Revista Idiomática

1. Introduction

Maxim Barkov

Research Department

As is well known, currently, there may be an urgent need to improve the English language command of Mexican and Latin American researchers due to the necessity to share their ideas and study findings with global audiences (Salager-Meyer et al., 2016). However, unfortunately, as was described in different studies, it may be incredibly difficult for this group of researchers to exchange ideas meaningfully in English (see Mauranen et al., 2016; for more information on this matter). For instance, as was reported by Belcher et al. (2016), a high number of scientists and scholars from this region report feeling excluded from academic and professional networks, which are often created in different international events. Furthermore, Mauranen et al. (2016, p.51) mention the fact that “a number of studies have argued that non-native scholars and scientists have an uneven playing ground compared to native speakers, as they must publish in English whether they like it or not, and their work is judged on the grounds of their inadequate language skills instead of solely academic merit”. In other words, multilingual researchers are often judged on both their command of the English language and their knowledge of the subject-matter, which may decrease their chances of professional success in the international arena. It must be noted that Mexico is no exception in this respect, as English plays a crucial role in Academia due to its importance in the research publication process and the participation in international events.

With regard to the National School of Languages, Linguistics, and Translation (ENALLT in Spanish), similarly, my colleagues and I noted that graduates need an excellent command of academic English to communicate efficiently in their work life on subjects related to their field of study: i.e. Applied Linguistics, Translation, Teaching, etc. Nevertheless, it has also been discovered that a great number of students do not have the necessary skills to employ academic English successfully. For instance, as it emerged in the case of the 2018 generation of students in Applied Linguistics (AL henceforth), there exists a clear breach between most students in terms of their language control. While some AL students have barely reached the B2 level according to the CEFR, the rest are perfectly capable of performing highly complex tasks which are required in C1. In this respect, it must be noted that one of the key differences between these two stages of language mastery resides precisely in the student’s ability to make an effective use of the formal register and of academic and professional vocabulary (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Note. As it can be seen in this image, one of the fundamental differences between B2 and C1 lies in the capability of employing “language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes”. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Learning, Teaching, Assessment (p.24) by Council of Europe, 2001, Cambridge University Press.

Owing to the above-mentioned reasons, it was decided to launch a Research Department project to address language mastery disparity in ENALLT students. This initiative eventually resulted in the development of Online Academic English Course: Grammar, Writing, and Speaking (Research Department register number BAMA-220613).

In order to develop a project of this magnitude, an interdisciplinary team of 5 professionals were created: four experts from the Coordination of Distance Education (CED in Spanish) and an educator responsible for the course. The main goal of the CED experts consisted in providing support in the pedagogical, administrative, and technological aspects of the course. Over the course of 2022, being responsible for the needs analysis for this course, I conducted a survey of Applied Linguistics students and English learners and interviewed the head of the Applied Linguistics and that of the English Department and Swedish Section. Following Laurence Anthony’s (2018) framework for needs analysis, these activities were carried out in order to understand the students’ necessities, lacks, and wants. Furthermore, the results of a diagnostic questionnaire developed by the Writing and Academic Skills Centre (CEHA in Spanish) of the ENALLT were analysed. Having completed this stage, I studied a number of commonly used English for academic purposes (EAP) textbooks. Having understood the needs of the target audience, I devised an approximate curriculum and a list of primary and secondary objectives of what would later become Online Academic English Course: Grammar, Writing, and Speaking. It is worth noting that this course effectively addressed all the problems detected at the earlier stages of this project: “By the end of the course, English learners [...] whose proficiency is close to the B2 “Independent User” level (according to the CEFR) will reach the C1 “Effective Operational Proficiency” level in grammatical competence, as well as in written and oral production (Barkov, 2024)”. Subsequently, I took the decision to start preparing teaching materials that would later be employed in the course itself. Afterwards, the content of the course was transferred to the digital platform Moodle by the CED experts responsible for the technical aspect of the course. Following this, an expert on academic English teaching was invited to the project to assess the final product and suggest improvements to every of the six units of the EAP course. In addition, all the materials were piloted on several occasions in actual AL groups in order to test their validity and detect areas of improvement. All the feedback gathered at this stage was incorporated in the final version of the course. Lastly, a final report on the activities conducted by the work team was submitted to the Research Department (Applied Linguistics Department at the time) in December 2023.

