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Spanish Discourse and Variation

Code: 43015
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Spanish Language, Hispanic Literature and Spanish as a Foreign Language OP 0

Contact lecturer

Name :
Yolanda Rodríguez Sellés
Email :
yolanda.rodriguez@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Emma Gallardo Richards

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

By obtaining a degree, students will be able to express themselves orally and in writing. For this reason, any spelling and expression errors that may be committed by the students will lead to a score decrease in the final grade.

Activities, practical sessions and papers submitted in the course must be original and under no circumstances will the total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published on any medium be admitted. Any submission of non-original material without properly indicating its origin will automatically result in a failure rating (0).

It is also expected that students know the general rules of submission of an academic work. However, students could apply the specific rules that the teacher of the subject may indicate to them, if they deem it necessary.

Objectives

The main objective of the course is to provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamental aspects that constitute the study of discourse analysis, incorporating theoretical and methodological contributions from various disciplines.

The course will focus on identifying and analyzing the crucial linguistic and extralinguistic factors for the construction and interpretation of discourse. Additionally, it will delve into the study of specific phenomena that demonstrate the interaction between grammar and discourse, as well as their practical application in the field of linguistics.

Learning outcomes

  1. Indagar les diferents perspectives des de les quals s'han explicat els fenòmens lingüístics objecte d'estudi.
  2. Introduir una nova idea en un esquema preestablert i ser capaç de modificar adequadament la tesi defensada en funció de les noves aportacions.
  3. Incorporar a l'estudi noves idees procedents d'altres disciplines que puguin complementar una determinada visió del problema lingüístic estudiat.
  4. Argumentar la pertinència dels judicis propis i dels aliens en relació amb el tema objecte d'estudi.
  5. Formular un pla d'acció per ampliar la informació que es té sobre un tema específic situat en l'àmbit del mòdul.
  6. Planificar les etapes de desenvolupament del pla d'acció.
  7. Avaluar el grau d'adequació pragmàtica d'un discurs a partir de les estructures lingüístiques utilitzades.
  8. Avaluar el grau de cohesió i coherència discursiva d'un text escrit en funció del seu context de producció i interpretació.
  9. Avaluar el grau de cohesió i coherència discursiva d'un text oral en funció del seu context de producció i interpretació.
  10. Identificar les diferents variants discursives que es produeixen en l'àmbit hispanoparlant.
  11. Aplicar a discursos orals les tècniques pròpies del comentari lingüístic de textos.
  12. Aplicar a discursos escrits les tècniques pròpies del comentari lingüístic de textos.
  13. Interpretar de manera crítica la bibliografia i la informació recollides relacionades amb l'àmbit d'estudi del mòdul.
  14. Comparar diferents models explicatius dels problemes lingüístics objecte d'estudi en el mòdul.
  15. Argumentar la pertinència o la no pertinència dels diferents estudis que han abordat els problemes lingüístics analitzats en el mòdul.
  16. Formular un pla d'acció orientat a completar la informació sobre els aspectes lingüístics analitzats en el mòdul i planificar les seves etapes de desenvolupament.
  17. Establir les pautes que permetin a un lector estranger inserir els textos literaris escrits en espanyol en el seu context històric i cultural.
  18. Seleccionar la bibliografia adequada per a interpretar els problemes lingüístics de l'adquisició de l'espanyol com a llengua estrangera.
  19. Elaborar un esquema que permeti explicar alguns dels problemes literaris abordats en el mòdul.
  20. Defensar la pertinència dels propis judicis en relació amb el tema objecte d'estudi.
  21. Interpretar críticament la bibliografia reunida sobre els àmbits d'estudi del mòdul.
  22. Argumentar la pertinència dels propis judicis i la no pertinència dels aliens en relació amb el tema d'estudi.

Contents

  1. Variation, Discourse, and Discursive Variation.
  2. Discourse and Anaphoric Relations: Temporal Anaphora in Spanish.
  3. Discourse and Appropriateness: Mechanisms of Textual Objectification in Spanish.
  4. Forensic linguistics.The work of the forensic linguist and areas of practice. The notion of idiolect. Authorship attribution and development of linguistic profiles.
  5. The language of advertising. Linguistic analysis of advertising. Linguistic variation and advertising. Historical press and advertising.




Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Mandatory readings 7.5 0.3 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22
Theoretical classes 30 1.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22
Practices in the classroom 15.7 0.628 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22
Activities 7.5 0.3 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22
Preparation of activities 76 3.04 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22
Debates and discussion 6.8 0.272 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22

The student must carry out a continuous monitoring of the subject.

