A number of 1,062 teenagers (54% girls) between 12 and 19 years old (M=15.20, SD=1.91), from six public secondary schools in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), participated in the study. Results suggest that students who engage in cyberbullying perpetration have higher levels of cyberbullying victimization and bullying aggression when compared with their peers who do not engage in cyberbullying. The findings show that socio-cognitive and emotional variables are important to understand individual differences in engagement in cyberbullying. Result of regressions indicated that perpetration of cyberbullying was positively associated with cyberbullying victimization, bullying aggression, moral disengagement towards cyberbullying, social support and satisfaction expression. In contrast, perpetration of cyberbullying was not associated with negative emotions. Gender and age did not play a significant role in the prediction on perpetration of cyberbullying. Future research should continue to examine predictive factors associated with cyberbullying perpetration.

From sMOOC to tMOOC, learning towards professional transference. ECO European Project

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:51:45 +0100

The evolution of MOOCs in the last decade has been constant and dynamic. The first cMOOC and xMOOC models eventually evolved into different postMOOC modalities, such as sMOOC, which conjugates interaction among students with a participation model based on social networks. This work is focused on carrying out a systematic review of the state-of-the-art scientific literature referred to the concept of MOOC and its diverse types. Moreover, in this article, a new generation associated to sMOOC is unveiled: the tMOOC (Transfer Massive Open Online Courses). The methodology of study is based on the content analysis of those categories resulting after compiling 707 entries from Web of Science, plus an in-depth study of the 70 articles which were quoted at least 10 times. In addition, a case study has been carried out from European ECO Project’s “sMOOC Step by Step”, as an example of innovative pedagogical model based on collaborative learning to train future e-teachers. The results of the analysis show the very recent –and still scarce– research on the different types of MOOCs, as well as the finding of a new modality based on pedagogical transformation, learning transference and intercreative talent. As a conclusion, the analysis of all key factors in the configuration of tMOOC has encouraged us to propose a new taxonomy based on the 10 T’s.

Emotional intelligence and peer cybervictimisation in adolescents: Gender as moderator

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:43:48 +0100

Elucidating personal factors that may protect against the adverse psychological outcomes of cyberbullying victimisation might help guide more effective screening and school intervention. No studies have yet examined the role of emotional intelligence (EI) and gender in adolescent victims of cyberbullying and how these dimensions might interact in explaining cybervictimisation experiences. The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between EI and cybervictimisation, and the interactive link involving EI skills and gender as predictors of cyberbullying victimisation in a sample of 1,645 Spanish adolescents (50.6% female), aged between 12 and 18 years. Regarding the prevalence of cybervictimisation, our results indicated that over 83.95% of the sample were considered non-cyber victims, while 16.05% experienced occasional or severe cyber victimisation. Additionally, findings indicated that deficits in EI and its dimensions were positively associated with cyber victimisation in both genders, but were stronger in females. Besides, a significant emotion regulation x gender association was found in explaining cyber victimisation experiences. While no interaction was found for males, for females the deficits of emotion regulation were significantly associated with greater victimisation. Our findings provide empirical support for theoretical work connecting EI skills, gender and cyber victimisation, suggesting emotion regulation skills might be considered as valuable resources, as well as the inclusion in new gender-tailored cyberation victimisation prevention programmes.

Gamification and transmedia for scientific promotion and for encouraging scientific careers in adolescents

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:43:12 +0100

The current growth in gamification-based applications, and especially in what is known as Digital Game-based Learning (DGBL), is providing new opportunities with considerable educational potential. In the present study, we report on the results of the progress of a project for developing a setting for a gamified website carried out ad hoc, complemented by transmedia resources and aimed at scientific promotion and the promotion of technological and scientific careers (S&T) in adolescents, who are at a stage in life when career preferences are established. At present, the decrease in S& careers is one of the greatest problems for the society of technological development that we live in, where the number of professionals working in key areas for economic development and progress is declining. After completing a pre and post project participation survey, the results suggest a high level of efficiency achieved by projects of this type due to their online experimentation design, the knowledge of real cases of research activity, and the communication of positive scientific values and attitudes appropriate for the target population. The participants significantly increased their interest in the subject area, scientific professions, and research activity and their social benefits demonstrating the acquisition of positive attitudes towards scientific knowledge and skills.

