Alberto Hijazo-Gascón

The book analyzes the complex relationship between languages in the bilingual mind with a focus on motion event typology and the acquisition of Spanish as a second language (L2). The author starts out by examining L1 patterns which are transferred to less complex L2 systems. The data discussed was elicited by German learners of Spanish. A similar transfer is observed when L1 is typologically and genetically close, as in the case of French and Italian learners of Spanish. Furthermore, the author clarifies the relevance of intra-typological differences within the same linguistic family, including important differences in the lexicalization patterns of Italian with respect to French and Spanish. The findings contribute to our understanding of the field of motion event typology and thinking-for-speaking. The book demonstrates that conceptual transfer is present in different aspects of the motion lexicalization domain. Interestingly, there are some challenging aspects both for speakers whose first language is typologically different and for those whose language is typologically close. The book offers suggestions on how these challenges in the restructuring of meaning in L2 can be addressed in language teaching. Specifically, pedagogical translation and mediation present promising pathways to the strengthening of semantic competences in the L2.

Motion Events in Spanish as a Second Language

Moving Across Languages

Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano

Talmy’s lexicalization patterns and Slobin’s “Thinking for Speaking” hypothesis have attracted a lot of attention in fields such as linguistics, psychology, and anthropology, among others. While researchers might not agree on how, or to what extent, lexicalization patterns influence speakers’ online/offline verbalization of motion, it is an undeniable fact that these theories have been, and still are, a “trending topic” in these research areas, evidenced by the contributions to this book. All papers brought together here use Talmy’s and Slobin’s ideas as a point of departure to explore how second language learners acquire these motion patterns, to explain what translators render in their target languages, and to refine some basic notions such as Path, Deixis, or fictive motion, and use them as a springboard to find new applications and understand other linguistic phenomena. All in all, this book provides insights into new ways of applying motion and widening theoretical perspectives, allowing these models to maintain their relevance and importance.

Alberto Hijazo-Gascón

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