Having said that, it is also of great importance to understand the current structure of Online Academic English Course: Grammar, Writing, and Speaking. As a starting point, it should be mentioned that this extracurricular online course lasts approximately 14 weeks, where a typical student would need to attend a weekly virtual session of 2 hours and invest approximately 3 hours in weekly homework assignments. With regard to the course content, the study programme could be divided in 3 areas: Grammar, Writing, and Speaking. Furthermore, it is worth noting that students need to submit two large-scale projects over the course of the semester: an academic essay and an academic presentation. Both of these projects are closely linked as students first need to conduct document-based research (i.e. monographic literature review), assemble their ideas in an expository essay and, towards the end of the course, deliver a brief presentation on the key findings of their study. In this fashion, it is expected that students will acquire a thorough understanding of the research process and produce their first research-centred texts in Academic English. Next, as it can be seen in Figure 2, I will present the instructions that the students received in the first large-scale project, i.e. an expository essay on an academic topic of their interest.

Figure 2

Note. As it can be seen in this image, the students need to write an expository essay on a well-defined topic following a specific text structure and explicit citation guidelines.

In summary, as you will see in the following sections, this essay collection presents a wide array of topics: starting from the challenges many language experts face when dealing with legal translation and ending with suggestions for the application of Stephen Krashen’s Natural Approach in language classes. It must be noted that the participation in this publishing project has been completely voluntary, and any student who desired to make their essay known to a wider audience needed to continue devoting themselves to the improvement of their work after the course before being able to have it published. The students who partook in this work demonstrated excellent command and extensive expertise in the subject-matter they selected for their research project. At the end of the 2025-2 semester, having recognized the high quality of these works, I knew that it would reflect poorly on me if I did not share this outstanding collection of documentary-based research with the rest of the XXX community and anyone interested in these fields of study. I hope the reader will appreciate these works and find them as valuable as I did when teaching the course.

Bibliography

Anthony, L. (2018). Introducing English for Specific Purposes. Routledge.

Belcher, D. D., Serrano, F. J. B., & Yang, H. S. (2016). English for professional academic purposes. In K. Hyland & P. Shaw (Eds), The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes (pp. 502-514). Routledge.

Barkov, M. (2024). Study Programme of Online Academic English Course: Grammar, Writing, and Speaking. ENALLT, UNAM.

Mauranen, A., Hynninen, N., & Ranta, E. (2016). English as the academic lingua franca. In Hyland, K. & Shaw, P. (Eds), The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes (p. 44-55). Routledge.

Salager-Meyer, F., Segura, G. M. L. de, & Ramos, R. de C. G. (2016). EAP in Latin America. En K. Hyland & P. Shaw (Eds), The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes (pp.109-124). Routledge.

Por Maxim Barkov

maximbarkov@enallt.unam.mx

Es licenciado con honores en Comunicación Intercultural y Lingüística por la Universidad Estatal de Moscú; egresado del curso de Formación de Profesores de Lenguas-Culturas del Centro de Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras; maestro en Lingüística Aplicada por la UNAM, donde fue acreedor a la medalla Alfonso Caso.

2. Academic essays

2.1. Translation

2.1.1. Translation strategies for cultural phenomena in comics

Emiliano Flores Anaya

Bachelor’s Programme in Translation

In this essay, we will cover the main translation strategies to enable a successful translation of cultural phenomena in comics. This medium blends its narrative between images and writing. In the combination of those storytelling tools, cultural elements could be carried, which are deeply rooted in the history and language of the source society. To fully understand the importance and complexity of translating these elements, we need to define what constitutes a comic and understand the cultural phenomena in this medium. This approach allows a deeper understanding of how to navigate the challenges presented, as well as the available tools to successfully solve them while maintaining fidelity to the original work’s goals.

According to Román Gubern (1974), a comic could be defined as a narrative structure formed by a set of images in a progressive order. Sometimes, writing elements could be included. This mixture between images and text makes comics a medium full of cultural artifacts and phenomena.

A cultural phenomenon, in turn, is an element that is deeply rooted in the history, language and social practices of a specific demographic. Humor, idioms, societal values, transcription of sounds and proverbs could be included in these phenomena: e.g., Mafalda heavily depends on Argentinian political satire and reference to the Latin American global context.

However, when translating these phenomena in comics, several challenges could appear, like target readers not having enough context to understand source humor or not having direct cultural equivalents. Therefore, before examining the translation strategies, it is important to identify the challenges that the translators will face when working on a comic. Among these challenges, we could find the following:

1. Cultural sensibility: the use of certain political and historical references could generate controversies or negative reactions among the readers.

2. Idiomatic expressions: comics, especially those who rely on a simulation of orality, are rich in idiomatic language and colloquial expressions, such as wordplay or slang. Most of these expressions do not have a direct equivalent.

