Pedro Gras

Research Pedro Gras

Research team

Expertise

1. Linguistics Analysis Analysis and description of grammatical phenomena, especially in the grammar/discourse interface (discourse markers, reference markers, conversation structure). 2. Foreign language teaching Syllabi and curriculum design of Spanish as a foreign language courses. Creation of Spanish as a foreign language learning materials, both textbooks and audiovisual materials (Difusión, SGEL). Creation of reference grammars for specific language users (Difusión). 3. Academic and Professional discourse Syllabi design of Academic and Professional Spanish courses (legal, tecnological, business). Creation of Academic and Professional Spanish learning materials (Ariel, Edicions UOC). Diagnose of discourse pathologies for specific professional groups (legal, tecnological). 4. Critical Discourse Analysis Linguistic analysis of socially relevant phenomena, with special interest in sex and gender.

Research and training program Historical Sociolinguistics 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2026

Abstract

English version: The aim of this FWO Scientific Research Network application is threefold: (1) to consolidate the Historical Sociolinguistics Network (HiSoN) and firmly secure the position of Flemish expertise in the research network internationally; (2) to initiate a range of new activities as part of a broader Historical Sociolinguistics Research and Training Program, with a distinct focus on postgraduate training and joint research initiatives; (3) to expand the existing network interdisciplinarily and attract young and established scholars from neighboring disciplines. The research unit Grammar and Pragmatics (GaP, https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/grammar-and-pragmatics/) will contribute with its unique expertise on the interaction of sociolinguistic and cognitive factors in language use, variation and change. To this purpose GaP makes use of state-of-the-art methods from computational and corpus linguistics and linguistic ethnography, including data-driven identification of social networks and communities of practice.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project website

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

What can language variation tell us about insubordination? A comparative analysis of independent complement clauses in geographical and stylistic varieties of Spanish. 01/10/2016 - 30/09/2020

Abstract

This project analyzes the dialectal variation of insubordination, the phenomenon whereby a formally subordinate or dependent clause is conventionally used as a main or independent clause (Evans 2007). The empirical focus is on the functional load of que-insubordinate clauses, which are the most frequent insubordinate constructions in Spanish. Que-initial sentences can display several functions in interaction: third-person imperatives, wishes, negative evaluation, echo, disagreement, topic change, etc. Considering their high polyfunctionality, this project addresses two interrelated questions. The first research question (RQ1) concerns the historical dimension of insubordination: how is the diachronic development of insubordinate constructions to be modelled precisely? To answer this question this project builds on the assumption that synchronic variation reflects diachronic evolution (Hopper & Traugott 2003: 1). The second research question (RQ2) deals with the functional load of insubordination: if insubordinate constructions express more than one meaning, on what basis then should it be decided whether we are dealing with one (polysemous) construction or with more than one construction, each expressing a different meaning (homonymy)? In order to properly respond to these questions, the project is based is based on a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis adopting an interactional constructional approach to language. The analysis will be performed on different corpora that include spoken spontaneous conversations of the main dialectal areas of European and American Spanish. The objective of this project is twofold. From a descriptive point of view, the project attempts to map the situated meanings of independent complement constructions and describe their distribution across selected varieties of Spanish. At a theoretical level and along the lines of the overall Construction-Grammatical approach adopted here, the project aims to model the situated meanings extracted from the corpora in the form of constructional networks, which acknowledge both generalizations and low-level patterns, as well as potential dialectal specificities. This should allow us to extend the framework of Construction Grammar, so that it can accommodate variational data. Moreover, since the networks resulting from the analysis represent synchronic variation of complement insubordination in Spanish, they can shed light on the current debate regarding the diachronic evolution of insubordination. Finally, the project investigates what types of contextual information are required to fully explain the use of these constructions in interaction (conditions on precedent and subsequent discourse, discourse-structural information, information structure, amongst other) and how this information should be formally represented.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project