ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). A professional organization of foreign languages instructor in the US, which has developed several instruments for measuring the L2 proficiency of students, among them, the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. www.actfl.org.
additive connectors (conectores aditivos). Discourse markers that connect two informative segments situated at the same level, or two arguments that lead to the same conclusion. Examples in Spanish are: aparte, asimismo, es más, etc.
advanced NNSs (hablantes no nativos de nivel avanzado). This term refers to Spanish L2 learners with greater proficiency than novice learners in their first year of study. Although these terms (novice and advanced) reflect the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, the “advanced NNSs” described here have not necessarily been evaluated as having “advanced proficiency” on the ACTFL scale (see ACTFL).
affiliation (afiliación). Affiliation face is a term formulated by Fant (1989, p. 255). It refers to “inner representation of Self as an accepted member of the group to which one has an idea of belonging.” Bravo (1999) develops a new approach to Spanish politeness, claiming that affiliation is related to the individual’s and the others’ perception of him/herself as part of the group.
anaphoric (anafórico). A linguistic item that refers to something mentioned early in the discourse, giving rise to a relation of coreference, as in María se está duchando, where the reflexive se is coreferential with María (i.e., refers to the same person in the real world), or as in Se lo ofrecí a Juan, pero el tonto no aceptó, where se Juan and el tonto are coreferential. Juan is anaphoric to el tonto.anthropological culture (cultura antropológica). “Customs, worldview, language, kinship system, social organization, and other taken-for-granted day-to-day practices of a people which set that group apart as a distinctive group” (Scollon and Scollon 2001, p. 126–127).
argumentative operators (operadores argumentativos). They add content relating to the argumentation: orientation, force, or argumentative adequacy. Examples in Spanish are: incluso, por lo menos, preferiblemente, etc.
autonomy (autonomía). Autonomy face is a term formulated first by Fant (1989). It refers to the inner representation of self as an independent, autonomous person with an inviolable territory. Bravo (1999) develops a new approach to Spanish politeness, claiming that autonomy is related to the image that an individual has of him/herself and to the perception that the others have of the individual as different from the rest of the group.
cataphoric (catafórico): A linguistic element that refers to something mentioned later in the discourse, establishing with it a relation of coreference, as in “ Los chocolates belgas les encantan a mis hijos, ” where les and a mis hijos are coreferential. The cataphoric element here is les.
CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment) (Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas: Aprendizaje, Enseñanza, Evaluación (MCER)). Guidelines used primarily in the European countries to measure the development and the proficiency of L2 learners. For Spanish, see https://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/marco/default.htm.
chronemics (cronémica). A community’s concept of time and how it is structured and used.
cognitive pragmatics (pragmática cognitiva). A subfield of pragmatics that puts the focus on the mental systems and processes that underlie the way in which meaning is built by considering both the content encoded in sentences and the set of contextual assumptions (including situation, world knowledge, cultural norms, etc.).
cognitivism (cognitivismo). Cognitivism is the study in psychology that focuses on mental processes, including how people perceive, think, remember, learn, solve problems, and direct their attention to one stimulus rather than another.
commentary pragmatic markers (comentadores). Term used by Fraser (2009) for a subtype of pragmatic markers which “signal a comment on the basic message: assessment (for tunately), manner-of-speaking (frankly), evidential markers (certainly), hearsay markers (reportedly, allegedly) and (non)deference markers (sir)” (p. 297). Examples in Spanish are: afortunadamente, por cierto, supuestamente, etc.
communicative approach (enfoque comunicativo). A language learning methodology in which the communication of real meaning takes precedence over the grammatical accuracy. Its main objective is for the learner to acquire enough competence in L2 as to sustain a meaningful exchange with an interlocutor of L1 (see below L1 ). Basically, when learners get involved in real communication, their strategies for their first language acquisition are used in order to learn the new language. Also known as communicative language teaching, notional-functional approach, or functional approach (enseñanza comunicativa de la lengua, el enfoque nocional-funcional o el enfoque funcional).
communicative competence (competencia comunicativa). Communicative competence refers to a learner’s ability to use language to communicate successfully. Canale and Swain (1980) defined it as being composed of competence in four areas: words and rules, appropriateness, cohesion and coherence, and use of communication strategies.
communicative event (evento comunicativo). A meaningful communication activity where participants use a set of utterances to perform a linguistic action or function.
communicative language ability (habilidad lingüística comunicativa). A model of communicative competence, which separates linguistic knowledge (various language systems) and skills to use (functional knowledge). See Bachman and Palmer (1996).
complexity theory (teoría de la complejidad). The study of complex and chaotic systems and how order, pattern, and structure can arise from them.