3. Names and titles: in most cases, names of characters or titles carry meanings that are directly linked to the source culture, e.g., names of certain superheroes such as Superman or Spider-Man.

4. Sound transcription: this includes sound effects and onomatopoeia. These different sounds vary from one language to another. For example, the sound that a dog makes in Spanish is ¡guau!, while in English it is woof!

5. Space in the text bubble: most of the time, when translating from the source language to a fusional language, the final text could be longer than the original one, causing several issues when trying to lay out the content structure.

According to Cáceres (1994), translators can employ different tools and strategies to overcome these problems in an efficient and effective way while still maintaining the original goals of the source text. The main approaches include:

1. Compensation: this strategy applies when certain cultural elements do not have a direct equivalent or cannot be directly translated. The translator needs to introduce a completely new element to replace and compensate for the loss of meaning. This replacement needs to be consistent throughout the entirety of the comic.

2. Adaptation of sound transcription: sound effects should be adapted to the expectations of the target culture while still maintaining their emphatic role. The translator could achieve this with the help of several tools, such as onomatopoeia dictionaries or glossaries.

3. Dynamic Equivalence: this strategy consists in adjusting the original cultural reference to evoke the same sensation in the target readers that the original readers had. Instead of translating with a literal intention, the translator should introduce minor changes to make the joke or reference more relatable.

4. Substitution of a specific cultural phenomenon: this procedure consists of introducing a new phenomenon, of the same type, into the target text. This serves the intention of creating a sense of familiarity to the target reader. An example of this could be in political satire. When referencing a political figure in the source text (who the target reader could not be familiar with), the translator could replace a well-known figure of the current government of the target region.

5. Using visual support: the translator could use visual aids utilizing the illustrations that the comic provides. This with the intention of spatial economy inside the text bubbles.

In conclusion, translating cultural phenomena is a challenging task for translators that goes beyond passing text from one language to another. It requires a deep understanding of the challenges, opportunities, aids and tools within the text. There is not a single strategy that could be used universally, each depends on the context and goal of the translation. For this reason, translators must be careful when choosing their tools and strategies, and really understand the objectives of each part of the source text. A successful translation is the one that brings familiarity to the meta readers while still having fidelity to the goals and sensations of the original text.

Bibliography

Cáceres Würsig, I. (1994). Un ejemplo perfecto de traducción cultural: la historieta gráfica (español-alemán). Centro Virtual Cervantes.

Celotti, N. (2008). The translator of comics as a semiotic investigator. Routledge.

Gubern, R. (1974). El lenguaje de los comics. Península.

Kelp-Stebbins, K. (2022). How comics travel: publication, translation, radical literacies. Ohio State University Press.

Nida, E., & Taber, C. (1986). La traducción: teoría y práctica (A. De La Fuente, Trans.). Ediciones cristiandad. (Original work published 1974).

Zanettin, F. (2015). Comics in Translation. Routledge.

Por Emiliano Flores Anaya

423049550@enallt.unam.mx

Es un estudiante de sexto semestre de la carrera de traducción en la ENALLT. Interesado por el chino como tercera lengua y en especializarse en el área de traducción audiovisual.

2.1.2. Lost in law and translation: How do I translate an agreement?

Yan Zak Borja Colín

Bachelor’s Programme in Translation

While most students enrolled in the translation degree think that legal translation is a very complicated topic, professional law translators achieve not only a specific but a functioning translation by using very specific rules and tools. This essay highlights some of the parts of an agreement and how to achieve a specific and professional translation by following certain rules, tools and tips based on terminology and equivalents collected for this specific matter.

Which problems may we encounter here? In the first place, the term agreement must be clearly understood by any translator within the law field. Cornell University defines an agreement as “a manifestation of mutual assent by two or more persons to one another. It is a meeting of the minds in a common intention and is made through offer and acceptance” (Cornell Law School, 2024). Therefore, an agreement is not a contract in extent but has wider contents, definitions and clauses. Hence, an agreement is celebrated between two or more parties that compromise to accept a responsibility which makes them beneficiaries of the result stated in that legally valid document.

Having defined what an agreement is, I will proceed to present the parts of this important aspect that translators will encounter while translating this type of document:

Preamble: Identifies the agreement through its title and states the parties involved.
Recitals or Introduction: Enter of the agreement introducing its terms, responsibilities and, in some cases, third parties. This part introduces the clauses stated within any agreement and, in the case of recitals, may include prior assents discussed.
Ending and signatures: The parties involved include a statement of their legal responsibilities and officially sign the agreement.