A science mapping analysis of ‘Communication’ WoS subject category (1980-2013)

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:42:51 +0100

Communication Research field has an extraordinary growth pattern, indeed bigger than other research fields. In order to extract knowledge from such amount, intelligent techniques are needed. In such a way, using bibliometric techniques, the evolution of the conceptual, social and intellectual aspects of this research field could be analysed, and hence, understood. Although the communication research field has been widely analysed using bibliometric techniques and science mapping tools, a conceptual analysis of the whole communication research field is still needed. Therefore, this article introduces the first science mapping analysis in the communication research field based on the Web of Science Subject Category "Communication," showing its conceptual structure and scientific evolution. SciMAT, a bibliometric science mapping software tool based on co-word analysis and h-index, is applied using a sample of 33.627 research documents from 1980 to 2013 published in 74 main communication journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports of the Web of Science. The results show that research conducted in the communication research is concentrated on the following sixteen disconnected thematic areas: “children”, “psychological aspects”, “news”, “audience”, “surveys”, “advertising”, “health”, “relationship”, “gender”, “discourse”, “telephone communication”, “public relation”, “telecommunications”, “public opinion”, “activism” and “internet”. These areas have progressively disconnected among them, which drives to a Communication field relatively fragmented.

Prosumers and emirecs: Analysis of two confronted theories

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:36:40 +0100

In the 1970s, the publications of Alvin Toffler and Jean Cloutier were essential for the emergence of two concepts, prosumer, and emirec, whose meanings have been mistakenly equated by numerous scholars and researchers. At the same time, the mercantilist theories linked to prosumption have made invisible the models of communication designed by Cloutier. In this article, configured as a review of the state of the art made from an exhaustive documentary analysis, we observe that, while the notion of prosumer represents vertical and hierarchical relations between companies and citizens, Cloutier's emirec evokes a horizontal relationship and an isonomy between professional and amateur media creators. The prosumption presents an alienated subject, which is integrated into the logic of the market under free work dynamics and from the extension of time and productive spaces, while the emirec is defined as a potentially empowered subject that establishes relations between equals. The theory of the prosumer reproduces the hegemonic economic model by seeking solutions from the field of marketing so that the media and entertainment industries must face the challenges they have to face in the digital world. On the contrary, the emirec theory connects with disruptive communicative models that introduce new relationships between media and audiences and the establishment of logic of affinity between communication participants.

YouTuber videos and the construction of adolescent identity

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:36:28 +0100

The main objective of this research is to analyze the content of YouTuber's videos that have the greatest impact on adolescents and their relationship with the construction of identity. The YouTube platform is one of the most commonly used by Spanish teenagers and around 70% of young people between 14 and 17 years of age prefer this network. YouTubers are perceived by young people as their equals, approachable people who share similar traits to their own, which facilitates rapid identification. A qualitative analysis of the content of 22 videos on the YouTube platform was carried out using the Atlas.ti program. The analysis led to several emerging codes related to the construction of adolescent personal identity. Most of the messages relating to personal identity were aimed at transmitting the self-impression of the YouTuber and the relationship of that self-impression with his gender identity, sexual orientation, and vocational identity. Also, family and peers appeared in the videos, especially as providers of social support. Teen followers include messages to support YouTubers, express their identification with the messages and use comment spaces to describe their own experiences, expressing the same concerns in the configuration of their identity. It is necessary to take into account this new space of interrelation to understand the development of young people’s identity.

Youth impact on the public sphere in Press and Twitter: The dissolution of the Spanish Youth Council

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:36:05 +0100

This paper aims to contribute to the study of the difficulties that young people face in accessing the public sphere as political actors. It looks at the Press coverage and the Twitter activity surrounding the restructuring process and the subsequent dissolution of the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España - CJE). A content analysis was carried out on the news published in 22 newspapers between 2012 and 2014, as well as on the use of Twitter within the framework of the “Salvemos el CJE” campaign during the same period of time. The main objective of the analysis has been to see the prominence of this issue on both the media and citizens’ agendas. In most newspapers, the measures taken by the government vis-á-vis the CJE were treated as punctual news of peripheral importance. The online campaign, mainly orchestrated by youth grassroots movements, raised the controversy on the biased nature and the political consequences of this plan. The core of the campaign addressed the representation of young people in public institutions. The results of the study suggest that the increased potential for visibility offered by social media is not always maximized and does not necessarily alter the prominence of an issue in the public sphere.

#TrumpenMexico. Transnational connective action on Twitter and the border wall dispute

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:35:42 +0100

This article aims to identify how digital public opinion was articulated on Twitter during the visit of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to Mexico City in 2016 by invitation from the Mexican government, which was preceded by the threat to construct a border wall that Mexico would pay for. Using a mixed methodology made up of computational methods such as data mining and social network analysis combined with content analysis, the authors identify conversational patterns and the structures of the net-works formed, beginning with this event involving the foreign policy of both countries that share a long border. The authors study the digital media practices and emotional frameworks these social network users employed to involve themselves in the controversial visit, marked by complex political, cultural and historical relations. The analysis of 352,203 tweets in two languages (English and Spanish), those most used in the conversations, opened the door to an understanding as to how transnational public opinion is articulated in connective actions detonated by newsworthy events in distinct cultural contexts, as well as the emotional frameworks that permeated the conversation, whose palpable differences show that Twitter is not a homogeneous universe, but rather a set of universes co-determined by sociocultural context.