conceptual proxemics (proxémica conceptual). Conceptual proxemics deals with the habits and beliefs pertaining to the concept of space of a certain community or culture (if it is considered to be concrete or abstract, material and tangible or intangible, and why), to the distribution of space (the layout of cities, towns, homes and furniture, parks, different types of premises, and so on), and to the influence of all this on human behavior (order or disorder in arranging objects, waiting in line, or respect for prohibited or private spaces).
conceptual time (tiempo conceptual). Conceptual time is formed by the behavior and beliefs of different cultures relative to their concept of time, such as whether or not they value it or consider it to be concrete or abstract, material and tangible or intangible, and why. It also refers to those beliefs concerning the distribution of time in different communities and its influence on human behavior, like planning time and regularly carrying out several activities at once.
concessives connectors (conectores concesivos). Concessive connectors introduce a result contrary to that which would be expected to follow from the cause. The earlier argument is an obstacle to the fulfillment of the principal argument, but the speaker does not take it into consideration. Examples in Spanish are: aun así, con todo, de cualquier forma, etc.
conclusion connectors (conectores conclusivos): Markers that introduce a conclusion which brings the foregoing arguments to a close. Examples in Spanish are: en suma, total, al fin y al cabo, etc.
connectors (conectores). Connectors are free units, independent of the verb in the sentence, whose discourse function is to establish the relationship between two clauses or minor segments. Examples in Spanish are: por otra parte, además, encima, etc.
consciousness-raising (estímulo de la conciencia). It is a teaching approach or technique intended to help learners notice something about the language using their intellectual and cognitive capacities to become aware of language structure and use (Sharwood Smith 1983).
consecutive connectors (conectores consecutivos). These connectors introduce the result of an action. Examples in Spanish are: por (lo) tanto, en consecuencia, por ende, etc.
context (contexto). Context is usually understood as: (1) the physical context that encompasses what is physically present around the speakers/hearers at the time of communication; (2) the linguistic context, namely what has been said in the conversation; (3) the social context, which is the social relationship of the people involved in communication; and (4) the knowledge and beliefs of the speaker and the hearer (epistemic knowledge). The linguistic context is also sometimes referred to as co-text.
COSOPRAG (COSOPRAG). It is a research project aimed at creating a model for registering socio-pragmatic forms of conduct that will allow to formulate general categories suitable for the study of the linguistic production from different varieties of Spanish. http://edice.org/cosprag.
co-text (co-texto). See context.
counter-argument connectors (conectores contra-argumentativos). Connectors that indicate counter-possibility, contraposition, and concession. Examples in Spanish are: por el contrario, ahora bien, eso sí, etc.
cultural appropriation (apropiación cultural) . A process in which practices or products associated with members of a minority group are adopted and adapted for use or consumption by members of the dominant group.
cultural signs and systems (signos y sistemas culturales). The set of behavioral and environmental habits and beliefs of a community that communicate both in the widest and the strictest senses of the word.
culture (cultura). The whole set formed by knowledge, beliefs, customs and common practices, etc. that is largely distributed among the members of a social group, who see it as their own.
deixis (deíxis). Indicate the way in which the reference of certain elements in a sentence is determined in relation to a specific speaker and addressee, and a specific time and place of utterance. For instance, in “Usted llegó aquí ayer,” the reference of usted is the interlocutor of the speaker, the reference of aquí is the place where the exchange occurs, and the reference of ayer is the day before the one in which the exchange takes place. Discourse deixis (la deixis discursiva) refers to anaphoric and cataphoric elements (see entries for these terms).
Discourse Completion Test/Task (DCT) (Prueba/tarea de finalización del discurso o cuestionario/tarea de 'roducción). An open-ended questionnaire that require learners to respond to a particular scenario either orally or in writing. It is a linguistic tool designed, in particular, to elicit particular speech acts where participants provide responses to a situational prompt.
discourse markers (marcadores del discurso). These are linguistic terms that lack referential content, and, instead, have a procedural role, generally parenthetical. They guide the inferences of the listener or reader when interpreting a message, and they perform macrostructural functions, such as connecting and/or structuring information. Examples in Spanish are: es más, en cambio, vamos, etc.
discourse structure markers (marcadores que estructuran el discurso). Term used by Fraser (2009) for a subtype of pragmatic markers that “signal an aspect of the organization of the ongoing discourse”: discourse management (in summary), topic-orientation (returning to my previous topic) and attention markers (look) (p. 297). Examples in Spanish are: volviendo al tema, mira, en resumen, etc.
discursive competence (competencia discursiva). The user’s capacity to organize sentences in sequences in order to produce coherent messages.
discursive politeness (cortesía discursiva). Discursive politeness has the social function of showing listeners’ interest in the interlocutor as a competent speaker and involvement in their conversation. See also politeness.
Dual Process Theory (teoría del proceso dual). Dual Process Theory builds on current “advances on cognitive science and consider(s) findings on the neurological and cognitive processes involved in humor interpretation” with the intention of developing a unified theory of humor (Boyang 2016, p. 861).
