A Comparison of the Effects of Mindful Conceptual Engagement for the Teaching of the Subjunctive to Heritage- and Second-Language Learners of Spanish

Abstract

This article investigates the effects that Mindful Conceptual Engagement (MCE) had on the teaching of the Spanish subjunctive on second (L2) and heritage language learners (HL) of Spanish. A total of 26 university-level undergraduate students participated in the study; 12 were advanced L2 students and 14 were intermediate HL students. The methodology used was MCE, which is based on the principles of Concept-Based Instruction (Negueruela 2003; Negueruela and Lantolf 2006). MCE has its origins in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and it proposes that the creation and manipulation of didactic models by students promotes the internalization of complex grammatical concepts that would otherwise require long grammatical explanations. Models need to be generalizable and informative and can include, for example, flowcharts, pictures, or schemas among others. In the present study, the concept of [±EXPERIENCE] (Bull 1965) was used to teach the variable uses of indicative and subjunctive in adjectival relative clauses (Busco unas tijeras que cortan/corten). Students had to create their own models and use them to complete a series of assignments in class and at home. Production and interpretation exercises were used in pre- and post-test questionnaires to gauge their improvement. Feedback questionnaires were administered three weeks after the intervention to measure the attitudes and perceptions towards the use of didactic models. Results indicate that both groups improved their indicative/subjunctive interpretation and production abilities after MCE. However, statistically significant differences exist between HL and L2 students according to type of task and student group. Feedback questionnaire results also show that MCE was regarded as positive and useful by both groups.

Exploring Boundedness for Concept‐Based Instruction of Aspect: Evidence From Learning the Spanish Preterite and Imperfect

“…Researchers working in CBI do not typically assess perceived comprehension in a formal way (though see Fernández Parera, 2021, for an exception), but knowing more about how learners react to the instruction itself could help to address one of the criticisms made of such instruction: that it is not accessible enough to be incorporated into mainstream classrooms. Given the novelty of this question, no hypothesis was formulated.…”

Thinking-for-speaking patterns in the L2 classroom: A mindful conceptual engagement approach to teaching motion events

“…An MCE has already been used for the teaching of aspect (Negueruela-Azarola, 2003;Negueruela and Lantolf, 2006;García, 2018), modality (Negueruela-Azarola, 2008;Fernández-Parera, 2018), or the contrast ser/estar (Negueruela and Fernández-Parera, 2016). There is a need to design and develop more pedagogical interventions on meaningful aspects of language use -not necessarily grammatical.…”

“…Figure 1 above depicts how Spanish and English contrast in their deployment of different grammatical resources when constructing a motion event. This particular model does not focus on the conceptual meaning of a motion event (see Negueruela-Azarola, 2003or Fernández-Parera, 2018 for other types of diagrams).…”

Consciencia metafórica y narración digital (digital storytelling) en español / L2

“…Tal como señala Bruner (1996): "los científicos usan todo tipo de ayudas, intuiciones, historias o metáforas para ayudarse en la búsqueda de un modelo especulativo que se ajuste a la naturaleza". Otra área en que se aprovecha el poder de mediación conceptual de la metáfora es la enseñanza basada en conceptos en estudios aplicados al español/L2/LE (Fernández Parera, 2018;Negueruela-Azarola & Parera, 2016). Encaminados al objetivo de enseñar conceptos científicos (como el aspecto o el modo verbal), exploran la creación de modelos metafóricos para orientar el pensamiento de los aprendientes (ver el apartado 2.6.2).…”

“…Este tipo de enseñanza ha mostrado un uso creciente en el ámbito de la L2 desde la aparición de la tesis doctoral de Negueruela en 2003 (Vílchez, 2021). Se han llevado a cabo investigaciones de EBC/CBI aplicadas a conceptos gramaticales del español como: el aspecto (Negueruela, 2003;García, 2012;Yáñez-Prieto, 2008), el modo (Negueruela Azarola & Fernández Parera, 2016;Fernández-Parera, 2018), los elementos de la conversación oral (Vílchez, 2021) o los verbos de movimiento (Mora & Negueruela-Azarola, 2015). En su artículo sobre el diseño e implementación de SCOBAs para la formación sociocultural de profesores de L2, Esteve et al…”