Advocacy of trafficking campaigns: A controversy story

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:35:18 +0100

The construction, visualization, and stabilization of public problems require the mobilization of civil society groups concerned about these issues to actively engage in the demand for actions and policies. This paper explores the institutional campaigns against human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Spain between 2008 and 2017 and their role in helping to shape this issue as a matter of public concern. Our aim is to identify the ideological basis of these campaigns through their representations of predominant actors, which have been systematized to identify possible mistakes and to help determine more effective actions with a greater capacity for mobilization. We applied a mixed content analysis combined with a semiotic model to evaluate the presence or absence of the different actors and their relevance in each case. Several lines of discourse have been reiterated across the 50 campaigns analysed: Curbing the demand for prostitution as a priority objective; the centrality of victims in the representations; the role of the consumer of paid sex as an accomplice to the crime; and the correlation between prostitution and human trafficking. We will also examine how these issues relate to the broader dispute on the status of prostitution in Spain. This will require a conceptual shift away from educational and social-oriented communication towards the structural causes, collective responsibility and transformative justice frameworks.

Violence against Brazilian women in public and mediatic spheres

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:35:03 +0100

This article explores the capacity of the media to incorporate controversies in circulation in the public sphere. For that, it is based on the analysis of a set of 607 news stories about violence against women in context of gender relations and proximity collected in nine Brazilian media during the years of 2013 and 2014. Recognized as one of the countries with the highest rates of violence against women, in recent decades Brazil has passed laws aimed at protecting victims and aggravating the convictions of perpetrators, which were the result of intense debates promoted by feminists, researchers and others social actors involved in the guarantee of human rights. The collected news stories were published in the years immediately prior to the promulgation of the Feminicide Law, in 2015. Analyzed through a combination of methodologies, such as content analysis and narrative analysis, the collected news stories show that Brazilian news media are still little permeable to illuminating tendencies of violence against women as a result of gender relations, prevailing approaches that present them as routine and/or futile crimes. Therefore, the analysis makes it possible to perceive that the media are some steps behind the actions and debates that elevate this issue to a dimension of controversy, as those held in academic spaces, by feminist movements and other social actors in Brazil.

Communicating science: The profile of science journalists in Spain

Scipedia content — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:34:48 +0100

Science journalists are mainly responsible for publicly communicating science, which, in turn, is a major indicator of the social development of democratic societies. The transmission of quality scientific information that is rigorously researched and understandable is therefore crucial, and demand for this kind of information from both governments and citizens is growing. We analyzed the academic profiles of a representative sample of practicing science journalists in Spain to clarify what training they had received and how they perceived the quality and scope of this training. Using an ethnographic methodology based on a survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with science journalists working for the main Spanish media (mainly printed press, audiovisual, Internet and news agencies), we analyze their academic backgrounds and collect information on their opinions and proposals. Our findings depict a complex and heterogeneous scenario and also reveal that most science journalists not only do not have any scientific training, but also do not even consider this to be necessary to exercise as science reporters. They also criticize the current system for training journalists and consider that the best way of learning the profession is by acquiring experience on the job.

Lluís Meseguer (ed.), «La traducció literària. Estudis sobre la traducció i la literatura valenciana. Homenatge a Joan Francesc Mira i Casterà», València, AVL, 2017, 315 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:53:32 +0100

Book review: Lluís Meseguer (ed.), La traducció literària. Estudis sobre la traducció i la literatura valenciana. Homenatge a Joan Francesc Mira i Casterà, València, AVL, 2017, 315 pp., ISBN: 978-84-482-6200-6.

Josep Massot i Muntaner, «Els mallorquins i la llengua catalana. Segles XIII-XXI», Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat («Col·lecció Biblioteca Serra d’Or», 500), 2018, 171 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:53:25 +0100

Book review: Josep Massot i Muntaner, Els mallorquins i la llengua catalana. Segles XIII-XXI, Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat («Col·lecció Biblioteca Serra d’Or», 500), 2018, 171 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9883-963-0.