EDICE Program (Programa EDICE). EDICE stands for Estudios sobre el Discurso de la Cortesía en Español (Studies on the Discourse of Politeness in Spanish), an international research network based in Sweden about linguistic, social, and cultural aspects of Spanish and all its variants, focusing particularly on (im)politeness phenomena and related sociopragmatic notions (such as identity and face). See www.edice.org.
elite bilinguals (bilingüe de élite, o por privilegio). Those learners who acquire a second language by their own choice, often in a classroom, as opposed to those who learn it for economic reasons, often in non-academic settings.
enunciative operators (operadores enunciativos). Enunciative operators mark the way to speak, to enunciate ( sincerely, honestly, frankly); or they indicate who the speaker is and how he/she is responsible for the act of speaking. Examples in Spanish are: sinceramente, presumiblemente, que yo sepa, etc.
ethnic commodification (mercantilización de la etnicidad). A process in which practices or products associated with an ethnic group—such as language, festivals, or cuisine—are commercialized and marketed to outgroup members.
evidentials (marcadores de evidencialidad). Linguistic elements that encode the different ways in which knowledge is acquired or the source of information (Alvarado Ortega 2016). An example in Spanish is: dizque.
exemplification connectors (conectores de ejemplificación). Markers that introduce an example whose role is to justify the conclusion being reached. Examples in Spanish are: por ejemplo, pongamos por caso, etc.
expectations (expectativas). Predictions made about a future course of events based on frequency and previous knowledge.
explicature (explicatura). The truth-conditional, propositional content of an utterance that derives directly from the encoded meaning plus the result of the pragmatic processes needed for reference assignment, disambiguation, and enrichment of vague expressions. The term is used in the framework of Relevance Theory (see Relevance Theory).
explicit and implicit feedback (retroalimentación explícita e implícita). In explicit feedback, the instructor points to the language error in a learner’s production by offering the corrected form or making a metalinguistic comment or clarification question eliciting self-correction. In implicit feedback, the instructor provides a corrected reformulation of a learner’s utterance hoping the learner will pick up on the correction.
explicit and implicit instruction (instrucción explícita e implícita). Explicit instruction requires the instructor to clearly outline learning goals by offering well-defined explanations of language rules, skills, and structures. Implicit instruction requires the instructor to present information or problems to learners so they can make their own conclusions about language rules, skills, and structures.
face (imagen pública). Term postulated by Brown and Levinson (1978), based on Goffman (1967), who considered face to be an image of self, delineated in terms of approved social attributes, as a universal psychological feature addressed by politeness. Face is defined as the image that a person has as a member of society and is two-sided: a person’s sense of self-esteem (positive face) and desire to determine their own course of action (negative face).
face-management (gestión de la imagen). Spencer-Oatey (2000, 2002) has suggested that linguistic politeness should be seen as one of the many resources available for managing relations. She claims that the force behind the management of relations comprises two components: the management of face and the management of sociality rights. Management of face refers to the desire to be evaluated positively in terms of personal qualities, and it is in this sense that face is related to personal self-esteem, in other words, to Brown’s and Levinson’s positive face. See also face.
face-wants vs. face threats (deseos de imagen vs. amenazas a la imagen). Need to have face respected vs. threat to self-esteem or to freedom of action. See also face.
face-work (actividades de imagen). According to Goffman (1967), these are the activities that a person performs in order to save both his /her face and that of his/her interlocutor, preventing possible threats to either. See also face.
frames and schemata (marcos y esquemas mentales). Frames and schemata are structures of organized world knowledge.
functional competence (competencia funcional). It refers to the performance of communicative functions, such as conveying attitudes or persuading.
General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) (Teoría General del Humor Verbal). This theory is a variant of the incongruity theory, developed by Attardo and Raskin (1991). The GTVH proposes six knowledge resources which are ordered hierarchically and correspond to different parameters or levels of the joke. These include the: (1) opposition of schemes, (2) logical mechanism, (3) situation, (4) narrative strategy, (5) language, and (6) text of the joke (Attardo, Hempelmann, and Maio 2002, p. 4). The hierarchical order does not reflect production; it is dependent on relationships between the parameters and kinds of knowledge (Attardo and Raskin 1991, p. 294).
genre (género). Genre is the term used for any form of communication (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) shaped by socio-cultural conventions. Texts of a genre tend to share linguistic characteristics as well as stylistic, aesthetic, rhetorical, communicative, or functional features.
gestures (gestos). Psychomuscular movements of conventional communicative value; that is, used, consciously or unconsciously, in accordance with sociocultural conventions to produce an act of communication.
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (el Principio de Cooperación de Grice). Pragmatic principle based on the theory of H.P. Grice ([1967] 1975), according to which participants in a conversation must cooperate in order for their utterances to make sense.
