- Visit my website for more updated information: http://www.asanchezmoya.com
Alfonso Sánchez-Moya
Harvard University, Government, Post-Doc
- Lancaster University, English Language and Linguistics, Graduate StudentUniversidad Complutense de Madrid, English Language and Linguistics, Graduate Studentadd
- Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Applied Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, and 17 morePragmatics, Critical Discourse Studies, Language and Gender, Language and Ideology, Stylistics, Corpus Linguistics and Discourse Analysis, English Literature, Teaching English as a Second Language, Linguistics and English Language Teaching, Gender stereotypes, School Textbooks, Literature, Gender, Violence Prevention, Corpus Linguistics, Análisis del Discurso, and English language and linguisticsedit
- My name is Alfonso Sánchez-Moya and I am a doctor in English Linguistics. My thesis, defended in Amsterdam in Novemb... moreMy name is Alfonso Sánchez-Moya and I am a doctor in English Linguistics. My thesis, defended in Amsterdam in November 2018 and supervised by Dr. Juana I. Marín-Arrese and Dr. Alan Cienki, was the culmination of joint PhD degree between the Complutense University of Madrid and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
So far, my research has combined the exploration of several fields within linguistics. Embedded within Discourse Studies as the overarching approach, I have devoted the last five years to analysing the discourse used by female survivors of Intimate Partner Violence when representing themselves and their male perpetrators in an online forum. To this end, I adopted a multi-faceted methodological framework, which moved from a more quantified analysis of the online discourse at hand (sentiment analysis) to more abstract/metaphorical realisations of these women and the perpetrators. By and large, and based on the linguistic analysis at the textual level, findings have shed light on these women's concerns, worries and realities.
Overall, my research is concerned with language and how language is used by individuals who are part of a socio-cultural scenario. Even though I am particularly interested in online discourse and multimodal communication, I am also driven by the connections between language, ideology, power and identity. This explains why I have investigated several online platforms (namely online forums and WhatsApp) by connecting the discourse used therein to issues of power imbalance or gender identities, to name a few. Furthermore, I am also interested in digital discourse and communication as key components of online education, fields I have been involved with in professional terms for the last ten years.
You may want to visit my website for a more updated account of my research at the moment (http://www.asanchezmoya.com). By browing this site you can gather information about my research (relevant publications, talks & conferences, academic activities I am involved with, etc) and about my teaching experience. You can also have a look at my full CV or read some info about my personal interests. Don’t hesitate to contact me with comments, suggestions or anything you want to share with me.edit
This paper seeks to contribute to the recent academic study of WhatsApp, the instant messaging (IM) tool that enables people to communicate in a multimodal way mainly via their smartphones and which has impressively become a core form of... more
This paper seeks to contribute to the recent academic study of WhatsApp, the instant messaging (IM) tool that enables people to communicate in a multimodal way mainly via their smartphones and which has impressively become a core form of communication in many social communities (Church & Oliveira, 2013; Sultan, 2014). This study presents research on the most salient discursive realisations and pragmatic uses in WhatsApp statuses, this is, the communicative output of a 139-character blank where WhatsApp users are prompted to write any message in order to complete their profile information.
Research on both the discourse of Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC) and communicative practices associated to it is vast (Barton & Lee, 2013; Crystal, 2006). Perhaps due to its more established status as communication media, studies in this field have mostly paid attention to the discourse of text messages (Thurlow & Brown, 2003), commonly referred to as textese. More specifically, possibly driven by the apocalyptic and somewhat mediatised visions attributed to the language used in these online communication tools (Thurlow, 2006), academic research has largely aimed to prove the not-so-negative effects of textese in communicative practices and contexts (Tagliamonte & Denis, 2008; Plester et al., 2009; Drouin, 2011). Nonetheless, due to its crucial role in plenty of social communities, research has gradually shed light on the discourse used in IM tools (Baron, 2005; Lee, 2007).
The great and rather recent impact of WhatsApp as a form of communication is triggering academic research on the discourse that characterises this IM system. In spite of being remarkably under-researched from a discursive perspective, existing studies explore some language features of WhatsApp (Calero-Vaquera, 2014), making great emphasis on its multimodal character. Far less attention has been devoted however to the discourse of the 139-character blank provided by WhatsApp to allow users update their statuses, even though similar types of communicative outcome has widely been investigated in other systems of online communication, namely Facebook (Garcia & Sikström, 2014; Eisenlauer, 2014).