Knowing all these terms is essential in order to correctly arrive at the context for the target public. When unknown or specific terms appear in the original agreement, translators face the difficulty of choosing between a similar term within the target language or creating a new term which will be close to the original meaning. However, making decisions such as choosing a similar term within the target language, may lead the target public to a confusion, so, in order to solve this problem professional translators find the best resolution in equivalent terms existing within the meta language legislation. These equivalent terms have the same meaning in both languages, even if their etymology differs.

For example, pursuant to an agreement or transaction from a company residing in the USA, the term recitals is frequently used, we defined this term as an statement that provides or explains important background information within a contract or transaction1. Therefore, from English to Spanish, the word recitals is translated to antecedentes which is not only an exact equivalent in ES(MX), but it has legal validation under most of the Spanish-speaking countries’ legislation. In contrast to the literal translation, these cases tend to be not only more precise but also correct in the target language legislation.

While translating any official document, using sources within the specific region of both languages will avoid confusion. By using sources legally valid for each region, the translation of any specific term will be accepted in both legal systems.

The following figure is shown to compare terms and its equivalence in EN(US) and ES (MX)

Figure 1. Comparison of legal terms EN(US) and their correct equivalents to ES(MX).

The figure above shows that there is no literal translation used for any of the terms stated. While many law professionals – who are not translators – commit the mistake of making literal translations with these types of terms, professional law translators do research and find equivalents (not necessarily etymological) to the terms they are translating.

To set an example of the mistakes commonly committed by non-professional law translators, we may use the term in Spanish garantía which varies in the circumstances of the agreement, this term has three different variations in English which have different definitions within an agreement: guaranty, guarantee, or warranty. None of them have the same meaning, so the translator must find the perfect equivalent stated in the legal system of the English speaker client to translate garantía from Spanish.

How do I translate an agreement?

Most legal translation experts recommend doing constant research, if you follow this as a legal translation learner you will be capable of translating any agreement by knowing all the terminology used for this subject. It is highly recommended to create corpuses, glossaries and use legal dictionaries when translating agreements of any kind. Understanding the context of the agreement will help any translator to define all specific terms and find their specific translation within the target language. In the case of encountering a term which has no equivalent in the target language, legal translators may add a note to explain its definition, however, these cases are rare.

Bibliography

Becerra, J.F (2008). Dictionary of United States Legal Terminology (English - Spanish). Escuela Libre de Derecho.

Becerra, J.F (2008). Diccionario de Terminología Jurídica Norteamericana (inglés – español). Escuela Libre de Derecho.

Barnett, R.E. (2008). Contracts, Cases and Doctrine. Wolters Kluwer.

Legal Information Institute (2024). Agreement definition. Cornell University. link

Vázquez Ayora, E. (2007). El inglés jurídico. Barcelona: Ariel

Por Yan Zak Borja Colín

yanzak.borja@enallt.unam.mx

Es estudiante de octavo semestre de la licenciatura en Traducción de la Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción en la UNAM. En el reciente periodo se encuentra en la etapa de profundización referente al área de traducción jurídica. Su tercera lengua de trabajo es chino mandarín.

2.1.3. Re-creation as a method to translate poetry

Liliana Itzel Matú Hernández

Bachelor’s Programme in Translation

It is a common belief that poetry translation is impossible to do, in part because of the nature of poetry. When we think about “poetry”, we immediately think about metrics and rhythm, and sometimes the word “difficult” comes to our minds. I do not intend to discuss the idea of the untranslatability of these kinds of texts. Since we already translate them, there is no point in questioning it. In this essay, I want to show how recreating a poem in another language is a method to translate poetry, because, at the end, translation must be done “with as much fidelity as possible and as much freedom as necessary” (Torrent-Lenzen, 2006, p. 34)2 to generate the same style, rhythm, message or impression carried by the ST (Source Text).

When a translator translates a text, he works based on an interpretation of the text. For that reason, if we put a group of translators to translate the same text, we will read different versions of it. This happens with all genres of texts, but it is more notorious when we are talking about literature. Thence this myth that it is impossible to translate. Nevertheless, when we read a text, we make assumptions about its meaning, and it is interpreted based on our previous readings, our cultural context and the closeness with the theme, author, etc. This is going to happen similarly with the translator: he must crumble the text, its meaning, and its background and make a more comprehensive analysis of the text; but in the end, these factors will be an integral part of each decision. Therefore, the translator is a human being who interprets texts and creates a new version in a new language.

