http://hdl.handle.net/10498/19550 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 17:00:46 GMT 2026-11-06T17:00:46Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40467 A pragmalinguistic approach to the expressive speech act of thanking in service encounters between waiters and customers Peña Pérez, David Con este trabajo tratamos de comprobar la vigencia de una premisa extendida en otras contribuciones que abordan la pragmática del acto de habla expresivo agradecer en español. En muchos estudios se acepta esta premisa, según la cual, en la cultura hispánica y más concretamente en España, los hablantes de español no expresan agradecimiento en los encuentros de servicio cuando se benefician de la acción de un trabajador. El principal argumento que sostiene esta idea se basa en el hecho de que el trabajador beneficia al cliente al realizar una acción que forma parte de sus obligaciones laborales. Así, el principal objetivo es describir la dinámica de comportamiento lingüístico con respecto al agradecimiento en encuentros de servicio. Para circunscribir nuestro ámbito de estudio, abordamos los encuentros de servicio en el sector de la hostelería, en concreto las interacciones entre camareros y clientes. Además de comprobar la validez actual de esta hipótesis, discutimos si la realización del acto de habla expresivo de agradecimiento en este tipo de situación comunicativa se considera una necesidad de cortesía social o no. La recogida de datos se ha realizado a través de un cuestionario que combina preguntas de actitudes lingüísticas con una sección de tipo Discourse Completion Test (DCT). Este cuestionario incluye preguntas para clientes y preguntas para camareros, lo que permite una aproximación holística a la cuestión que tratamos. El análisis de los resultados refuta la hipótesis señalada, pues, en las diez situaciones comunicativas que componen la sección DCT, aquella que presenta la mayor frecuencia de ausencia de agradecimiento en las respuestas apenas supera el 10%. En las otras nueve situaciones más del 90% de los informantes expresan su agradecimiento al camarero tras ofrecer este algún tipo de servicio. En dicho análisis se detallan cuáles son las estructuras lingüísticas utilizadas con mayor frecuencia por los clientes para transmitir el agradecimiento. Además, describimos ciertos rasgos sociológicos que permitirían esbozar una división entre el perfil de hablante del cliente más agradecido y el del cliente menos agradecido, centrándonos en la edad y en el género de estos. Combinando la percepción de los informantes que responden en calidad de clientes con la de los que lo hacen en calidad de camareros, los datos señalan que los clientes menores de treinta y un años y, entre ellos, las mujeres, constituyen el perfil de hablante que más frecuentemente agradece el servicio de los camareros y camareras.; In this paper we try to check the validity of a premise that is widespread in other contributions that deal with the pragmatics of the expressive speech act of thanking in Spanish. In many studies this premise is accepted, according to which, in Hispanic culture and more specifically in Spain, Spanish speakers do not express gratitude in service encounters when they benefit from the action of a worker. The main argument supporting this idea is based on the fact that the worker benefits the customer by performing an action that is part of his or her job duties. Thus, the main objective is to describe the dynamics of linguistic behaviour with respect to appreciation in service encounters. To circumscribe our scope of study, we address service encounters in the hospitality industry, specifically interactions between waiters and customers. In addition to testing the current validity of this hypothesis, we discuss whether the performance of the expressive speech act of thanking in this type of communicative situation is considered a necessity of social politeness or not. Data collection has been carried out by means of a questionnaire combining language attitude questions with a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) section. This questionnaire includes questions for customers and questions for waiters, which allows for a holistic approach to the issue at hand. The analysis of the results refutes the aforementioned hypothesis, since, in the ten communicative situations that make up the DCT section, the one with the highest frequency of absence of thanks in the responses barely exceeds 10%. In the other nine situations, more than 90% of the informants express their gratitude to the waiter after offering some kind of service. In this analysis, the linguistic structures most frequently used by customers to convey their thanks are detailed. In addition, we describe certain sociological features that would allow us to outline a division between the speaker profile of the most grateful customer and the least grateful customer, focusing on their age and gender. Combining the perception of informants who respond as customers with that of those who respond as waiters and waitresses, the data show that customers under the age of thirty-one and, among them, women, constitute the speaker profile that most frequently thanks waiters and waitresses for their service. Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40467 2026-05-28T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40090 Making Business English Teaching International through the Use of Social Networks: A Case Study in a CLIL Context Contero Urgal, Candela English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers might be expected to use realia in their lessons as it is thought to be designed to meet the students’ real needs in their professional life. Teachers are then expected to offer authentic materials and set students in authentic contexts where their learning outcomes can be highly meaningful. The present paper is aimed at studying different digital tools that can be employed in the Business English (BE) lesson as a way to offer a collection of formats businesses are currently using so as to internationalise and advertise their products and services. A secondary objective of our study will then be to progress on the development of multidisciplinary competencies students are expected to acquire during their degree. Findings will confirm students’ interest in working with updated realia in their BE lessons, as a consequence of their strong belief in the necessity to work with updated didactic resources. Despite the limitations social media can have as a means to teach BE, students will still find it highly beneficial since it will foster their familiarisation with the digital tools they will need to use when they get to the labour market. Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40090 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40088 Focusing on Competence as a Strategy to Teach ESP in Content and Language Integrated Learning Contexts Contero Urgal, Candela The increasing spread of bilingual programs in Spanish Universities has had to face multiple worries and uncertainties over the success of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and English-medium instruction (EMI) plans (Pavón, 2018). One of these concerns addresses the question of whether content or language should prevail in CLIL teaching. Content teachers worry about giving more importance to language than to the content they need to teach, fearing they will not be able to cope with all the compulsory content during their lectures (Doiz, Lasagabaster & Pavón, 2020). CLIL developers have had to fight against the pessimistic opinions towards CLIL and its implementation in Higher Education (Cañado, 2020). The present paper aims to meet the need to move towards competence development in CLIL teaching. Approaching language and content teaching through a competence-focused perspective will help us tackle interdisciplinary as well as sustainable development goals through CLIL. A survey conducted on students of Business English courses within CLIL and Non-CLIL contexts will help us envisage the usefulness of adding non-linguistic skill development to English for Specific Purposes of teaching as a way to bridge the gap between language and content. Mon, 31 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40088 2022-10-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40087 Enhancing the implementation of bilingual education at university through practice: Analysis of CLIL trial lessons by an ESP teacher Contero Urgal, Candela University teacher training specialised in bilingual education is spreading around Spanish universities. Particularly in Andalusia, where our research originates, universities are searching for systematised methods to train their future bilingual teachers in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This paper presents the case of the University of Cadiz, where this study was carried out. This university followed a new training formula led by an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) teacher who performed the role of CLIL teacher trainer. Based on AUTHOR’s (2017) description of the aforesaid CLIL teacher training scheme known as “CLILUT courses” (that is to say, CLIL Training or University Teachers), this study focuses on an in-depth analysis of CLIL trial lesson plans elaborated within such a peer-teacher environment. The present study is then aimed at examining the data obtained through in-class direct observation of 68 CLIL trial lessons which were created from 2010 to 2014 at the University of Cádiz and analysed with the help of rubrics created upon Nunan’s theory (1989). Results show that ESP teachers can offer substantial help for new CLIL university teachers who might face specific foreign language-related problems when starting to take part in bilingual programmes. Thu, 30 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40087 2020-04-30T00:00:00Z