In order to achieve the stated objectives, theoretical explanations will be combined by the teacher with the completion of exercises and with the discussion of certain aspects related to the contents, which entails the active participation of the students. The learning of this subject by the students is distributed as follows:

  • 40% of directed activities (52.5 hours)

- These activities are distributed in theoretical classes (57%), practices (30%) and debates and discussion (13%)

  • 10% of supervised activities (15 hours)
  • 50% of autonomous activities (76 hours)
Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Practical exercise 20% 1.25 0.05 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22
Theoretical-practical activity 30% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Linguistic analysis of a text 50% 3.25 0.13 1, 4, 7, 8, 10, 20, 22

The teacher will assess this subject based on the completion of three activities:


  • Activity 1: Linguistic analysis of a text.
  • Activity 2: Theoretical-practical activity.
  • Activity 3: Practical exercise.


The assessment of the subject will therefore be based on the completion of three activities in which the following aspects will be assessed:

- The assimilation of theoretical contents;

- the practical application of the contents; and

- the adaptation to the requirements of the activity in question.

In order to pass the course, all the activities must be completed. The minimum mark required to pass each of the tests and to be considered in the average must be equal to or higher than 5 points. The final mark is obtained from the sum of the marks for the two activities with their respective percentages.

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than half of the assessment items.


Single assessment

Students who opt for the single assessment, following the procedure established by the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, must complete the following three assessment activities on the scheduled date:


  • Activity 1: Linguistic analysis of a text.
  • Activity 2: Theoretical-practical activity.
  • Activity 3: Practical exercise.


The conditions for passing the subject are the same as those defined for the continuous assessment. The same retake system will be applied as for the continuous assessment.


Plagiarism

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.


Use of AI technologies

This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.

Bibliography

  • Bosque, Ignacio & Demonte, Violeta (Coords.). (1999). Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española, vol. 3 “Entre la oración y el discurso”. Madrid: Espasa Calpe.
  • Briz Gómez, Antonio (1998). El español coloquial en la conversación. Esbozo de pragmagramática. Barcelona: Ariel.
  • Calsamiglia, Helena, & Tusón Valls, Amparo (2002). Las cosas del decir. Manual de análisis del discurso. Barcelona: Ariel.
  • Coulthard, Malcolm (2004): “Author identification, idiolect, and linguistic uniqueness”, Applied Linguistics, 25, núm. 4, 431-447.
  • Cutting, Joan, & Fordyce, Kenneth (2020). Pragmatics: a resource book for students. Routledge.
  • Escandell Vidal, M.ª Victoria (2014). La comunicación. Lengua, cognición y sociedad. Madrid: Akal.
  • Escandell Vidal, M.ª Victoria, Amenós Pons, José & Ahern, Aoife Kathleen (Eds.). (2020). Pragmática. Madrid: Akal.
  • García, Carmen & Placencia, Mª Elena. (Dirs.). (2011). Estudios de variación pragmática en español. Buenos Aires: Dunken.
  • Garayzábal, Elena; Queralt, Sheila & Reigosa, Mercedes (2019): Fundamentos de la lingüística forense. Madrid: Síntesis.
  • Gómez Torrego, Leonardo & Robles, Sara (2014): Transgresiones idiomáticas en el lenguaje de la publicidad. Madrid: Cátedra.
  • Placencia, Mª Elena (2016). Variación pragmática. En J. Gutiérrez-Rexach (Ed.), Enciclopedia de Lingüística Hispánica (pp. 797-808). Londres: Routledge.
  • Queralt, Sheila (2014): “Acerca de la prueba lingüística en atribución de autoría hoy”, Revista de Llengua i Dret, 62, 35-48.
  • Queralt, Sheila (2020): Atrapados por la lengua. 50 casos resueltos por la lingüística forense. Barcelona: Larousse.
  • Queralt, Sheila (2025): Decálogo para solicitar una pericial lingüística. Madrid: Pie de Página.
  • Queralt, Sheila & Giménez, Roser (2018): “La imitación como contraargumento en peritajes de atribución de autoría: estudio de un caso”, Estudios de Lingüística Aplicada, 68, 131-164.
  • Queralt, Sheila & Giménez, Roser (2025): Soy lingüista, lingüista forense. Guía para ser lingüista forense profesional. Segunda edición. Madrid: Pie de Página.
  • Real Academia Española & Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. (2009-2011). Nueva gramática de la lengua española. Madrid: Espasa (3 vols.).
  • Robles, Sara (2022): “Avisos y anuncios en la prensa malagueña de la primera mitad del S. XIX: Delimitación conceptual y caracterización lingüístico-discursiva”, en Inés Carrasco (coord.), El español del siglo XIX en textos impresos y manuscritos. Granada: Comares, 171-196.
  • Robles, Sara & Romero, M.ª Victoria (coords.) (2010): Publicidad y lengua española: un estudio por sectores. Zamora-Sevilla: Comunicación Social.
  • Romero, M.ª Victoria (2005): Lenguaje publicitario. La seducción permanente. Barcelona: Ariel.


Software


Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed