Native Italians’ comprehension of press information in Spanish A phraseodidactic approximation from a cognitive linguistics approach Ester Mellado Blanes TESI DOCTORAL UPF / 2019 DIRECTOR DE LA TESI Dra. Jenny Brumme Dra. Daniela Capra (Università degli Studi di Modena) DEPARTAMENT DE TRADUCCIÓ I CIÈNCIES DEL LLENGUATGE Als qui m’heu donat la vida i cregut en cada part de mi. Als qui m’heu acompanyat i ensenyat al llarg del camí. A tu, que et porto a dins, i ets el nostre futur. Y muy especialmente, a ti, que lo eres todo. iii Abstract This thesis analyses the interlanguage effect in the learning process of Spanish phraseology by native Italians. It is intended to investigate the interactions between native languages and the learning process of a foreign language in the light of previous investigation on the area of phraseology and its didactics. Phraseology plays a vital role in the acquisition of a foreign language, accomplishing the goal set in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which depicts what knowledge and skills are to be developed in language acquisition, taking into account the cultural context in which this process is set. Phraseology is a challenging aspect of language learning, precisely because it brings along multiple cultural aspects that are rarely translated literally and that usually do not follow static grammar rules. Phraseology, therefore, is presented as a basic feature of communication to be integrated in foreign language teaching by means of phraseodidactics. This PhD research is intended to confront the students with functional aspects of the language by means of real material. v Resum Aquesta tesi analitza l’efecte de l’interllenguatge en el procés d’aprenentatge de la fraseologia espanyola per part d’italians nadius. Es pretén investigar les interaccions entre les llengües natives i el procés d’aprenentatge de la llengua estrangera a la llum de la investigació prèvia en l’àrea de la fraseologia i la seva didàctica. La fraseologia juga un rol vital en l’adquisició d’una llengua estrangera, acomplint l’objectiu marcat pel Marc Europeu Comú de Referència per a les Llengües, que descriu quins coneixements i habilitats han de ser desenvolupats en l’adquisició del llenguatge, tenint en compte el context cultural en el qual s’emmarca aquest procés. La fraseologia és un aspecte desafiant en l’aprenentatge d’una llengua, precisament perquè porta múltiples aspectes culturals que rarament poden ser traduïts literalment i que habitualment no segueixen normes gramaticals estàtiques. La fraseologia, així, es presenta com una característica bàsica de la comunicació, que ha de ser integrada en l’ensenyament d’una llengua estrangera mitjançant la fraseodidàctica. Aquesta tesi pretén afrontar els estudiants amb aspectes funcionals de la llengua mitjançant material real. vi Resumen Esta tesis analiza el efecto del interlengua en el proceso de aprendizaje de la fraseología española por parte de italianos nativos. Se pretende investigar las interacciones entre las lenguas nativas y el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera a la luz de la investigación previa en el área de la fraseología y su didáctica. La fraseología juega un rol vital en la adquisición de una lengua extranjera, cumpliendo el objetivo marcado por el Marco Europeo Común de Referencia para las Lenguas, que describe qué conocimientos y habilidades deben ser desarrolladas en la adquisición del lenguaje, teniendo en cuenta el contexto cultural en el cual se encuadra este proceso. La fraseología es un aspecto desafiante en el aprendizaje de una lengua, precisamente porque lleva consigo múltiples aspectos culturales que raramente pueden ser traducidos literalmente y que habitualmente no siguen normas gramaticales estáticas. La fraseología, así, se presenta como una característica básica de la comunicación, que debe ser integrada en la enseñanza de una lengua extranjera mediante la fraseodidáctica. Esta investigación de doctorado pretende confrontar a los estudiantes con aspectos funcionales de la lengua mediante material real. vii Sommario Questa tesi analizza l'effetto dell’interlingua sul processo di apprendimento della fraseologia spagnola da parte degli italiani nativi. L'obiettivo è quello di indagare le interazioni tra le lingue native e il processo di apprendimento di una lingua straniera alla luce delle ricerche precedenti nel campo della fraseologia e della sua didattica. La fraseologia svolge un ruolo fondamentale nell'acquisizione di una lingua straniera, soddisfacendo l'obiettivo fissato dal Quadro comune europeo di riferimento per la conoscenza delle lingue, che descrive quali conoscenze e competenze dovrebbero essere sviluppate nell'acquisizione della lingua, tenendo conto del contesto culturale in cui questo processo è inquadrato. La fraseologia è un aspetto stimolante nell'apprendimento di una lingua, proprio perché porta con sé molteplici aspetti culturali che raramente possono essere tradotti letteralmente e che di solito non seguono le regole grammaticali statiche. La fraseologia, quindi, viene presentata come una caratteristica fondamentale della comunicazione, che deve essere integrata nell'insegnamento di una lingua straniera attraverso la fraseodidattica. Questa ricerca di dottorato ha lo scopo di confrontare gli aspetti funzionali della lingua con materiali reali. viii Preface The research has been developed in the Università degli Studi di Modena and Reggio Emilia (or Unimore). This university, founded in 1175, has traditional strengths in economics, medicine and law and is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy. The college is distributed in two separate headquarters, one located in Reggio Emilia and the other in Modena. Both belong to the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. With around 200.000 inhabitants, the city centre accommodates the Università degli Studi di Modena, belonging to the larger one stated before. The investigation has been applied in the Department of Studies on Language and Culture, concretely in the degree of Lingue e Culture Europee. This degree is coursed by a majority of native Italians from the area of Modena and surroundings. Among the objectives of the degree are that of acquiring solid cultural and linguistic basis in at least two foreign languages; secure oral and written technical skills supported by appropriate metalinguistic abilities; specific knowledge related to the structure of natural language; an adequate basic training in linguistic analysis methods and basic knowledge in historical, literary, economic, legal or social fields. The course provides solid language training in at least two European languages (French, English, Spanish or German), with special reference to translation and linguistic mediation skills, and ix the possibility of choosing a third language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish or German). The Spanish language department is where this project has been applied, under the supervision of Professor Daniela Capra, during the course of the subject “Linguistics, Translation and Spanish Mediation”, held during the second semester of the third course of the degree. The subjects of the investigation are the students of the degree mentioned. All of them show good knowledge of both Spanish language and its historical context, as social aspects are highly taken into account in the degree. With the contribution of this investigation, it is intended that students attain connection with cultural contents conveyed through real Spanish material, by concentrating on its phraseological aspects. The plurilingual profile that Italian inhabitants naturally have provides a fruitful field of study to search for the strategies used in their awareness process of this specific linguistic aspect in Spanish. x Summary ABSTRACT .......................................................................................... V PREFACE ........................................................................................... IX 1. INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT ..................................................... 1 1.1. The language .............................................................................................. 1 1.1.1. Languages and their varieties .................................................................. 1 1.1.2. Italian situation ........................................................................................ 4 2. RESEARCH QUESTION .................................................................. 37 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................ 47 3.1. Cognitive linguistics ................................................................................. 49 3.1.1. Story of cognitive linguistics .................................................................. 52 3.1.2. Cognitive semantics ............................................................................... 55 3.1.3. Theory of prototypes ............................................................................. 57 3.1.4. Neurodidactics ....................................................................................... 59 3.2. Cognitive linguistics in language learning ................................................. 66 3.2.1. Bilingualism ............................................................................................ 73 3.2.2. Bilingual storage structures ................................................................... 77 3.2.3. Acquisition (learning), context and language organization ..................