Ricard Salvat, «Diaris (1962-1968)», Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, 2015, 544 pp. // Ricard Salvat, «Diaris (1969-1972)», Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, 2017, 454 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:53:18 +0100

Book reviews:
Ricard Salvat, Diaris (1962-1968). Edició a cura d’Eulàlia Salvat, pròleg a cura de Francesc Foguet & Manuel Molins, Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, 2015, 544 pp., ISBN: 978-84-475-4032-7.
Ricard Salvat, Diaris (1969-1972). Edició i pròleg a cura de Francesc Foguet i Boreu, Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, 2017, 454 pp., ISBN: 978-84-475-3800-3.

Josep Miquel Ramis (ed.), «Epistolari Sebastià Juan Arbó - Joan Sales (1966-1982)», Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat («Textos i Estudis de Cultura Catalana», 221), 2018, 167 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:53:11 +0100

Book review: Josep Miquel Ramis (ed.), Epistolari Sebastià Juan Arbó - Joan Sales (1966-1982), Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat («Textos i Estudis de Cultura Catalana», 221), 2018, 167 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9883-956-2.

Sharon G. Feldman & Francesc Foguet: «Els límits del silenci. La censura del teatre català durant el franquisme», Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2016, 272 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:53:05 +0100

Book review: Sharon G. Feldman & Francesc Foguet: Els límits del silenci. La censura del teatre català durant el franquisme, Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2016, 272 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9883-879-4.

Carles Batlle & Enric Gallén (curs.), «Adrià Gual. Teoria escènica», Lleida/Barcelona, Punctum / Institut del Teatre, 2016, 343 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:59 +0100

Book review: Carles Batlle & Enric Gallén (curs.), Adrià Gual. Teoria escènica, Lleida/Barcelona, Punctum / Institut del Teatre, 2016, 343 pp., ISBN: 978-84-945790-0-4 (Punctum) i 978-84-9803-758-6 (Institut del Teatre)

Pere Gil, «Història moral de Cathalunya». Edició a cura de Rodolfo Galdeano Carretero, Barcelona, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció Històrico-Arqueològica, 2017, 560 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:52 +0100

Book review: Pere Gil, Història moral de Cathalunya. Edició a cura de Rodolfo Galdeano Carretero, Barcelona, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció Històrico-Arqueològica, 2017, 560 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9965-174-3.

Xevi Camprubí, «La premsa a Catalunya durant la Guerra de Successió», València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València, 2016, 191 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:45 +0100

Book review: Xevi Camprubí, La premsa a Catalunya durant la Guerra de Successió, València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València, 2016, 191 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9134-014-0.

The strange identity: the sexual alterity in «L’aprenentatge de la soledat», by David Vilaseca (2008)

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:39 +0100

L’aprenentatge de la soledat (Learning to Be Alone), by the Catalan author David Vilaseca (2008), raises issues about writing, identity and sexuality. Drawing on cultural theory, psychoanalysis and queer theory, the narrator and protagonist, David —the author’s alter ego— writes a journal to shape his gay identity. Rather than proclaiming homosexuality, autobiography retrospectively shapes the self’s sexual identity. Vilaseca renders the story as fiction, not as an authentic personal diary, whereupon the novel is an example of self-fiction, but also a mixture of theory and personal experience. Specifically, psychoanalysis shapes the character as a depressed, paranoiac, masochist, reliant subject who feels terribly guilty and has a very complex relationship to his heterosexual past. The protagonist links his former life to an identity he no longer recognises —Catalonia, his friends, his family and, most remarkably, his mother. His becoming a gay man is achieved through the interaction with London’s gay scene and demands breaking with the past, which David seems unable to overcome; his incapability transforms him into a melancholic subject.

Dislocated Temporalities: Immigration, Identity, and Sexuality in Najat El Hachmi’s «L’últim patriarca»

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:33 +0100

Recent Catalan criticism has focused on place and space, as well as immigration, but has overlooked temporality. Yet migrations are not only a matter of space (of demographic movements and geographical relocations), but also of time: immigration questions the idea of origins and the possibility of a shared future, and problematizes the rhythms of everyday life. Temporality, in fact, is a key axis in the formation of identities and in cultural conflicts, not just regarding the uses of the past and the projection of societies towards the future, but also in relation to the normative uses of the body. The coexistence of asynchronous temporalities provoked by immigration is a factor in both cultural and psychic conflict. Najat El Hachmi’s novel L’últim patriarca (2008) is an excellent example of these phenomena. Here the circular temporality, based on the repetition of cycles, of Morocco’s traditional society comes to a halt in the failure of the narrator’s father to reproduce patriarchal domination in Catalonia. The novel roots this experience in modern referents through a dialogue with the Catalan literary tradition, and questions the idea of temporality understood as succession of generations by problematizing biological reproduction and gender subordination and through the shattering effects of anal sexuality. This article offers an integrated analysis of these issues by reference to psychoanalysis.

