Language learning in times of danger: Narratives of confinamiento/confinement in Spanish - English bilingual online conversations during lockdown

Susana S. Fernández*, Marie Christine Appel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

In this paper, we contribute to the study of intercultural pragmatics and, more specifically, the “pragmatics of danger” by exploring how adult participants in an online exchange program with focus on Spanish and English learning talk about the corona virus and the impact the pandemic has in their lives. We focus on the Covid-19 related topics that emerge in their exchanges and we search for keywords and eventual new words and concepts that shed light on people's situation at the time. Our material, consisting of video recordings of participant conversations, is from the month of April 2020, a month into the global lockdown. It therefore provides us with a valuable snapshot of a time characterized by insecurity on how things would evolve and on to what degree the pandemic would disrupt life as we knew it.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPragmatics and Beyond New Series : Values, Emotions and Cultural Beliefs
EditorsC. Levinsen, Z. Ye
Number of pages23
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Publication date2024
Pages135-157
Chapter7
ISBN (Print)9789027214959
ISBN (Electronic)9789027246783
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
SeriesPragmatics and Beyond New Series
Volume346
ISSN0922-842X

Keywords

  • English
  • Spanish
  • cultural pragmatics
  • language learning
  • lockdown
  • natural semantic metalanguage
  • online virtual exchange

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