GRIALE (Grupo de Investigación para la Pragmática y la Ironía en Español del Área de Lengua Española). A research group on pragmatics and irony, located at the University of Alicante, Spain. See http://griale.dfelg.ua.es/.
group politeness (cortesía grupal). The principal objective of group politeness is to encourage unity and solidarity between the members of a group.
heritage learner (estudiante de herencia). According to Guadalupe Valdés (2000, p. 1), this is a student “who is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken, who speak[s] or at least understand[s] the language, and who, up to a certain point, [is] bilingual in both English and that heritage language.”
humor (humor). From a pragmatic perspective, humor is considered an act intended to be comical and cause laughter. It is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon difficult to define because humor varies across cultures and is context dependent.
humor competence (competencia del humor). Humor competence is defined by Attardo (2002, p. 1) as “the capacity of a speaker to process semantically a given text and to locate a set of relationships among its components, such that he/ she would identify the text (or part of it) as humorous in an ideal situation.”
hyperbole (hipérbole). The term for “exaggeration” in the ancient doctrine of figures of speech (Matthews 1997, p. 166).
illocutionary force (fuerza ilocutiva). Applied in the theory of speech acts, this term refers to the force (i.e., the communicative intention) that an expression of some specific forms will have when it is uttered. For example, stopping somebody and saying: Por favor, me puede ayudar? would have the illocutionary force of a polite request for assistance, by virtue of its interrogative form preceded by por favor.
implicature (implicatura). Each one of the propositional representations that an utterance can convey without encoding them; implicatures are recovered by inference. This definition can vary according to the theoretical framework of each author.
impoliteness (descortesía). Culpeper (1996) has proposed a model to account for the expression of impoliteness that has a parallel structure to Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) politeness model. This model consists of five super strategies: (1) “bald on record impoliteness, deployed when there is much face at stake,” (2) “positive impoliteness,” (3) “negative impoliteness,” (4) “sarcasm or mock politeness,” and (5) “withhold politeness.” Impoliteness is geared toward harming the interlocutor’s face, based on social codes allegedly shared, and has a negative interpersonal effect.
impoliteness produced by threats or by breach of politeness norms (descortesía provocada por actos amenazantes o por ruptura de las normas de cortesía). These are two types of impoliteness: one produced by threats to the face of the speaker (whether to the face of personal value, the face of his role, or the face of his group image in respect to his family, friends, or others) which are neither diminished nor amended, and the other caused by a break from the normal rules of politeness. This includes such things as breaking with what is considered polite when meeting someone, during a visit, and in adjacency pairs (concretely in those of self-criticism followed by an affirmation of the criticism by the speaker).
inauthentic politeness/non-genuine politeness (cortesía inauténtica/atípica). According to Bernal (2007), these are apparently impolite acts (use of insults, denigrating nicknames, among others) that are aimed at the interlocutor but without an interpretation favoring impoliteness or impacting the situation with a negative effect. Such acts form part of a playful style that favors the affinity and the solidarity between participants. Their use is based on a relation of trust and a high degree of interpersonal closeness.
incongruity theory (teoría de la incongruencia). This theory claims that humor emerges when people experience an unexpected event or see something illogical or absurd that makes the situation laughable (Meyer 2000, p. 316; Torres Sánchez 1999).
informative operators (operadores informativos). These operators differentiate given and new information, expected and non-expected argument, or emphasize a segment of the utterance. An example in Spanish is justamente.
input enhancement (realce o revalorización del input). Input enhancement is any technique used to make specific features of the written input more salient for language learners (Sharwood Smith 1981, 1991). Examples of input enhancement include highlighting and/or changing the font style, size, or color.
instructional pragmatics (pragmática enfocada a la instrucción). According to Ishihara (2010), this term refers to the educational component of interlanguage pragmatics, aiming to promote the acquisition of sociopragmatic competence. In L2 settings, it may focus on the acquisition of pragmalinguistic elements, of sociopragmatic elements, or a combination of both.
(in)sufficiency markers (marcadores de (in)suficiencia). Markers that indicate if an argument is sufficient or insufficient to support the conclusion being presented. Examples in Spanish are: al menos, por lo menos (sufficiency), ni siquiera, meramente (insufficiency).