Border’s voices: the other Catalans of nowadays

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:26 +0100

This study focuses on the analysis of some of the immigration Catalan literature voices’. This literature is placed between two cultures, in the border between what is known and unknown, in the margins of what its characters are and what they are not. In this vein, this literature does not narrate epics facts, but individual feats. These feats are often associated with mood, which is generated from rewriting the own personality of its characters. Thus, the work we present is an approach to otherness and it has been developed from some books of Saïd El Kadaoui, Najat El Hachmi, Agnès Agboton and Francesc Serés. All these border voices are increasingly more common, deeper, more read and therefore closer to those who one day might also be part of these margins in continuous fluctuation.

Against alterity. The erosion of I/other dichotomy in «La pell de la frontera» (2014) by Francesc Serés

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:20 +0100

In this paper, I reflect on the research of mechanisms of literary representation of cultural and economical difference that intend to erode the separation that justifies the I/Other dichotomy. I focus on the study of La pell de la frontera (2014) by Francesc Serés. This book contributed to the report of the plight of migrants and the government's inaction on the social, economical and demographic changes that affected many villages of Baix Cinca and Segrià. I hypothesize that Serés uses the representation of used objects and ruined landscapes to build a story about a difference that could erode the limits designed by the dichotomy I/Other. My paper is structured in three sections, where it is analyzed: a) the process of deplacement of the author's function, b) the use of used objects as a meeting point with an Other that is not represented as "the" Other, and c) the erosion of the identity of the author and of the representativeness of the other in a collective frame.

Between distance and privacy: the enunciation of the urban space in Vicent Andrés Estellés

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:13 +0100

This paper analyses how Vicent Andrés Estellés treats the city in his poems according to the degree of proximity between the poet and the reality on the ground. The works studied remit to any period of concrete production, but that they are disseminated along all the path of the poet because of the constant presence that the space has. We will focus on explaining the two ways that the poet has to represent the city: on the one hand when this is presented like an otherness observed by the poet and, on the other hand, when the poet lives it since the vicinity. With the aim to do reference to the different places significant that configure the identity of the poet.

Introduction to the monograph «Les veus de l’alteritat»

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:07 +0100

Introduction to the monograph «Les veus de l’alteritat», number 65 (Autumn 2018) of Caplletra. Revista Internacional de Filologia.

Phraseology as a stylistic feature in novels originally written in English and their translations into CatalanAN

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:52:01 +0100

This paper is an analysis of the stylistic function of phraseology in three contemporary novels, originally written in English —Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan; The Road, by Cormac McCarthy; and Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie—, and their corresponding translations into Catalan —Amor perdurable, La carretera and Els fills de la mitjanit. Taking into account some theoretical reflections on phraseology and translation, and by comparing the original novels and their translations, in this article we analyze some examples of phraseological units (PUs) that play a significant stylistic role and we also examine the techniques used by professional translators when faced with this sort of PUs.

Strong pronouns in Catalan existential sentences

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:54 +0100

This article defends that the restricted distribution of strong pronouns in the pivot position of Catalan existential sentences is not a consequence of the Definiteness Effect, as commonly assumed, but rather of the conjunction of the information conditions imposed by the existential sentence, which requires the pivot to be contrastive, with the pragmatic nature of contrast in the pronominal system, which blocks the contrastive reading of pronouns in precisely this position. Henceforth, it is argued that pronominal pivots can only obtain the required contrastive reading by external means, namely by means of the particles només ‘only’ and mateix ‘same’. This analysis is extended to languages respecting the Definiteness Effect, as English or Spanish.

Catalan and other languages in contact in the court and in the chancellery in Naples of Alfonso the Magnanimous (1443-1458)

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:48 +0100

The move of the court of the king Alfonso V of Aragon from Valencia (1416-1430) to Italy (1432) and their settlement in Naples (1443-1458) implied the emigration of a numerous human group, which was perceived as a duality by the Neapolitans (catalani et hispani: Catalan speaking people and Spanish speaking people), and also a royal administration where Catalan was the preferred language by the government and state, even though the king used to speak in Spanish. The numerous court, who was almost bilingual in most cases, was involved —in greater or lesser proportion— in a plurality of linguistic expressions, both orally and written: there were bureaucrats and knights mainly from Valencia; Castilian song poets; humanists who used to write in perfect Latin; native barons who spoke in a napoletano misto, influenced by the literary Tuscan; scriveners from the chancery who wrote in Sicilian dialect, merchants from Florence, etc. Altogether, this makes the court in Naples of Alfonso the Magnanimous a very interesting object of study for the field of the history of the language (leaving aside now the idiomatic adaptation of the literary expressions, being also an aspect that deserves to be studied).