However, some people think that the best way to translate a poem is using a literal method, i.e. word-by-word method. I want to make clear the idea that “poetic recreations are always closer to the original, if only because they are closer to the violence and aggressive ventures that created the original work and in spite of changes, licenses or even mistakes” (Pons, 2005, as cited in Torrent-Lenzen, 2006, p. 28).3 Recreation does not mean that we can betray the ST, but that we can approach it by playing with language. This method is very effective when a poem with metrics, rhymes and a formal structure is going to be translated. So, specialists have proposed a method based on an analysis of the text, a word-by-word translation, but after making a list of synonyms of the main concepts of the poem, and start to play with syntax, metrics and rhythm to recreate what the ST transmits (Torrent-Lenzen, 2006). By doing this, we can be faithful to the ST, instead of only giving a literal version to the readers.

In the end, recreating a poem in another language is difficult because it is necessary to have a lot of creativity, but it is not impossible. It is reasonable to start by remembering that “translation, like the scansion of free verse, asks of a text not what it is, but what it can become” (Scott, 2015, p. 60). Something to keep in mind is that trying to put this method into practice will give the translator a certain sense of freedom in his translation decisions because they are allowed to play more with language forms than if they were going to use another method. And when translators have freedom, they are not invisible.

In summary, it would be important to try this recreation translation method when we translate and adapt it to our strategies and methods of translation. Although there is not only a unique or correct method to translate poetry, and sometimes the most obvious decision is to use a more literal method, it is worth remembering that there are other methods. It might be possible to “transform” the ST (moving away from a literal method) as long as there is a reflection behind every decision we make at work. We only need to remember ourselves that translation means to transform and create, and its meaning is far from lost, it is for this reason that we have been granted the freedom to recreate the text in our language.

Bibliography

Scott, C. (2015). The rhythms of free verse and the rhythms of translation. Style, 49(1), 46-64.

Soto, D. (2013). Bases para la traducción-recreación al español de poemas escritos en francés. Entreculturas, (6), 89-114.

Torrent-Lenzen, A. (2006). Aspectos teóricos y prácticos de la traducción poética. Cuadernos del Ateneo, (22), 26-45.

Por Liliana Itzel Matú Hernández

liliana.itzel.matu@enallt.unam.mx

Es egresada de la licenciatura en Traducción de la ENALLT con área de profundización en literatura. Actualmente se encuentra en proceso de titulación por tesis. Sus lenguas de trabajo son el español, el inglés y el francés.

2.2. Language teaching.

2.2.1. Pedagogical Reverse Translation as a Tool for Designing English-Reading Textbooks for Mexican Primary Schools.

Kenia Daniela Juárez González

Bachelor’s Programme in Translation

In 2010 Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), which is the national institution in charge of education in Mexico, defined English as a compulsory subject from the third grade of pre-primary school. According to the Estrategia Nacional de Inglés (National English-Learning Strategy), primary students are expected to reach an A2 English level according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and develop the four language skills, which are divided into receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing). Regarding reading, first-graders and second-graders must be able to read and understand rhymes, poems, and short stories related to their own experiences (SEP, 2017, p. 152). Currently, the approach to reading materials taken by SEP is to buy textbooks from private publishers. In this essay, I suggest that SEP commences creating and editing their own English-reading textbooks for primary education by pedagogical reverse translation (L1-L2), instead of delegating that responsibility to a third party. First, I will explain why reading textbooks should be about Mexican culture; then, why textbooks by private publishers are not ideal to use in Mexican classrooms; and finally, what the implications of reverse-translating cultural texts for such a particular target reading community are.

First of all, it is necessary to question why texts describing Mexican culture should be translated into English and compiled to create textbooks, instead of publishing textbooks describing anglophone cultures. As stated by SEP, from third grade of pre-primary school to second grade of primary school, learners will approach and familiarize themselves with the English language, meaning that the main purpose of bilingual education is to express themselves in a foreign language. To illustrate this, the definition of an A2 level given by the CEFR and cited in the Estrategia Nacional de Inglés states the following:

[Each student must be able] to understand common sentences and expressions related to experiences that are particularly relevant to them (basic personal and family introductions, shopping, places that interest them, occupations, etc.). He or she can communicate when performing simple daily tasks requiring exchanging information simply and directly about known or common subjects. He or she can describe in simple terms aspects of their past and environment, as well as questions/matters relating to their immediate needs (Secretaría de Educación Pública, 2017, p. 169).

In other words, the objectives of the Estrategia Nacional de Inglés are clear: first-graders and second-graders must be able to understand concepts and referents from their own culture.

