Adquisición del español por hablantes de italianolos demostrativos en la interlengua

Abstract

This work is situated in the field of foreign language acquisition (FLA) studies. From this perspective, it focuses on the process of acquisition and learning of Spanish demonstrative system by Italian students. The analysis method adopted is an interlanguage analysis of a written and oral corpus collected by the reverse translation (in written and sight translation modalities). The study starts with a description of the deixis and the designation of space through language from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes psycho-linguistic and cognitive observations (Chapter 1). It then focuses on the description of the Spanish and Italian demonstrative systems highlighting the complex network of similarities and differences between both languages (Chapters 2 and 3). The paper goes on to defend the decision to build our corpus from a translated text. We assert that -cognitively speaking- the strategies for creating the interlanguage during language learning time and the mental route followed in the translation activity are processes with some common points (Chapter 4). The remainder of the study is devoted to the description of the corpus, the sample, data collection and analysis method conducted with interlanguage data (Chapters 5, 6 and 7). The conclusions emphasize the impact that is created by the visual and aural similarity between the Italian and Spanish demonstration systems in the process of interlanguage construction during the learning period with the positive and negative effects that this entails. Finally, this work finds an incomplete paradigm acquisition of demonstratives by Italian learners with a good level of linguistic knowledge.