Previous contrastive studies between the English gerund and its Spanish counterparts present serious limitations in the analysis of these constructions. The main objection is the absence of a cognitive approach. In addition, the traditional characterization of the English gerund seems to be inappropriate to determine its nature. We propose that in…

This dissertation investigates the syntax of Spanish complementizers, with special attention to double-complementizer constructions and non-high "que" "that" complementizers. The goal is to explore the consequences of the behavior and distribution of such complementizers for the mapping of the Spanish left periphery, the…

Dependency structures represent a sentence as a set of dependency relations. Normally the dependency structures from a tree connect all the words in a sentence. One of the most defining characters of dependency structures is the ability to bring long distance dependency between words to local dependency structures. Another the main attraction of…

The unaccusativity hypothesis (Burzio 1986; Levin & Rappaport Hovav 1995; Perlmutter 1978) posits that intransitive verbs may be divided into two broad classes: unaccusatives, whose sole argument is an internal argument and unergatives, whose sole argument is an external argument. In this dissertation I explore the idea that there is a similar,…

The present article reports on the findings of a cross-sectional acoustic study of the production of the Spanish /e/-/ei/ contrast, as in "pena-peina" and "reno-reino," by native-English intermediate and advanced learners of Spanish. The acoustic parameter that distinguishes Spanish /e/ from /ei/ is formant change--/e/ is a…

This paper draws attention to the ways in which spatial configurations operate as constitutive dimensions of sociolinguistic phenomena and vice versa; that is, the way in which communicative practices frame daily life and the broader urban reality. The paper presents an approach which integrates the study of Linguistic Landscapes, the dynamics of…

This article focuses on a case analysis based on the experience of an adolescent having to further Spanish learning through the Spanish 3 (third year) distance course of a twenty-first century high school program. Autoethnographic reflections mediate the storyline of the experiential report, as conversations and observations are internalized by…

This article focuses on biliteracy development of English and Spanish through the practical strategy of systematically labeling the classroom within the context of daily classroom activities and providing children with various opportunities to use the words throughout the day. Using the foundational work related to classroom labels from Pinnell…

This paper presents results of a study on teachers' conceptions of assessment carried out on a sample of 493 teachers of Spanish as foreign language from all over the world. At the moment of data collection, the participants were members of an international online teacher community and were teaching at different professional contexts: basic…

Because of the current emphasis on accountability at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels across all content areas, accreditation agencies, administrators, program designers, course developers, faculty, and students have increasingly focused on stating and measuring student learning outcomes and documenting the relationship between…

This study is situated in the fields of language education, study abroad (SA) and intercultural communication. The interest in SA is increasing on the part of students, administrators, educators, and business companies for the learning opportunities that it offers. However, SA students are not always prepared to maximize their learning…

Drawing on the post-structural views and the literature on teacher identity and agency, and using narrative inquiry, this paper describes how one teacher candidate majoring in Spanish negotiated her identities across time and space and how her identity negotiations interacted with her agency. The recursive analysis of qualitative data sources…

In this qualitative study, we explored the perspectives of three adolescent immigrants regarding learning English in an American High School. We learned that 1) academically English was the primary venue of instruction and considered the primary pathway to educational success. 2) The students claimed their ability to communicate in English had…

Student performance in a Connectivist Massive Open Online Course (cMOOC), featuring daily synchronous web meetings was analyzed to explore the possibility of increased participant motivation and confidence. Participant survey data and course performance data were compiled, analyzed, and interpreted for 1256 individuals who completed a pre-course…

The main concern of this subject of research study a bit further was the correlation between FIRST LANGUAGE GRAMMATICAL PROFICIENCY ON SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (INGLES / SPANISH). This study was implemented in a pre-selection of students and directors of these schools, First language and Second language. Students and Directors selected…