Creativity and structure in Spanish

Teacher(s)

De Cock Barbara;

Language

Spanish

Main themes

This learning unit will cover a selection of linguistic mechanisms for structuring written and spoken productions, as well as for expressing oneself creatively by producing pragmatic and rhetorical effects. To this end, the interaction between grammar, lexicon and discourse will be considered, as well as the modulation of these mechanisms according to the type of spoken or written production. 
These mechanisms will be approached from the perspective of comprehension, linguistic analysis and production. In order to achieve these goals, creative writing exercises will be central to the course. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Recognise B1 level linguistic mechanisms that enable expressing oneself creatively in Spanish.
2	Recognise B1 level linguistic mechanisms used to structure spoken and written discourse in Spanish.
3	Analyse how these mechanisms work linguistically, using appropriate terminology.
4	Use these mechanisms in spoken and written productions at A2+/B1 level in different genres.
5	Produce creative spoken and written works in Spanish.
This learning unit contributes to the development and command of the following skills and learning outcomes of the ELAL programmes: 1.4, 2.6, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6

Content

This learning unit will cover phenomena such as discourse markers and anaphoric and cataphoric strategies for structuring interventions, as well as mechanisms for a creative use of language, such as metaphors, figurative uses of diminutives and augmentatives, connotative uses of demonstratives, etc.  
It will also include a reflection on how creative uses can influence the linguistic norm in the medium or long term, for example with the development of feminisation strategies. 

Teaching methods

This learning unit will be based on the analysis of concrete examples of different types of creative production (songs, advertising, messages published on social networks, etc.) in order to identify and analyse the mechanisms that contribute to structure and creativity in Spanish. A contrastive approach with French will be adopted. This learning unit will therefore include an introduction to the main concepts and terms used in linguistics to analyse these types of phenomena. Through short exercises in creative spoken and written production, students will put these mechanisms into practice. 

Evaluation methods

50% written exam to identify and analyse linguistic mechanisms 
50%: creative production by the student, out of which 20% for an individual written production and 30% for a multimodal group production.
The modalities in the August session will be as follows:
50% written exam to identify and analyse linguistic mechanisms 
50%: individual multimodal production
For both sessions, not submitting one of the parts of the evaluation necessarily implies a 0 score for this course.
If the student uses generative artificial intelligence tools, this has to be done in a responsible way and in compliance with good practice standards of academic and scientific integrity. Since the scientific integrity implies that one cites one's sources, the use of AI always has to be mentioned. The use of AI for tasks where this has been explicitly forbidden will be considered a case of fraud.

Online resources

Moodle page of this learning unit

Faculty or entity

> ELAL