Articles publicats (Anglès i Lingüística)
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- ItemOpen AccessSuccessful ageing and the spectre of the fourth age in the Netflix TV series Grace and Frankie(Elsevier, 2023-03-06) Sako, Katsura; Oró Piqueras, MaricelWith its potential to engage a large audience and mark emerging social tendencies and with the rich narrative space that the seriality can bring, TV series can be a valuable cultural site through which to explore ageing as an experience in time. The Netflix's longest-running TV series Grace and Frankie (2015–2022) exhibits such potential, bringing together ageing and friendship into the popular cultural domain. Set in the contemporary US, the show closely follows two over-70, newly divorced, female protagonists and friends, Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin). Depicting the new opportunities and experiences they gain and drawing on the star persona of Fonda and Tomlin, the show presents an optimistic narrative of ageing into old age. This optimism, however, is more ambivalent about ageing than it appears, as it emerges from the context of the neoliberalization of ageing in the US and other Western societies. Considering friendship, entrepreneurship, the ageing woman's body and sexuality, and care in the show, we demonstrate how the show's optimism is premised on the construction of the neoliberal, successfully ageing subject in the two protagonists and on the othering of the fourth age, “‘black hole’ of ageing,” as a time and space marked by the failing of the body, vulnerability and dependency (Higgs & Gilleard, 2015, 16). While the show's explicit engagement with the bodily ageing in some ways makes it more relevant to older audience, its evocation of the fourth age reflects and reinforces the broader cultural anxiety around it. Ultimately, the show brings in the fourth age only to reiterate the two protagonists' credentials as successful agers.
- ItemOpen AccessEffectiveness and assessment of English production skills through audiovisual translation(Department of Modern Languages, University of Helsinki, 2022-12-15) Couto Cantero, Pilar; Sabaté Carrové, Mariona; Tinedo Rodríguez, Antonio JesúsThis article is framed within a research project based in Spain aimed at studying the use of Audiovisual Translation tools to develop communicative competences for teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language. The aims of the study are to get to know to what extent the oral and written production skills of the participants improve thanks to the implementation of an Audiovisual translation-based course, and to get to know if the overall performance of the post Integrated Skills Test is 150 better than the pre-Integrated Skills Test after the learning process. It is also aimed to prove the validity of those language assessment tests. A mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative analysis) was used to obtain information from the participants. Research data was collected from different universities in Spain with an initial sample of 40 applicants, 8 of which finally completed the course. Data analysis shows that oral and written production skills improve thanks to the implementation of six audio description-based lesson plans completed during a pilot course offered during the summer of 2021 to volunteer adult participants with a B2 level in English language. Furthermore, the study illustrates that the results of the final tests are better than the results of the previous ones after the intervention. We discuss the results obtained in this study and conclude that they are harmonious with former studies on the topic as they validate the use of tests to improve the development of communicative skills. Although, there is a very limited number of participants in the sample, we consider this may be used as an example of a trend that will be explored in the future, as this is a pilot study included in a wider research project which is still underway
- ItemOpen AccessPromoting translanguaging (or not) in the ESP classroom: An analysis of monoglossic and heteroglossic practices and discourses(Elsevier, 2022) Cots Caimons, Josep Maria; Gallego Balsà, Lídia; Llanes, ÀngelsThe idea of translanguaging as a potential resource for language and content learning runs counter to “the monolingual principle” (Cummins, 2009), according to which languages should be taught separately in order to (a) avoid interference from other languages and (b) increase the learners exposure to the target language. This study has two main goals: (i) characterise the classroom practices and discourses of two instructors in line with their respective monoglossic or heteroglossic perspective in the context of a university course module on business English; (ii) provide empirical evidence for the impact of translanguaging practices in the form of language learning outcomes. The analysis is mainly based on observations and audiovisual recordings of classroom sessions and the students’ performance before and after a 16-week teaching intervention.
- ItemOpen AccessSíntesi de les reflexions del cicle sobre el model lingüístic de l’educació obligatòria a Catalunya(Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 2022) Flors-Mas, Avel·lí; Nussbaum, Luci; Sabaté Dalmau, Maria; Solé, Mercè; Trenchs Parera, Mireia
- ItemOpen AccessCare, Dementia, and the Fourth Age in Erica Jong’s Later Work(Oxford University Press, 2021) Stončikaitė, IevaBackground and Objectives: This article addresses the representations of dementia and caregiving in the fourth age as depicted in Erica Jong’s later-life work. It shows how the experience of parental care leads to the discovery of new ways of human interaction and expressions of personhood. Research Design and Methods: Framed within literary–cultural age studies, this article shows how humanities-based inquiry can illuminate important aspects of aging and care of the oldest old, which are significant and revealing, but often hidden under the dark shadow of dementia. Results: Newly discovered ways of communication challenge the notion of the loss of agency as they demonstrate that the body itself has the power of creative and intentional capacities and self-expression. Discussion and Implications: Care-related narratives offer new insights into aging, dementia, and subjectivity that can help pursue a better analysis of the “deep” old age, strengthen collective solidarity, and manage increasing ageism, especially pronounced during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.