As far as methodology is concerned, the objectives of this study are to examine recurrent discursive realisations and how these are realised from a discursive perspective, to identify the most frequent pragmatic uses and to put forward the possible reasons behind this choice. Thus, this paper analyses a corpus of 400 WhatsApp statuses randomly selected from the total sample of 523 contacts. Once the final corpus was computerised, a set of tags was designed in order to quantify the most frequent instances. As regards the analytical framework, partly driven by the character of the analysed status, this research relies on contributions in which multimodality is at core of their theoretical underpinnings (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; Machin, 2013).
Findings outline the most common discursive realisations and pragmatic uses in a corpus of 400 WhatsApp statuses. Apart from elucidating already existing research on the discourse of WhatsApp, they also demonstrate the centrality of multimodal discourse in this sort of communication (Vincent, 2012) and pave the way for further research within this field of study.
Research on both the discourse of Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC) and communicative practices associated to it is vast (Barton & Lee, 2013; Crystal, 2006). Perhaps due to its more established status as communication media, studies in this field have mostly paid attention to the discourse of text messages (Thurlow & Brown, 2003), commonly referred to as textese. More specifically, possibly driven by the apocalyptic and somewhat mediatised visions attributed to the language used in these online communication tools (Thurlow, 2006), academic research has largely aimed to prove the not-so-negative effects of textese in communicative practices and contexts (Tagliamonte & Denis, 2008; Plester et al., 2009; Drouin, 2011). Nonetheless, due to its crucial role in plenty of social communities, research has gradually shed light on the discourse used in IM tools (Baron, 2005; Lee, 2007).
The great and rather recent impact of WhatsApp as a form of communication is triggering academic research on the discourse that characterises this IM system. In spite of being remarkably under-researched from a discursive perspective, existing studies explore some language features of WhatsApp (Calero-Vaquera, 2014), making great emphasis on its multimodal character. Far less attention has been devoted however to the discourse of the 139-character blank provided by WhatsApp to allow users update their statuses, even though similar types of communicative outcome has widely been investigated in other systems of online communication, namely Facebook (Garcia & Sikström, 2014; Eisenlauer, 2014).
As far as methodology is concerned, the objectives of this study are to examine recurrent discursive realisations and how these are realised from a discursive perspective, to identify the most frequent pragmatic uses and to put forward the possible reasons behind this choice. Thus, this paper analyses a corpus of 400 WhatsApp statuses randomly selected from the total sample of 523 contacts. Once the final corpus was computerised, a set of tags was designed in order to quantify the most frequent instances. As regards the analytical framework, partly driven by the character of the analysed status, this research relies on contributions in which multimodality is at core of their theoretical underpinnings (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; Machin, 2013).
Findings outline the most common discursive realisations and pragmatic uses in a corpus of 400 WhatsApp statuses. Apart from elucidating already existing research on the discourse of WhatsApp, they also demonstrate the centrality of multimodal discourse in this sort of communication (Vincent, 2012) and pave the way for further research within this field of study.
Research Interests:
This essay sets out to compare discourse features and communicative practices in the use of textese in Whatsapp across two different generations. Textese, and other ways of online writing, has been associated with plenty of voices... more
This essay sets out to compare discourse features and communicative practices in the use of textese in Whatsapp across two different generations. Textese, and other ways of online writing, has been associated with plenty of voices expressing a concern for the way young people adopted this practice (Humphrys, 2007 and Sutherland, 2002). This prompted a “moral panics”, stating that textese triggers a failure in young people's ability to communicate using the standard variety of a language. Contrary to these voices, this paper defends the idea that online writing should not always be linked to the failure mentioned above. Results from this article prove that using textese and failing to communicate using the standard variety of a language cannot be systematically associated with teenagers’ literacy/communicative practices. They also provide evidence to support those voices arguing that the use of textese is intentionally adopted according to the circumstances surrounding a particular communicative situation.
Research Interests:
This essay sets out to compare generational habits in both the practices and the use of textese in Whatsapp™, instant messaging (IM) application software mainly available to smartphones. When textese -variety that predominantly... more
This essay sets out to compare generational habits in both the practices and the use of textese in Whatsapp™, instant messaging (IM) application software mainly available to smartphones.
When textese -variety that predominantly characterises online writing- was developed, plenty of voices expressed their worries about the way young people adopted this practice (Humphrys, 2007; Sutherland, 2002). This prompted a “moral panics”, arguing that online writing in general and textese in particular trigger a failure in young’s people ability to communicate using the standard variety of any language. It also defends that young people cannot escape the influence of textese when using the standard version of the same code in other contexts.