Sociability and Poetic Projection: Women’s Voices in Baroque Poetry Contests

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:42 +0100

The aim of this paper is to show a tradition of feminine poetry that has survived throughout the centuries, focusing on the greatest period of splendor, the Baroque era. Our goal is to shed light on this space for literary creation from the perspective of the dissemination of some of the first printed works attributed to women in the history of our literature, which were written in Catalan, Castilian and Latin. To do this, after having carried out an exhaustive search on the universe of the contests of the 16th-17th centuries and systematising this production, we offer some sociological and literary observations related to the social origin of women authors, and the role and motivations of female participation.

Vicent Beltran Calvo & Carles Segura-Llopes, «Els parlars valencians», València, PUV, 2017, 400 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:33 +0100

Book review: Vicent Beltran Calvo & Carles Segura-Llopes, «Els parlars valencians», València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València («Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana», 34), 2017, 400 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9134-010-2.

Joaquim Martí Mestre, «Diccionari de fraseologia (segles XVII-XXI)», València, PUV / PUA / AVL / Institut Alfons el Magnànim, 2017, 1848 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:27 +0100

Book review: Joaquim Martí Mestre, «Diccionari de fraseologia (segles XVII-XXI)». Pròleg d’Antoni Ferrando. València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València / Publicacions de la Universitat d’Alacant / Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua / Institut Alfons el Magnànim («Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana», 32), 2017, 1848 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9134-007-2.

Maria Ahn, Xavier Espluga & Alejandra Guzmán (eds.), «Pere Miquel Carbonell i el seu temps (1434-1517)», Barcelona, Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres, 2016, 252 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:20 +0100

Book review: Maria Ahn, Xavier Espluga & Alejandra Guzmán (eds.), «Pere Miquel Carbonell i el seu temps (1434-1517)», Barcelona, Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres, 2016, 252 pp., ISBN: 978-84-945234-0-3.

F. Carbó, C. Gregori & R. X. Rosselló, (eds.), «La ironia en les literatures occidentals des de l’inici de segle fins a 1939», 2016, Barcelona, PAM, 551 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:14 +0100

Book review: F. Carbó, C. Gregori & R. X. Rosselló, (eds.), «La ironia en les literatures occidentals des de l’inici de segle fins a 1939», 2016, Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 551 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9883-873-2.

Pere Ballart, Jordi Malé, Marcel Ortín, Joaquim Espinós & Gonçal López-Pampló, «Joan Fuster i la ironia», València, PUV, 2017, 162 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:51:07 +0100

Book review: Pere Ballart, Jordi Malé, Marcel Ortín, Joaquim Espinós & Gonçal López-Pampló, «Joan Fuster i la ironia», València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València, 2017, 162 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9134-008-9.

Maria Dasca, «Entenebrats. Literatura catalana i bogeria», Barcelona, PAM, 2016, 501 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:59 +0100

Book review: Maria Dasca, «Entenebrats. Literatura catalana i bogeria», Barcelona, Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 2016, 501 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9883-863-3.

Pere Villalba i Varneda, «Ramon Llull. Escriptor i filòsof de la diferència. Palma de Mallorca, 123», Bellaterra, UAB, 2016, 596 pp. i «Ramon Llull. Vida i obres», Barcelona, IEC, 2015, 1001 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:53 +0100

Books review:

Pere Villalba i Varneda, «Ramon Llull. Escriptor i filòsof de la diferència. Palma de Mallorca, 1232-1316», Bellaterra, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2016, 596 pp., ISBN: 978-84-490-5164-7.

Pere Villalba i Varneda, «Ramon Llull. Vida i obres. Volum I. Anys 1232-1287/1288. Obres 1-37», Barcelona, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 2015, 1001 pp., ISBN: 978-84-9965-259-7.

Laure Sarda, Denis Vigier & Bernard Combettes (dir.), «Connexion et indexation. Ces liens qui tissen le texte», Lió, Ens Éditions, 2016, 224 pp.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:46 +0100

Book review: Laure Sarda, Denis Vigier & Bernard Combettes (dir.), «Connexion et indexation. Ces liens qui tissen le texte», Lió, Ens Éditions, 2016, 224 pp., ISBN: 978-2-84788-798-3.