Interaction Hypothesis (Hipótesis Interaccionista). Interaction hypothesis is a model of second language acquisition proposed by Long (1996), who believes that language acquisition occurs when learners participate in interactions to negotiate meaning.
interactional proxemics (proxémica interaccional). Interactional proxemics studies the establishment of the distances at which people carry out different communicative interactions (consoling, advising, chiding, conversing, carrying out job interviews, teaching). These show cross-cultural variation. It also refers to the functions performed by a series of non-verbal signals in co-structuration with signs belonging to other communication systems or alternating with those signs (moving closer to a person to indicate the intention of going with them or to show agreement). See also proxemics, social proxemics.
interactive connectors (conectores interactivos). Connectors used in interaction in order to establish the relationship with the listener. Examples in Spanish are: bueno, verás, mira, etc.
interactive time (tiempo interactivo). Interactive time has to do with the duration of signs from other communication systems. This has an informative value, either because it serves to reinforce the meaning of its elements or because it specifies or changes the meaning; thus, the greater or lesser the length of the sounds in some words, of some gestures or pauses, and their corresponding connotations are chronemic signs, along with increased speed in emitting an utterance, which can intensify or diminish its critical or corrective effect.
interlanguage (interlengua o interlenguaje). Concept created by Selinker (1972) to refer to the individual linguistic system of L2 learners at different stages of the acquisition process; basically, this system is intermediate between that of their native language and that of the one being learned.
Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) (pragmática de la interlengua). Interlanguage pragmatics is a subfield of second language acquisition which investigates the acquisition, comprehension, and production of pragmatics by second language learners.
internal/mental representations (representaciones internas/mentales) These are assumptions that an individual has stored or can entertain as reflecting his/her perception of the world, either actual or imaginary.
irony (prototypical and non-prototypical) (ironía prototípica y no prototípica). Irony is conceived of as a pragmatic phenomenon based on indicators and marks, which is why it is possible to offer an explanation that goes beyond the particular contexts where irony arises:
prototypical irony (ironía prototípica). This is the one that arises from the negation of the utterance; non-prototypical (ironía no prototípica) irony is produced through different phenomena which do not involve contradiction.
kinesics (cinésica o kinésica). The kinesic system is comprised of the bodily movements and postures which communicate, specify, and nuance the meaning of communicative signs or acts of communication, including such relevant aspects as eye behavior or bodily contact.
L1 (first language) (primera lengua). The acronym L1 is shorthand for referring to the language that someone learns to speak first. This is generally used in contrast to L2 (second language). See also L2.
L2 (second language) (segunda lengua). In a broad sense, the term L2 (second language) refers to the language learned by a non-native speaker, in this case, by non-native speakers of Spanish (See also L1).
L2 learning vs. FL learning (aprendizaje de una segunda lengua vs. aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera). Shrum and Glisan (2010, p. 12) make a distinction between foreign and L2 learning based on whether the language is acquired via “formal classroom instruction outside of the geographical region where it is commonly spoken” or “within one of the regions where the language is commonly spoken,” instead of or in addition to formal instruction. In Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, it is usual to refer to ELE (“español como lengua extranjera”).
language socialization (socialización lingüística). According to Ochs and Schieffelin (2014, p. 1), the study of language socialization “examine[s] how children and other novices apprehend and enact ‘the context of situation’ in relation to the ‘context of culture’. In so doing, language socialization research integrates discourse and ethnographic methods to capture the social structuring and cultural interpretations of semiotic forms, practices, and ideologies that inform novices’ practical engagements with others.”
Levinson’s theory (la teoría de Levinson). Theory presented by Levinson in Presumptive Meanings (2000), in which it is claimed that in order to account for generalized conversational implicatures (GCI) (and other types of presumptive meanings, or preferred interpretations), it is necessary to distinguish a new level of utterance-type meaning from sentence-meaning and speaker-meaning: “This level is to capture the suggestions that the use of an expression of a certain type generally or normally carries, by default” (p. 71).
linguistic, situational, and sociocultural context (contexto lingüístico, situacional o sociocultural). Understanding irony requires taking into account the linguistic context or co-text, the situational context or external circumstances, and the socio-cultural context or knowledge, shared life experiences and beliefs, etc.
linguistic information (información lingüística). The content transmitted by linguistic encoding.
linguistic/or verbal politeness (cortesía verbal). A branch of pragmatics that studies how speakers mitigate face threats by saving their own face or the face of their interlocutor(s).
litotes (lítote). Term in rhetoric for understatement, especially by ironic use of a negative, as in: “That wasn’t at all a bad dinner,” meaning “It was a very good dinner.”
manners (modales). This term refers to making movements, adopting postures, and, generally, carrying out non-verbal acts of communication. Therefore, on one hand, they refer to the ways we normally produce gestures and postures, and on the other, to certain habits of cultural behavior.
markers and indicators (marcas e indicadores). The markers and indicators appearing in the utterance help to create an ironic context that the addressee must understand as such. The GRIALE team of researchers (http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/2484) understand by markers those elements which are helpful in the ironic interpretation, whereas indicators are ironic structures as such (see also GRIALE).
mockery (burla). According to the Merriam-Webster Learning Dictionary, it is a behavior or speech that makes fun of someone or something in a hurtful way: mocking behavior or speech.