Since 2013 twelve publishers have been developing the English-reading textbooks for the grades mentioned above. However, those textbooks have presented two major problems. In the first place, “some textbooks did not correspond to the students’ sociocultural context and English level” (Moon & Enever, 2010, as cited by Ramírez et al., 2014, p. 1030), which represents a challenge because the Mexican cultural context has “overcrowded classrooms, large groups, and very limited resources” (Moon & Enever, 2010, as cited by Ramírez et al., 2014, p. 1030). In second place, textbooks “are not being distributed equally or on time to the schools”, which troubles teachers since they consider them “an important methodological guide and resource” (Ramírez et al., 2014, p. 1030).

Consequently, SEP must consider designing reading materials instead of delegating the responsibility to private publishers and reverse-translating Mexican texts can be a suitable option. The main reasons are that students can see themselves or their own experiences portrayed, as well as learning to express their culture in English. Also, this can improve communication among students since they all understand the context and referents. As a result, reverse translation contributes to foster a stronger sense of identity among students and the texts they read. By witnessing their own experiences reflected in the second language, students can more effectively assimilate English, which might lead the bilingual (English-Spanish) population to grow in the future. Finally, translators can adapt any culturally relevant text for children based on both the existing Guía de Nivelación (Level Guide) and Estrategia Nacional de Inglés provided by SEP, in which contents for each grade can be found. By following the programs for the subject, translators can also select what parts of each text seem more relevant for language acquisition and cultural acknowledgment (vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and punctuation marks), and they can determine a translation strategy that emphasizes the linguistic aspects of each text. Since students are expected to approach their second language with a positive attitude (SEP, 2017, p. 166), they are more likely to have a similar opinion on both the Spanish and English languages.

Throughout this essay, I clarified that the content of English-reading textbooks must reflect Mexican culture to comply with the established national education English programs. After that, I explained how, in the last decade, private publishers have failed to comply with such programs, and, as a result, SEP must take on that responsibility. Finally, I suggested that reverse translation is an ideal option to create English-reading textbooks for first-graders and second-graders as it can adapt existing texts to the national education programs linguistically and culturally, leading students to identify themselves with the characters or situations portrayed in the texts.

Bibliography

Ramírez, J., Sayer, P., & Pamplón, E. (2014). English Language Teaching in Public Primary Schools in Mexico: The Practices and Challenges of Implementing a National Language Education Program. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 27(8), 1020–1043.

Pamplón, E. & Ramírez, J. (2018). Los libros de texto para la enseñanza del inglés en las escuelas primarias públicas mexicanas y su congruencia con el enfoque oficial. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 23(1), 141-157. doi.

Secretaría de Educación Pública. (2017). Aprendizajes clave para la educación integral. Lengua Extranjera. Inglés. Educación básica. Plan y programas de estudio, orientaciones didácticas y sugerencias de evaluación.

Secretaría de Educación Pública. (2017). Estrategia Nacional de Inglés. SEP.

Por Kenia Daniela Juárez González

kenia.juarez@enallt.unam.mx

Es egresada de la Licenciatura en Traducción por la Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción. Sus lenguas de trabajo son español, inglés y francés, y su área de especialización es la traducción audiovisual y la enseñanza de inglés como lengua extranjera. Actualmente se encuentra en proceso de titulación por alto nivel académico.

2.3. Linguistics

2.3.1. Cognitive Linguistics, an introductory perspective on foreign language learning processes.

Alejandro Pozos Cortés

Bachelor’s Programme in Applied Linguistics

This paper entails an introductory overview regarding the field of Cognitive Linguistics perceived as a subfield of Applied Linguistics. The approach applied here is closely related to the realms of Language Teaching (LT), placing special emphasis on the Cognitive Linguistics contributions regarding the domain of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (FLTL). The precise focus of this essay will provide an exploratory outlook to understand the concept and objectives of Cognitive Linguistics (CL).

If one wishes to track the origins of the Cognitive Linguistic movement, one probably would encounter the propositions of Fodor (1983) in his work about the modularity of mind. In his analysis he proposes a model of the modularity of mind, in which he describes two types of systems of the human mind: a) input or serial systems (e.g. perception, motor control, comprehension, and production of language), which are the cognitive modular systems, and b) a central or parallel processing system (superior and ulterior cognitive processes or metacognition processes). These propositions are closely mirrored by Miller’s (1956) comparison between the mind and computer (Garayzábal Heinze & Codesido García, 2015, p. 22).