Encapsulating structures with metadiscursive value in parliamentary debate: from structuring to modality

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:39 +0100

Encapsulation by means of abstract unspecific nouns (such as conclusion, topic, reality or problem) reifies predicative discourse chunks and conceptualise them. This ability is inherent to encapsulators or shell nouns (Schmid 2000), a functional class privileged to signposting the structure of formal genres such as parliamentary debate (PD) and thus exhibiting their close link to metadiscourse. On the basis of a corpus of PD in Catalan, Spanish and English, our study deals with the metadiscursive function of some structures including an encapsulator. The framework provided by Hyland (2004) and Hyland & Tse (2005) is taking into account with this purpose. The different structures used by the addressor to organise the discourse and to interact with his or her potential addressees are analysed. The analysis of these variously fixed structures leads to establish five homogeneous cross-linguistic classes: textual organisers, sentential adjuncts, lexical connectives (Cuenca 1998), modal locutions, and two copular patterns. These classes are described functionally, formally and from their discourse functioning. Their relations with the two aspects of metadiscourse, textual and interpersonal, are observed, considering the fuzzy boundaries between both aspects.

Constructions with shell nouns in English: their dual role in information packaging

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:33 +0100

The focus in this paper is on structural and functional properties of a marginal type of focus formulas in English, known as N-be-that-constructions (Schmid 2001), cf. The problem is that he is jealous. They are referred to here as focus formulas with shell nouns (FFSNs). The role of the nouns in these templates is to create conceptual shells (Schmid 1997) into which the propositional content is encapsulated, with both the parts being co-referentially linked. The BNC data have revealed two manifestations of FFSNs in discourse: they occurred either as fixed utterance-initial templates (The thing is that killing got to be a habit.), or as looser configurations, co-occurring with various discourse signposts (DSs), as in Mm. well I mean there’s the the other thing is you see… My view, inspired by Schmid (2001) and outlined in Válková and Tárnyiková (2015), is that the FFSNs can have a dual role in discourse, operating either as focalizers or as discourse signposts participating in a number of pragmatic strategies associated with facework. The aim is to argue for the validity of this claim and give evidence of and reasoning for the focality loss cases.

Anaphoric incapsulators: A classification

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:26 +0100

We define a kind of nominal phrases which have incapsulation functions in discourse from a formal, semantic and informative approach. These nominal phrases contain some anaphoric element and they reify and reconceptualise previous text chunks which became informative point of anchorage (themes) for further discourse developments. The are the so called (thematic) anaphoric incapsulators. We propose a classification of the types of nominal phrases which can fulfil such discursive function. The taxonomy is based in three parameters: (a) the lexico-semantic nature of the nominal head; (b) the presence or absence of axiological components, (c) the element which carries that component. Our aim is to organize in a single paradigm several types of incapsulators that have been analysed in the literature and which satisfy the previous description.

Abstract nouns as metadiscursive shells in academic discourse

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:19 +0100

Academic discourse is characterized by an abundance of abstract nouns such as analysis, research, process, concept, approach or role. These nouns are considered cohesive devices since their full content is determined by referring to their context and they have received numerous denominations (anaphoric, signaling, carrier, shell or metadiscursive nouns). This paper explores the metadiscursive role of shell nouns in a corpus of academic abstracts written by university students for their Senior Theses, based on Schmid’s (2000) and Jiang and Hyland’s (2016, 2017) proposals. The rhetorical, persuasive potential of these abstract nouns in this type of academic discourse is also addressed. The results show that advanced EFL writers deploy a wide range of abstract nouns in patterns that resemble those of scholars (Jiang & Hyland 2017). Different moves in the text seem to influence the type of noun employed. All in all, advanced English Studies majors are aware of academic disciplinary conventions but would benefit from training in abstract writing, particularly in the distribution of the text’s moves.

Nominal encapsulation in oral and written academic discourse: grammatical and discourse patterns

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:13 +0100

The following article discusses nominal unfaithful encapsulation on a corpus of Spanish conference presentations and the corresponding Proceedings articles in Linguistics (102 903 words). A nominal unfaithful encapsulator is a noun which sums up the content of a predicative portion of text and categorizes it as a discourse entity. This cohesive strategy is commonly used in lexico-grammatical patterns such as postnominal clause patterns (the fact that/to…), attributive complementing clause patterns (the fact is that/to…) or in discourse patterns such as anaphoric attributive pattern, rhematic pattern, thematic pattern and interpretative framework pattern. This study analyses the functions and frequency of these patterns in oral and written research genres. Results show that some of these patterns are more widely used in one of these two modes of communication. It is also argued that some of these encapsulators are attracted to some of these patterns, thus demonstrating the existence of close relationships between lexis and discourse grammar.

Shell nouns in English – a personal roundup

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:50:06 +0100

This paper provides a somewhat personal retrospect on work on the notion and phenomenon of shell noun. After a brief introduction I will discuss some terminological and methodological issues. Following some remarks on the classification of shell noun uses I will then report on recent work into the origin and diachronic development of shell nouns and shell-noun constructions, and discuss a number of other advances in the study of shell nouns since their introduction in the 1990s.

