Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The hypothesis of the linguistic interdependence (Cummins, 1979) proposes that there are certain features that are transferred from the mother tongue (L1) to the second language (L2). The use of this hypothesis is known as 'transfer' and it has been studied mainly in English comprehension, with a focus on reading strategies. Since research related to language transfer has focused mainly on this area, it is of interest to know how transfer has been investigated in writing in recent years, especially considering the epistemic nature of written production and the importance of writing in English in the globalized world. Under this scenario, the objective of this research is to describe the role of transfer from L1 to L2 in current studies that have addressed writing in English. To this end, a systematic review of current articles published in journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) was carried out. The main results reveal that 73 % of the studies are current and 40 % are interested in the rhetorical organization, mainly from Chinese to English. In relation to the methodology, the approach was predominantly quantitative, with a correlative scope and with a non-experimental design. Even though in 73 % of the studies it was possible to identify a transfer from L1 to L2, some methodological problems were found that are necessary to consider in future research to guarantee the internal and external validity of the results.

Studies, increased in recent years, on nineteenth-century visual culture have been pointing out the impact of printed images on the world of lettered culture and, above all, on the world of reading. In this line, this work intends to analyze the passage from illustrated feuilletons (first, serialized illustrated novels) to the magazine, under the hypothesis that this (the feuilleton) was a visual genre that reached its complexity when technical resources allowed its deployment. Likewise, the hypothesis contains a reading of historical scope: the passage from the feuilleton to the magazine supposes a continuity, but also a clear rupture. In order to give a material framework to the proposal, the approach of a case is proposed, the one that develops from La Patria Argentina (1879) to Caras y Caretas (1898).

This research analyzes the skills of reading words and pseudo-words, reading speed and reading aloud fluency in Chilean children of 3rd (n=41) and 4th (n=40) year of primary education in three public schools from Concepción. We analyzed objective measures of accuracy, speed and word and pseudo-words reading efficiency; subjective measures of reading fluency resulting from the application of a scale to evaluate the reading aloud of an appropriate text to each school level, and the objective measure of reading speed. Significant differences were found in favor of 4th graders in the speed and efficiency of reading words and pseudo-words, and in objective reading speed. In reading fluency, we just found differences in the handling of pauses. Nevertheless, in both groups there were significant correlations between word and pseudo-word reading and fluency. However, while in 3rd grade the efficiency of word reading is the variable that can most explain the performance in fluency, in 4th grade it is objective reading speed. The results also indicate that the efficiency of reading pseudo-words is more decisive in third grade than in fourth grade. It is concluded that a greater development of the automation of word reading favors the development of a greater reading speed and with it a greater fluency, since intrusive hesitations and pauses are reduced.

Through the analysis of La batalla and some characteristics of “Una mujer”, added to some considerations about Walsh's literary career and the Argentine and Latin American political context, this article tries to contradict the narrative—so extended and popularized—of the “gradual” politicization of Walsh, from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. Here it is suggested that, during the 1960s, due to political disappointments and the conditions of the Argentine cultural field, Walsh moved away from the political intention—in a strict sense—of his works, and his writing is “depoliticized” if it is compared with his previous works—as Operation Massacre—or later—as the Open Letter—.

In this paper we study the Classic myths in the poetry book Amor sin fin by Claribel Alegrí­a (2016). It is planned as a cognitive journey in which death is glimpsed, but the long-awaited reunion with her husband Bud is not yet possible. We will show that the mythological characters collect the main themes, death, love and literature, and the identification with various mythical masks allows a dialogue with the literary tradition and the own work, that we identify by analizing the texts. Myths define the space in which the poetic speaker is situated, between the life and the death. Thus, mythology is discovered as an essential key to reading the work.

Las preferencias y opiniones de los estudiantes acerca del tratamiento del error han sido escasamente estudiadas a pesar del impacto que podrían tener en la vinculación de los aprendices con un tratamiento correctivo y, consecuentemente, en el aprendizaje de la lengua meta (Lee, 2008; Han, 2017). Así, este estudio cuantitativo de alcance exploratorio indaga, mediante el uso de un cuestionario, las preferencias y opiniones de 133 estudiantes de Pedagogía en Inglés, con distinto nivel de competencia lingüística de una universidad nacional, respecto de la corrección del error escrito. Los resultados muestran que, independientemente del nivel de competencia, los participantes valoran altamente la corrección del error, especialmente de errores gramaticales; sin embargo, se aprecian diferencias significativas en el grado de importancia asignado a la gramática en la escritura y a la instrucción gramatical, mostrando mayor independencia los estudiantes con un nivel de competencia superior. A pesar de esta autonomía, ambos grupos prefieren estrategias correctivas focalizadas con explicación gramatical y que la corrección la realice el profesor. Estos hallazgos tienen gran significancia para un contexto de instrucción de una lengua, puesto que permiten restringir el uso de estrategias correctivas contraproducentes, potenciando esto la adquisición de la lengua en estudio.

In the light of Labov and Waletzky (1967)’s narrative model, this study illustrates the configuration process of a mythical narrative of Negro Matapacos, a stray, mixed-breed dog used to symbolize the struggle of oppressed and marginalized groups during the unprecedented popular revolt sparked in Chile on October 18, 2019. The study carries out a multimodal analysis of written, visual, and audio-visual data collected from October 2019 and March 2020, through ethnographic work and the monitoring of Facebook and Instagram publications. The results suggest the identification of clear and functional narrative elements in the configuration of a myth, where the meanings attributed to the sculpture are co-constructed, resemiotized, and recontextualized through the social protest, which are strategically supported by the permanent use of social media.

Examinamos la novela Cien botellas en una pared de la escritora cubana Ena Lucía Portela a partir de la presencia de distintas formas de la ruina en el territorio cubano, lo que se vincula con una sociedad arruinada en su materialidad y en sus valores, ideales y utopías. De esta manera, la novela de Portela constituye una poética en torno a las ruinas a través de la coexistencia de una nostalgia reflexivo-crítica, articulada como discurso crítico prospectivo, y la ironía como discurso de disidencia que desacredita el proyecto utópico y permite la sobrevivencia cotidiana.

This paper addresses the linguistic treatment of Covid-19 in the media. We examine multiple examples of the use of specific domains of "figurative" language to represent the pandemic, such as the well-known war metaphors, although we will show that there are many others that entail a negative view of its victims. Additionally, we will focus on those examples that reveal the expanded use of "pandemic language" over other thematic areas (politics, economy), which will lead us to conclude that Covid-19 has represented a significant change in the way the information is transmitted and represented.