Ana Piquer-Píriz
Universidad de Extremadura, Filologia Inglesa, Faculty Member
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In recent years, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) has established itself not only as a solid theoretical approach but also as an important source from which different applications to other fields have emerged. In this introductory article, we... more
In recent years, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) has established itself not only as a solid theoretical approach but also as an important source from which different applications to other fields have emerged. In this introductory article, we explore some of the current, most relevant topics in applied CL-oriented studies grouped into three main strands: Analyses of figurative language (both metaphor and metonymy) in use, constructions and typology. An outline of the contents of the eight chapters included in this special issue is provided, explaining their contributions to these research areas and highlighting their methodological rigour.
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This paper reports the results of an analysis of English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) lecturers’ training needs at a Spanish state university. In order to carry out this analysis, participants were asked to complete a quantitative... more
This paper reports the results of an analysis of English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) lecturers’ training needs at a Spanish state university. In order to carry out this analysis, participants were asked to complete a quantitative questionnaire and participate in a survey with open questions adapted from Pérez-Cañado 2020). Both analysis tools explored the lecturers’ needs in relation to specific areas: linguistic competence, methodology, materials and resources, continuing professional development training and their overall rating of the EMI programme. The results show that, on the one hand, EMI teachers feel that their linguistic competence is sufficient to conduct classes in English. On the other hand, participants seem less confident as far as their methodological competence is concerned and call for more specific ongoing training. These findings are mostly in consonance with the results of other studies carried out in similar contexts (Dafouz 2018; Macaro et al. 2019; Pérez-Ca...
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Introduction: In the context of participation in an ERASMUS + project “Interdisciplinary Collaborative Approaches to Learning and Teaching - INCOLLAB”, we propose to assay its innovative character in the field of pedagogy in higher... more
Introduction: In the context of participation in an ERASMUS + project “Interdisciplinary Collaborative Approaches to Learning and Teaching - INCOLLAB”, we propose to assay its innovative character in the field of pedagogy in higher education, highlighting the dimension of integrated learning of a foreign language and a content (Content and Language Integrated Learning)- CLIL) and collaboration between higher education teachers in planning learning modules and teaching materials based on a interdisciplinary design and intervention. Objective: Asses the learning of a foreign language through the project methodology. Methods: The methodology followed was that of an action-research, supported by a community of learning and practice. This modality allowed the professors of the universities involved in the project, from the areas of foreign language and different content areas (Psychology, Economics, Management ...), to share knowledge, skills and pedagogical perspectives, projecting this...
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espanolDesde su lanzamiento (Meara and Fitzpatrick, 2000), Lex30 ha sido validado como un instrumento adecuado para medir el vocabulario productivo de aprendices de una segunda lengua, principalmente, en estudios con universitarios... more
espanolDesde su lanzamiento (Meara and Fitzpatrick, 2000), Lex30 ha sido validado como un instrumento adecuado para medir el vocabulario productivo de aprendices de una segunda lengua, principalmente, en estudios con universitarios (Fitzpatrick and Clenton, 2010); pero, tambien se ha utilizado con alumnos de educacion primaria en contextos de aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras (Jimenez Catalan and Moreno Espinosa, 2005; Moreno Espinosa, 2009; 2010). El estudio que se presenta a continuacion se centra en analizar la validez y fiabilidad de Lex30 para medir el vocabulario productivo de dos grupos de alumnos de ensenanza secundaria (N=48) dentro de un programa AICLE (Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos y Lenguas Extranjeras), analizando: 1) su fiabilidad, 2) su correlacion con otras medidas linguisticas, 3) si mide el crecimiento del vocabulario en periodos largos de tiempo y 4) si es sensible al posible efecto del contexto de aprendizaje en el vocabulario productivo del alumno. Los re...
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The understanding and production of figurative language in childhood has been the subject of a great deal of research. Most of the research literature on this topic has concentrated on the L1 but the insights gained can also be relevant... more
The understanding and production of figurative language in childhood has been the subject of a great deal of research. Most of the research literature on this topic has concentrated on the L1 but the insights gained can also be relevant to the process of learning a foreign language. This chapter reports on a study carried out with young learners of EFL in order to test their understanding of the semantic extensions of the lexemes cold and warm when referring to personality at ages 6, 8 and 10. This area of metaphorical language seems to be particularly problematic for children, and yet the figurative uses of adjectives such as ‘warm’, ‘cool’ and ‘cold’ are conventional in English. As such, these uses will need to be grasped by EFL learners. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the role played by the children’s understanding of the two domains involved (temperatures and personality) and some of the possible implications for the teaching of these lexemes and their semantic extensions in the EFL classroom.
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ABSTRACT The present article carries out an in-depth analysis of the differences in motivation, input-related variables and linguistic attainment of the students at two content and language integrated learning (CLIL) schools operating... more
ABSTRACT The present article carries out an in-depth analysis of the differences in motivation, input-related variables and linguistic attainment of the students at two content and language integrated learning (CLIL) schools operating within the same institutional and educational context, the Spanish region of Extremadura, and differing only in terms of the social milieu: rural vs. urban. The results show that the CLIL learners in the urban school (n = 27) had started earlier, had had greater formal support outside school (i.e. private English lessons) and had attained a higher level of English (grammar, passive and active vocabulary) than their rural colleagues (n = 21), while their motivation and extramural exposure (i.e. informal contact with English) were not found to be dissimilar. Of the variables considered, social milieu (urban vs. rural), used here as a proxy of socio-economic status, explained most of the variance in language attainment results.