Introduction to the monograph «L’encapsulació lèxica: cohesió, coherència i metadiscurs»

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:49:59 +0100

Introduction to the monograph «L’encapsulació lèxica: cohesió, coherència i metadiscurs», number 64 (Spring 2018) of Caplletra. Revista Internacional de Filologia.

The treatment of collocations in Spanish-Catalan bilingual dictionaries

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:49:52 +0100

In this paper we focus on how collocations are included in Spanish-Catalan bilingual dictionaries. These lexical repertories are used generally for non-native speakers of Catalan in order to understand and produce texts in this language. To do this, we analyze the collocations in five bilingual Spanish-Catalan dictionaries. For the selection of 30 coocurrences, we have based on the classification established by Corpas (1996), and we have chosen two combinational structures: verb + noun (V + NOUN) and noun + adjective (SUST + ADJ). From the analysis of these combinations in dictionaries we observe how and where these expressions appear and the results will improve these bilingual dictionaries for users.

Anna Murià's «Reflexions de la vellesa», a singular case

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:49:44 +0100

The article has two parts. The first part is a comprehensive compilation of literary works in history about old age with the aim of examining how it has been considered in the European literary tradition and establishing parallelisms and differences with Reflexions de la vellesa. The second part focuses on Anna Murià’s posthumous diary, an intimate reflection on old age through her own experience and perspective, which makes it a unique sample.

The «Epistolae Familiares» by Petrasca in the «Curial»

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:49:36 +0100

The author of Curial e Güelfa, a humanistic chivalric romance written in Italy around 1445-1448 in Catalan language, was aware and had studied the Epistolae Familiares by Francesco Petrarca, as it has been revealed by the literary criticism. Here are collected the contributions to this topic by several authors, which have been enlarged with other intertextual and topic connec- tions between both works. We also point out the interest of the Lombard humanist Guiniforte Barzizza in spreading the work of Petrarca in the court in Naples of Alfonso the Magnanimous (thanks to the friendship that he had with some Valencian knights and diplomats) as an indicator to be taken into account when contextualising properly —that is, in an Italian environment and in contact with the humanism— this chivalric romance.

The teaching of Catalan in the radio during the Late-Rancoism: «cursos de catalán (1969) of Ràdio Barcelona

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:48:52 +0100

In the context of the attempt to recover the teaching of Catalan during the Sixties, in 1969 Ràdio Barcelona put on the air the program Cursos de catalán (Catalan courses), designed and written by the poet, grammarian and publisher Miquel Arimany, with his own voice as well as the voices of announcers Isidre Sola, Enriqueta Teixidó and Xavier Ubach, who were directed by Armand Blanch. The main aim of this program, which was cancelled after thirty-three issues, was the spreading of knowledge of Catalan among immigrant group, as a necessary condition to expand its use. This paper analyses the characteristics of the course: the alternation between Spanish and Catalan as vehicular languages; the comparison with Spanish as an educational resource to teach Catalan; the advantages and disadvantages of the radiophonic channel for language teaching; the pleasantness of radio drama as a strategy to attract the audience and to retain it; the focus on the differences with Spanish as the thread in the selection of contents; the underlying linguistic ideology in the course; the reference to linguistic authority, and the avoidance of dialect diversity.

Sergio Adillo Rufo, «Catálogo de representaciones del teatro de Calderón de la Barca en España (1715-2015)», Madrid, Fundación Universitaria Española, 2017.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:32:09 +0100

Bibliografía calderoniana 2017

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:32:02 +0100

Lope de Vega, «Arte nuevo de hacer comedias. Edición crítica. Fuentes y ecos latinos», ed. crítica Felipe B. Pedraza Jiménez; fuentes y ecos latinos Pedro Conde Parrado, Cuenca, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2016.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:31:54 +0100

Juan Manuel Rozas, «Estudios Calderonianos», ed. Jesús Cañas Murillo, pról. Miguel Ángel Pérez Priego, Cáceres, Universidad de Extremadura, 2016.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:31:47 +0100

Susan Paun de García y Donald R. Larson (eds.), «Religious and Secular Theater in Golden Age Spain. Essays in Honor of Donald T. Dietz», New York, Peter Lang, 2017.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:31:41 +0100

Esther Fernández Rodríguez, Alejandro García Reidy y José Miguel Martínez Torrejón (eds.), «El teatro clásico en su(s) cultura(s): de los Siglos de Oro al siglo XXI», New York, AITENSO/Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 2017.

Scipedia content — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:31:35 +0100