Contrary to these voices, this paper defends the idea that online writing should not be associated with the failure mentioned above. There is not enough evidence to state that either online writing or textese obstruct young people’s abilities to comply with the standards of any language. Rather, research has suggested that textese comprises a different variety of any linguistic standard, which young people consciously adopt or not according to the communicative context and its circumstances (Drouin, 2011; Thurlow, 2006).
In the attempt to reinforce this view, this essay incorporates a dimension that has not been extensively covered by research in this field: a contrastive use of textese by teenagers and adults. This article proves that using textese and failing to communicate using the standard variety of a language cannot be systematically associated nor can it only stand for a symptom of teenagers’ literacy/communicative practices. It also provides evidence to support the voices that argue that the use of textese is intentionally adopted according to the circumstances surrounding a particular communicative situation.
When textese -variety that predominantly characterises online writing- was developed, plenty of voices expressed their worries about the way young people adopted this practice (Humphrys, 2007; Sutherland, 2002). This prompted a “moral panics”, arguing that online writing in general and textese in particular trigger a failure in young’s people ability to communicate using the standard variety of any language. It also defends that young people cannot escape the influence of textese when using the standard version of the same code in other contexts.
Contrary to these voices, this paper defends the idea that online writing should not be associated with the failure mentioned above. There is not enough evidence to state that either online writing or textese obstruct young people’s abilities to comply with the standards of any language. Rather, research has suggested that textese comprises a different variety of any linguistic standard, which young people consciously adopt or not according to the communicative context and its circumstances (Drouin, 2011; Thurlow, 2006).
In the attempt to reinforce this view, this essay incorporates a dimension that has not been extensively covered by research in this field: a contrastive use of textese by teenagers and adults. This article proves that using textese and failing to communicate using the standard variety of a language cannot be systematically associated nor can it only stand for a symptom of teenagers’ literacy/communicative practices. It also provides evidence to support the voices that argue that the use of textese is intentionally adopted according to the circumstances surrounding a particular communicative situation.
In this talk I explore gender representations in a textbook that is currently being used in a high school in Spain. Notwithstanding new flexible beliefs in gender-related socio-ideological scenarios, the main hypothesis I had prior to... more
In this talk I explore gender representations in a textbook that is currently being used in a high school in Spain. Notwithstanding new flexible beliefs in gender-related socio-ideological scenarios, the main hypothesis I had prior to exploring these issues in depth was that currently-used textbooks transmit gender stereotypes very much in the same vein as the ones transmitted years ago.
I first consider the role that textbooks might play in the construction of gender. I will show evidence of traditional gender representations around both masculinities and femininities in the content, language and visuals employed in the analysed textbook. I also consider the important role that teachers might or might not have in the mediation of these representations.
I broadly confirm my initial hypothesis. Regardless of ideological improvements around gender issues in many occidental societies, the analysed textbook can be seen as a niche for traditional gender stereotypes around women and men. Disappointingly, stereotypes around femininities and masculinities found in this textbook are not dissimilar those reported by research in this area back in the 70s and the 80s.
I first consider the role that textbooks might play in the construction of gender. I will show evidence of traditional gender representations around both masculinities and femininities in the content, language and visuals employed in the analysed textbook. I also consider the important role that teachers might or might not have in the mediation of these representations.
I broadly confirm my initial hypothesis. Regardless of ideological improvements around gender issues in many occidental societies, the analysed textbook can be seen as a niche for traditional gender stereotypes around women and men. Disappointingly, stereotypes around femininities and masculinities found in this textbook are not dissimilar those reported by research in this area back in the 70s and the 80s.
Research Interests:
En medio de uno de los momentos de mayor relevancia histórica en cuanto al papel de los medios de comunicación en la sociedad digital, las diferentes contribuciones realizadas al volumen editado por Ruth Breeze e Inés Olza (Universidad de... more
En medio de uno de los momentos de mayor relevancia histórica en cuanto al papel de los medios de comunicación en la sociedad digital, las diferentes contribuciones realizadas al volumen editado por Ruth Breeze e Inés Olza (Universidad de Navarra) arrojan sugerentes perspectivas en torno a la expresión de la evaluación en diferentes discursos mediáticos. Escrito en lengua inglesa pero incluyendo visiones de investigadores internacionales sobre el discurso de medios británicos, españoles o alemanes —entre otros—, el volumen se sustenta sobre un compendio de metodologías con el fin de escudriñar los diferentes mecanismos que intervienen a la hora de transmitir matices evaluativos en una amplia gama de soportes y géneros mediáticos.