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Partiendo de la premisa de que la metáfora y la metonimia desempeñan un papel fundamental en el fenómeno de la extensión semántica y en la adquisición y comprensión de formas polisémicas en la lengua materna, este trabajo de tesis... more
Partiendo de la premisa de que la metáfora y la metonimia desempeñan un papel fundamental en el fenómeno de la extensión semántica y en la adquisición y comprensión de formas polisémicas en la lengua materna, este trabajo de tesis doctoral analiza si estos mecanismos mentales también contribuyen al proceso de comprensión de estas formas en las primeras etapas del aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera.
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In natural contexts, children are exposed to the many senses of highly polysemous words from early ages. Lacking this rich, natural exposure to target language forms, EFL learners’ grasp of this aspect of language use will largely depend... more
In natural contexts, children are exposed to the many senses of highly polysemous words from early ages. Lacking this rich, natural exposure to target language forms, EFL learners’ grasp of this aspect of language use will largely depend on the range of senses which they meet in the graded input of the classroom. Thus, which different semantic extensions should be introduced and at what stage of the learning process are important issues for syllabus design. This paper discusses these issues in relation to body part terms, many of which display considerable referential flexibility, extending their meanings through different figurative mappings. Research carried out with young EFL learners to explore their understanding of and reasoning about four senses of head, for example, eveals that children use different reasoning strategies between the ages of 5 and 11 as their conceptual knowledge develops and becomes more complex. These different strategies gave rise to correct and incorrect ...
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ABSTRACT The introduction of English as a foreign language in many countries at ever younger ages poses new challenges for teachers, material designers and researchers in terms of finding out and dealing with the needs of such young... more
ABSTRACT The introduction of English as a foreign language in many countries at ever younger ages poses new challenges for teachers, material designers and researchers in terms of finding out and dealing with the needs of such young children when learning a foreign language. This paper focuses on vocabulary learning at early ages, arguing for the inclusion of figurative language in young learners’ English input for two main reasons: firstly, some figurative uses are very frequent in general language and suitable for young learners’ communicative needs and, secondly, research (Piquer-Píriz, 2005) has shown that children as young as 5 years old are able to work out figurative extensions of words whose literal meanings they know, through associative (metonymic) and analogical (metaphoric) reasoning. The specific case of hand is explored, drawing on some of the findings mentioned above, to discuss the potential of cognitive linguistic-inspired approaches in the young learner classroom.
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Since it was issued (Meara and Fitzpatrick, 2000), Lex 30 has been validated as an adequate instrument to measure L2 learners' productive vocabulary, mostly, in studies with university students (Fitzpatrick and Clenton, 2010) but it has... more
Since it was issued (Meara and Fitzpatrick, 2000), Lex 30 has been validated as an adequate instrument to measure L2 learners' productive vocabulary, mostly, in studies with university students (Fitzpatrick and Clenton, 2010) but it has also been used with young learners in foreign language contexts (Jiménez Catalán and Moreno Espinosa, 2005; Moreno Espinosa, 2009; 2010). The study reported in this paper focuses on assessing the validity and reliability of Lex30 to measure the productive vocabulary of two groups of secondary school students (N=48) following a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) programme by analyzing: 1) its reliability, 2) whether it correlates with general language proficiency, 3) if it measures vocabulary growth over long periods of time and 4) if it is sensitive to the possible effect of the context of learning on the productive vocabulary of the learner. The results suggest that Lex30 could be an appropriate test to be used with secondary school learners but they also seem to indicate that, especially in specific educational context such as CLIL, Lex30 scores should be interpreted with caution.
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Page 34. CHAPTER 2 Can people be cold and warm? Developing understanding of figurative meanings of temperature terms in early EFL Ana M. Piquer-Píriz University of Extremadura The understanding and production of ...
Page 1. http://ltr.sagepub.com/ Language Teaching Research http://ltr.sagepub.com/ content/13/4/367 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/ 1362168809341505 2009 13: 367 Language Teaching Research ...
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The gradual introduction of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at ever earlier stages of obligatory education (meaning that, in some countries, children start learning English when they are three) is challenging educational authorities... more
The gradual introduction of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at ever earlier stages of obligatory education (meaning that, in some countries, children start learning English when they are three) is challenging educational authorities and designers of classroom materials to ...
Metaphor is a fascinating phenomenon, but it is also complex and multi-faceted, varying in how it is manifested in different modes of expression, languages, cultures, or time-scales. How then can we reliably identify metaphors in... more
Metaphor is a fascinating phenomenon, but it is also complex and multi-faceted, varying in how it is manifested in different modes of expression, languages, cultures, or time-scales. How then can we reliably identify metaphors in different contexts? How does the language or culture of speakers and hearers affect the way metaphors are produced or interpreted? Are the methods employed to explore metaphors in one context applicable in others? The sixteen chapters that make up this volume offer not only detailed studies of the situated use of metaphor in language, gesture, and visuals around the world – providing important insights into the different factors that produce variation – but also careful explication and discussion of the methodological issues that arise when researchers approach metaphor in diverse ‘real world’ contexts. The book constitutes an important contribution to applied metaphor studies, and will prove an invaluable resource for the novice and experienced metaphor researcher alike.