Mock Spanish (español empleado como recurso para burlarse). “Mock Spanish” (term coined by Hill (2008)) is a special register in which Spanish words or phrases are used to evoke humor, often indexing an unflattering and stereotypical image of Spanish speakers.
modal operators (operadores modales). Modal operators express the speaker’s modality or subjective attitude. Examples of modal operators in Spanish are: a lo mejor, en teoría, evidentemente, etc.
native speaker (NS) (hablante nativo). A proficient user of a language for whom it has been the language of instruction from elementary school onward and/or the language consistently spoken at home by the user with at least one family member (Callahan 2006, p. 26).
non-linguistic knowledge (conocimiento no lingüístico). This term refers to the set of representations an individual considers to be a faithful description of the factual world.
non-native speaker (NNS) (hablante no-nativo) . Non-native speaker is a term used to refer to someone who has learned a particular language as a child or adult rather than as a baby. See also native speaker.
non-verbal communication (comunicación no verbal). Non-verbal communication comprises all the nonlinguistic signs and systems of signs that communicate or inform. These include cultural habits and customs in the broadest sense and the so-called non-verbal communication systems.
non-verbal communication systems (sistemas de comunicación no verbal). Nonverbal communication systems are the set of signs that constitute the basic non-verbal communication systems, both paralinguistic and the kinesic, as well as the two secondary or cultural ones, the proxemic and chronemic systems.
normative impoliteness (descortesía normativa). Normative impoliteness occurs during arguments, when threatening acts (reproaches, criticism, etc.) do not imply directly, per se, a negative personal effect. This is because they help to show emotions and to positively contribute to a solution of the conflict.
Noticing Hypothesis (la hipótesis de fijar la atención). The Noticing Hypothesis is a model of second language acquisition proposed by Schmidt (1995), which holds that learners must notice items in a target language as a first step in acquisition.
operators (operadores). Operators are linguistic elements that act within the utterance, have no propositional content and do not depend on the verb of the sentence. They indicate interpersonal or intersubjective relationships: references to the speaker (modality, enunciative activity) or to the listener (focalization or argumentation). Examples of operators in Spanish are: sinceramente (enunciative), claro (modal), incluso (argumentative), etc.
oxymoron (oxímoron). Term in rhetoric for the deliberate coupling of words that are strictly contradictory, to create new meanings. An example in Spanish would be: silencio atronador.
paralanguage (paralenguaje). The paralinguistic system is formed by phonic qualities and modifiers, acoustic indicators of physiological and emotional reactions, quasi-lexical elements and the pauses and silences which, with their meaning or their inferred components, communicate, specify, or nuance the sense of signs belonging to other systems in communicative acts (Poyatos 1993, 1994b).
politeness (positive and negative) (cortesía positiva y negativa). In Brown and Levinson’s model (1978)—still the most influential approach to politeness in pragmatics—politeness in language use is governed by the need to preserve “face,” and computed as a function of speaker-hearer power-distance differential and degree of imposition. Politeness is divided into positive politeness (the expression of solidarity), and negative politeness (the expression of restraint).
Polyphonic Theory (teoría de la polifonía). Ducrot (1986), as its most important representative, considers that two meanings exist in every ironic utterance, and they are seen as an echoic phenomenon, since a reference is made to a meaning that does not form part of the utterance and is retrieved as an echo of something said before.
positive vs. negative face (imagen positiva vs. negativa). Positive face refers to the desire of affiliation (i.e., to be accepted as a member of the social group). Negative face refers to the desire of freedom (i.e., of not receiving impositions from others). See also face.
postures (posturas). Postures are static positions that the human body adopts or is able to adopt and communicate actively or passively. As in the case of manners, they are non-verbal signs which, on one hand, are part of a gesture, since the meaning can vary depending on the final posture adopted by the organs involved, and on the other hand, they function as independent communicative signals, as in the case of a cross-legged sitting posture, for example.
pragmalinguistic error (error pragmalingüístico). Cohen (1998) classified errors due to a learner’s lack of sociolinguistic ability as pragmalinguistic. In other words, learners are aware of which speech act to use for a given situation; however, they do not know the appropriate forms, structures, vocabulary items, and/or register in order to formulate a linguistically appropriate speech act. Before him, Thomas (1983, p. 94) defined this type of error as due to the students “knowing the correct thing to day, but not knowing how to say it correctly.”
pragmalinguistic transfer (transferencia pragmalingüística). This is a subtype of pragmatic transfer in which the words standardly used in one language for a given speech act are used in another language in which they do not have the same interpretation. See also pragmalinguistic error.
pragmatic knowledge (conocimiento pragmático o competencia pragmática). Pragmatic knowledge is the ability to use language effectively in a contextually appropriate manner. Often used as a synonym of pragmatic competence (Thomas 1983).
pragmatic markers (marcadores pragmáticos). Fraser (2006, p. 190) defines this group as follows: “Lexical markers of this class typically have the following properties: they are free morphemes, they are proposition-initial, they signal a specific message either about or in addition to the basic message, and they are classified as pragmatic markers by virtue of their semantic/pragmatic functions.”