Moreover, Cognitive Psychology, Neuropsychology, Neurolinguistics and subsequently, Cognitive Linguistics began to emerge as a cluster of overlapping approaches in the late 1960s and during the 1970s as a result of the previous tradition mainly in the field of Psychology, known as the Gestalt school of thought, therefore, Cognitive Linguistics emerged as a series of interdisciplinary outcomes derived from different controls from the study of language as a mental phenomenon (Rao, 2021). Thus, by the end of 1989 and early 1990s, the International Cognitive Linguistics Society was founded in hand with the Journal of Cognitive Linguistics (CL).

For that reason, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) encompasses a method to deal with the study of natural language that began in the late 70s and early 80s in the works of scholars such as George Lakoff, Ron Langacker, and Leonard Talmy (see Geeraerts & Cuyckens, 2010; for more information on this topic). The principal line of thought of the movement states thatlanguage is a central part of cognition (Rao, 2021) and it mirrors the relationship of psychological, social, and other informative elements about the human mind, ideas, and patterns of thought that must be perceived from a sensible angle on conceptualization and mental processing (Rao, 2021).

Moreover, the field follows a Communicative or Cooperative Principle (CP), as well as a Systemic Functional (SFL) point of view in the sense that it considers language as an instrument for arranging, handling, processing, and conveying information. Moreover, it also follows The Communicative Competence (CC) proposed by Hymes and Chomsky (1960), which in contrast with the CL perspective emphasizes the assumption on the realm and approach of the Communicative Competence (CC), pinpoints that the primary function of language is for interaction and its structure eventually reflects somehow its communicative functionality as previously mentioned. (Pütz, 2010).

Broadly speaking, the CL movement has divided its lines of research into two, referred to as:

a) The Generalization Commitment, which accounts for general principles that are responsible for all aspects of human language, that is, human language standards that hold across all different parts and aspects of a language (the various dimensions of a language); and

b) The Cognitive Commitment, which provides characterization of general principles for language that accords with what is known about the human mind and brain from other controls, e.g: Philosophy, Psychology, Neurolinguistics, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive sciences, and Neurosciences, (Lackoff, 1990).

The previous commitments have been devoted to solving questions and matters, which have been categorized into three main branches of CL: Cognitive approaches to conceptual structure, to semantics, and grammar (Evans, 2019).

CL as seen before is relatively a new school of Linguistics, and one of the most innovative and contemporary approaches to the study of human language, mind, and thought that have emerged within the modern frameworks of many interdisciplinary studies coined as Cognitive Sciences (CS). In any case, CL is strongly based upon Cognitivism and even though its roots date back to the Fodorian notions of the human mind, one may find that CL rejects the propositions regarding different modules for processing mental faculties and language, rather it appears to be that CL pursue a more Connectionist model for explaining human language learning and acquisition. However, be that as it may, when one begins to draw connections and reach content corresponding to the Neurosciences specialty, one starts to perceive a more practical approach.

As for the recounting regarding the findings of the CL movement to the application of FLTL, according to Rao (2021) they can be summarized as follows:

The first commitment, which is the general, accounts for the fact that each language, at least for the many shared by humankind, have at least three properties or perspectives:

a) A structural view,

b) A functional view, and

c) An interactional view

Regarding the second commitment, which is the cognitive one, it accounts for the main objective, which is the study of the superior and ulterior capabilities of humankind through using specific methods and tools for the sake of it. Since the ultimate goal of cognitive science is human cognition itself. By the awareness of this commitment, one can approach the study of language towards what other fields of study have to say concerning how humankind is capable of processing information, placing special emphasis on discovering the brain’s particular faculties.

Bibliography

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.

Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Part I Overview of the Cognitive Linguistics Enterprise. In Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction (pp. 3-22). Edinburgh University Press.

Evans, V. (2019). Part I The Cognitive Linguistics Enterprise. In Cognitive Linguistics: A Complete Guide(pp. 1-6). Edinburgh University Press.

Fodor, J.A. (1983). The Modularity of Mind. Cambridge MIT Press.

Garayzábal Heinze, E., & Codesido García, A. I. (2015). Fundamentos de Psicolingüística. Síntesis.

Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics: Vol. 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41-58). Academic Press.

Hymes, D. (1972). On Communicative Competence. In J. B. Pride, & A. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings(pp. 269-293). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Lakoff, G. (1990). The Invariance Hypothesis: is abstract reason based on image-schemas?Journal of Cognitive Linguistics, 1 (1), 39-74.

