Las construcciones con verbos de afección en ELE: el vacío del enfoque cognitivo en los manuales

Beatriz Martín-Gascón

doi:10.5565/rev/jtl3.1015

Constructions with verbs of affection in ELE: the void of the cognitive approach in textbooks

Authors

Beatriz Martín-Gascón Universidad de Córdoba (UCO) - Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2962-8339

PDF (ES)

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of the teaching-learning process of emotions with reverse psych-verb constructions (e.g., me gusta ‘that pleases me’) in the Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE in the native language acronym) classroom. In these con-structions, an external object or event (the Stimulus) is felt to act on an Experiencer in order to engender within him or her a particular mental event (e.g., a feeling of pleasure). We further examine this type of constructions in 10 ELE textbooks in an attempt to elucidate their treatment and departing from the hypothesis that their grammatical explanation does not contemplate communicative-cognitive aspects. Results from a qualitative analysis show an overall communicative treatment of these linguistic forms, yet a formalist, unsystematic and cognitively poor one as well, which would partly account for ELE learners’ difficulties in acquiring these constructions. Results point to the need to advocate the union of the communicative and cognitive approaches in order to master these grammatical elements and reach effective communication.

Keywords

Reverse psych-verb constructions, Experiencer, External Stimulus, ELE textbooks, Communicative and cognitive approaches union

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Author Biography

Beatriz Martín-Gascón, Universidad de Córdoba (UCO) - Spain

Beatriz Martín Gascón is a 3rd-year-FPU-hired researcher at the University of Córdoba, in Spain. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and French studies (minoring in German) from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2016, and three master’s degrees in Applied Linguistics (Essex University, 2017, thanks to a "La Caixa" scholarship), Training of Foreign Language Teaching (English) (VIU, 2018, thanks to "Mindán Manero" scholarship), and Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (UIMP, 2019). Currently, she is a visiting scholar at Columbia University (New York) thanks to a Fulbright scholarship. Since 2015, she has worked as language tutor, trainnee and teacher in different universities (including Davis, CA; Essex, UK; I. Cervantes, Lisbon; Loyola and UCO, Córdoba). Her research interests include Cognitive and Applied Linguistics, Teaching Foreign Languages, Metaphor, and Emotion. Some of the courses she has taught include Semantics and Pragmatics, Cognitive Models, Multimodal Discourse Analysis, ELE and Instrumental English.