pragmatic transfer (transferencia pragmática). The use in a language of the forms and/or conceptualizations of a speech act or situation that correspond to the way in which the speech act or situation is conceived of in a different language. See also pragmalinguistic transfer.
pragmatics (pragmática). Pragmatics is the study of how meaning in communication goes far beyond what is literally encoded in words and is rather determined by the context of situation. Among the main topics traditionally studied by pragmatics are verbal acts, activities, turns, sequences, stances, style, intentionality, agency, and the flow of information.
pragmaticization (pragmaticización) (Dostie 2004) or discursivization (discursivización) (Diewald 2011). Terms that express the specificity of the process discourse markers undergo: from elements syntactically integrated in the sentence to marking discourse relationships.
principle of inversion (principio de la inversión). The principle of inversion refers to situations in which a speaker violates the sincerity requirement and imposes the following instruction upon the listener: “Interpret the utterance from the systematic inversion of conversational principles.”
proxemics (proxémica). Proxemics is the sum of behavioral and cultural habits, and a community’s beliefs regarding the human being’s concept of space, and its use and distribution, including the cultural distances people maintain during activities they carry with the interlocutors (Poyatos 1975, 1976). see also interactional proxemics, social proxemics.
quasi-lexical elements (elementos cuasi-lexicales). Quasi-lexical elements are conventional vocalizations and consonantizations with little lexical content, but great functional value. Most interjections (¡Ah!, ¡Oh!), are considered to belong to this group, as are the onomatopoeias (Glu-glu, Miau), acoustic emissions having names of their own (chistar, sisear, lamer, gemir. . .), and many other sounds (Uff, Hm, Iaj, Ojj, Puaf, Tch. . .) which, despite not having established names or spellings, are normally used with a similar communicative value to that of certain linguistic or kinesic signals, which leads to their being considered as paralinguistic alternants (Poyatos 1994a, 1994b).
reformulation connectors (conectores reformulativos). These markers introduce new information that may be an explanation or a correction. Examples in Spanish are: en otras palabras, a saber, dicho de otro modo, etc.
register (registro lingüístico). Register refers to the style or variety of language that is used for a particular social setting, audience, and/or purpose. For example, formal, informal, vulgar, etc.
Relevance Theory (Teoría de la relevancia). Theory of pragmatics developed by Sperber and Wilson (1986), based on relevant inferences that the listener must make upon hearing an utterance. Relevance is defined as a property that any utterance must necessarily have and is relative to a set of existing assumptions that constitute the context in which an act of speech takes place.
ritual politeness (cortesía ritual). Ritual politeness occurs in meeting situations (which include the acts of greeting at their initiation and of saying goodbye at the end), and visit situations, including several acts that are performed by the host or the guest, according to their situational role in the encounter.
script (guión). Script is a term that originates in psychology (Shank and Abelson 1977). It refers to people’s cultural understanding of the world that is shared between producers and their respective audiences. Furthermore, it points to the fact that people have preconceived ideas of what to expect in different contextual situations, such as eating at a restaurant, going to the movies, etc.
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (Adquisición de una Segunda Lengua). Second Language Acquisition theory attempts to understand and explain the complex and multifaceted phenomenon of learning an additional language. Some of the approaches include cognitivism, sociocultural theory, language socialization, complexity theory, and socio-cognitivism (See these terms).
secondary processes (procesos secundarios). These are inferential processes that combine the proposition expressed by an utterance with other contextual, nonlinguistic assumptions, in order to yield an interpretation of the utterance in context.
semantic ambiguity (ambigüedad semántica). Semantic ambiguity “occurs when a word corresponds to more than one meaning (. . .) Such words are called interlingual homographs or false friends” (Degani and Tokowicz 2010). An example would be: embarassed and embarazado/a, since the latter means in Spanish “pregnant,” not “embarrassed.” So, when a male student, who is a beginner, says that está embarazado, people laugh.
social distance: hierarchy vs. familiarity (distancia social: jerarquía vs. familiaridad). Social distance is a measure for the relationship between two individuals or two social groups. Hierarchy measures the relationship based on power. Familiarity is based on the degree of acquaintance and empathy.
social pragmatics (pragmática social). Social pragmatics is a subfield of pragmatics that puts the focus on the societal systems and processes that determine the way in which language is used (produced and understood) in communication. (See also sociopragmatics).
social proxemics (proxémica social). Social proxemics includes cultural signs relative to the use of space in social relations (the use of public or private exterior and interior space for social interaction), as well as people’s actions when faced with invasions of their territory. See also interactional proxemics, proxemics.
social time (tiempo social). The social time includes the cultural signs that show how time is managed in social relations and deals with the length of social encounters such as meetings, job interviews or visits, the structuring of daily activities, such as having breakfast, lunch, tea, and supper, or the choice of the right time of day for certain social activities. See also chronemics.