Mercado Domenech, S. J. (1981). Procesamiento humano de la información (1st ed.). Trillas.

Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63 (2) 81–97.

Pütz, M. (2010). Cognitive Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. In D. Geeraerts, & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 1139–1159). Oxford University Press.

Rao, V. C. S. (2021). Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought. Journal for Research Scholars and Professionals of English Language Teaching, 5(24).

Por Alejandro Pozos Cortés

alejandro.pozos@enallt.unam.mx

Es actualmente estudiante de octavo semestre en la licenciatura de Lingüística Aplicada en la Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción. En el reciente periodo se encuentra en la etapa de profundización referente al área de diseño de instrumentos de evaluación con enfoque metodológico desde la investigación-acción.

2.3.2. The natural approach in the learning process

Celic Harumi García Sánchez

Bachelor’s Programme in Applied Linguistics

There are several methods that teachers have employed to teach a second language, such as the psychological method, the series method, the phonetic method, the direct method and others4. Each one of them has its advantages and disadvantages but among these approaches, there is one that offers a balanced formula supported by the theory of second language acquisition. The Natural Approach, developed by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell in 1983, has the main goal of helping beginner learners advance to an intermediate level by first comprehending what they hear and afterwards, start to produce their own phrases and progress in their knowledge. According to Krashen and Terrell’s Natural Approach, second language learning can be enhanced through the creation of a low-stress learning environment, meaningful student-teacher interactions, and regular writing practices. The objective of this essay is twofold: first, to explain how this approach can be implemented in a classroom using Krashen’s hypotheses of the Affective Filter, the Input, and second, the Monitor, and to provide examples of possible activities that help students attain their learning goals.

Teachers can accomplish a favorable educational setting by applying the affective filter, a theory created by Dulay and Burt in 1977 and later retrieved by Krashen. This idea identifies three key factors that impact second language acquisition: motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety. Ideally, motivation and self-confidence should be high, while anxiety must remain low to encourage an easier and more meaningful absorption of input. In classrooms, it is obtained by minimizing grammatical error correction, including topics that are genuinely interesting for students, and creating a welcoming and enjoyable classroom atmosphere (Krashen, 1982, p. 128-144). Also, Educators should not insist on the production of a second language if pupils are not ready to help avoid isolation or embarrassment.

As previously discussed, the concepts of a low affective filter and input are strongly connected because a learner’s optimal attitude can accelerate the acquisition of more comprehensible input. This concept is related to receptive skills, as it refers to the content that learners can understand in the target language. One of Krashen’s statement is that input can be improved by mainly focusing on meaning and by presenting phrases that are “a little beyond” the learners’ current level (i + 1) ( Krashen, 1982, p. 21). In consequence, it will cause a natural acquisition of more complex grammatical structures, and afterwards, more fluency. In a formal context, this can be achieved by including many visual aids, using extra-linguistic context (Krashen and Terrell, 1983, p. 32) and developing meaningful interactions such as talking with friends or family in the target language, having interviews with their classmates, creating open dialogs with associations and predictable patterns, reading exciting stories, etc.

Another concept proposed by Krashen that helps in second language acquisition is the “monitor”. This hypothesis states that the monitor is a “conscious learning system” that acts like an editor, detecting and correcting grammatical or syntactic errors. This process usually occurs before learners speak but it can also happen afterward in the form of self-correction (Krashen, 1982, p. 16). In the context of the Natural Approach, this factor is secondary because it is more related to learning than to acquisition. However, a general proposal is that students should practice their monitor by writing texts or preparing speeches, which provide enough time to think consciously about grammar and without interfering in their communication (Krashen and Terrell, 1983, p. 143).

In conclusion, teachers can successfully employ the Natural Approach by using Krashen’s hypotheses of the Affective Filter, the Input, and the Monitor. This method has been shown to be more useful than other conventional methods and places a higher priority on acquisition than the formal learning process. This makes the Natural Approach a valuable tool that successfully helps to achieve a wide range of language development objectives, since it enables learners to increase their fluency and proficiency in their target language.

1 For more information: The Law Dictionary, (n.d.) Recitals (link)

2 The original quote says “con tanta fidelidad como sea posible y con tanta libertad como sea necesario”, this and the following Spanish quotes are translations of mine.

3 The original quote says: “las recreaciones poéticas siempre están más cerca del original, aunque sólo sea porque están más cerca de la violencia y de los atrevimientos agresivos que crearon la obra original y a pesar de los cambios, licencias o incluso errores”.

4 Some of these methods are mentioned by Krashen and Terrell, 1983, p. 10-11.