sociocultural theory (teoría sociocultural). Sociocultural theory grew from the work of seminal psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1930), who believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large were responsible for developing higher order functions. Vygotsky describes learning as a social process and the origination of human intelligence in society and culture. According to him, learning has its basis in interacting with other people.
sociopragmatic error (error sociopragmático). Acquiring sociocultural ability is a much more complex issue because it involves knowledge of the social and cultural norms of the target language, including the personal and situational factors that can affect how speech acts are realized. Cohen (1998) described errors of this type as sociopragmatic because the learners do not know which speech act to use for a given situation or when to use speech acts appropriately. Before him, Thomas (1983, p. 94) defined the sociopragmatic error as due to students “not knowing what to say, or not saying the appropriate thing as a result of transferring the incongruent social rules, values and belief systems from their native languages and cultures.”
sociopragmatic transfer (transferencia sociopragmática). Sociopragmatic transfer is a subtype of pragmatic transfer in which the standard conceptualization that a situation receives in a given language/culture is used in another language/ culture in which the situation is normally conceived in a different way.
Sociopragmatics (sociopragmática). This term was coined by Leech (1983) to describe the study of the ways in which pragmatic meanings reflect “specific local, social and cultural conditions on language use.” It is a subfield of pragmatics that he distinguished from the study of more “general” pragmatic meaning. See also social pragmatics.
speech acts (actos de habla). Searle (1969) described speech acts as language users’ attempts to perform specific actions or interpersonal functions. Some examples of speech acts include apologizing, complaining, complimenting, refusing, requesting, and thanking. According to Searle (1969), these types of functions are typically universal across languages.
strategic politeness (cortesía estratégica o atenuadora). According to Bernal (2007), strategic politeness consists of acts directed at mitigating a possible threat to the face of the speaker, relieving the tension that this could cause in the interaction. Positive politeness strategies are intended to avoid giving offense by highlighting friendliness. Negative politeness strategies are intended to avoid giving offense by showing deference. A subtype is reparatory politeness (cortesía reparadora,), which occurs retrospectively after the threat has occurred.
structuring information and ordering of the discourse connectors (conectores que estructuran y ordenan la información). These are connectors that order the information sequentially: discourse initiation, discourse closing. Examples in Spanish are: para empezar, para terminar, de entrada, etc.
Superiority Theory (teoría de la superioridad del humor). Within this theory, humor is seen as a mechanism employed by the social elites to assert their superiority from other groups and draw boundaries between them (Billig 2005).
SurveyMonkey. It is a commercially available online survey that can be used to collect data. Its website is surveymonkey.com.
symbol vs. index (símbolo vs. índice). These are two subtypes of signs (i.e., of form-meaning associations): the association between form and meaning is conventional in symbols, and is natural in indexes. The distinction is borrowed from the theory of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1940) who is considered to be, with Saussure, the founder of a general theory of signs. (See Buchler (1955), in the reference section, for Peirce’s edited works).
target language (TL) (la lengua meta). The language being taught or which one is acquiring. For example, Spanish is a target language for students whose mother tongue is English, or French, or Chinese.
temporal markers (marcadores temporales). These are connectors that order events chronologically. Examples in Spanish are: a continuación, por fin, mientras, etc.
tests of social habits (tests/ pruebas de hábitos sociales). Questionnaire used to provide support to the analysts’ interpretations and to show how language users define politeness/impoliteness etc. These opinions help the analyst to understand the socio-cultural context in which communication is immersed.
the 5 C’s: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, communities (Las 5 Ces de ACTFL: comunicación, culturas, conexiones, comparaciones, comunidades). These are subcategories of ACTFL’s World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/publications/standards/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf. See also ACTFL.
Theory of Relief (teoría del alivio de tensiones del humor). This theory conceives humor as a tool to diffuse tension (Freud 1963, Lefcourt and Martin [1986] 2011).
thetical gramar (gramática “tética”- abreviación de paren(tética)). For Kaltenböck, Heine, and Kuteva (2011), it is a part of grammar, which complements the sentence grammar, and deals with all the units referred to the contextual information, especially regarding the speaker. Theticals do not contribute to the propositional meaning of the utterance and play an important role in the organization of linguistic discourse.
valorizing politeness (cortesía valorizante o valorizadora). The objective of this type of politeness is to enhance the face of the interlocutors, which can be achieved through acts such as directly complimenting them (their intelligence, their physical appearance) or things that belong to them. Acts that perform valorizing politeness are sometimes called face-enhancing (or face-flattering) acts: (actos de habla valorizantes) (cf. Kerbrath-Orecchioni 1997), and they are the opposite of the face-threatening acts (actos de habla amenazantes).
web-based tutorial (WBT) (Tutoría en la red/internet). An interactive software program that serves as a learning tool.
1 Please note that the citation references for the glossary are listed at the end of the glossary.