The Definite Article: The Anaphoric Use (II)

In the previous entry we discussed about the anaphoric use of the definite article in a simple and general way. In this entry we´ll go deeper and even analyze special cases.

One of the terms we saw previously was the Anchor´s point that consists in a relation of meronymy. In order to keep going we must take into consideration that in Spanish this relation must be understood in a very wide sense.

There is a lot of diversity in the relations of meronymy of the definite article. The most usual one is "WHOLE - PART" as in Una gran lámpara colgaba del techo pero las bombillas estaban fundidas where una gran lámpara represents the "WHOLE" and las bombillas a "PART" of that whole. Another relation is "ENTITY - CHARACTERISTIC" as in Mi hermano preparó un guiso aunque el olor no lo hacía muy apetecible where un guiso would be "ENTITY" and el olor a "CHARACTERISTIC" of that entity. Another very usual relation is "ACTION - CONSEQUENCE" as in Tras cometer cinco robos con violencia, la posible condena se convertía en algo muy serio as well as "CAUSE - EFFECT" as in Hubo una fuerte explosión. El susto fue total.

Regarding the "WHOLE - PART" relation it is important to underline the term of uniquely. This concept implies that inside of a "WHOLE" there is a "PART" that is unique. For example, in the sentence Una gran lámpara colgaba del techo pero las bombillas estaban fundidas, the noun phrase with definite article las bombillas even though is in plural, represents a unique part of la lámpara because a lamp is usually made of more parts (ornaments, chains, crystals, etc.). Nevertheless, this concept of uniquely may have some exceptions sometimes.

Let´s take a look at these examples:

Juan levantó la mano para responder
A mi abuelo le operaron del riñón ayer
Se torció el brazo haciendo deporte

In these examples we are using the definite article in an anaphoric way establishing a relation of "WHOLE - PART". However, are la mano, el riñón and el brazo unique parts of the body? No they are not. Theoretically, everyone has two hands, two kidneys and two arms but these expressions tend to be formed with the definite article. The reason behind this is that even though there is not uniquely there is still an INALIENABLE relation of these parts with its whole. Meaning they are not separable. This also happens with the eyes, the wings of a bird or even the pedals of a bicycle.

That being said, we must say that in Spanish the type of verb affects hardly so what we said previously can be possible and also the replacement of the definite article for the indefinite one can make the message correct. For example, with the verb doler is preferable to say Me duele una muela rather than Me duele la muela (although in Peru both can sound naturally). Or with the verb fallar in Al coche le falla una bujía instead of Al coche le falla la bujía. Both muela and bujía are inalienable elements but because of the verbs they have, the indefinite article is preferable

The Definite Article: The Anaphoric Use (I)

¿What is an article? According to the book "Nueva Gramática de la Lengua Española de la Real Academia Española", the article belongs to a type of words of grammatical nature which is used to point out the noun´s type of reference. This definition is something we can easily apply to other languages with articles such as English, French, Italian, German, etc. Then again, the article is something that can feel very natural for those native speakers but it is actually a concept with deep complexity. And that we can realize while teaching our language (with articles) to students whose native language lacks of them. Quite often my students (Koreans) get confused between the articles, some even avoid using them, changing completely the meaning of the sentence or even making impossible the communication. Because, in general terms, it is not the same "I bought a cot/crib" than "I bought the cot/crib".

On this entry I will write about about the definite article in a simplified way and about its most common use in the Spanish language: The Anaphoric one. Let´s take a look on the next example:

- A) Ayer mi madre compró un nuevo ordenador. La tarjeta gráfica no es muy buena pero la de sonido es fantástica

In this example we have two definite articles: la tarjeta gráfica and la de sonido. Why? Because both of them refer to a previous element of the discourse: un nuevo ordenador. This is what is called the Anaphoric use of the definite article; to be more specific: of associative relation.

There is also the Anaphoric use of direct relation:

- B) Quiere comprarse un escritorio para guardar sus memorias, una casa para guardar el escritorio y un jardín para guardar la casa.

In this example we can see that we use first the indefinite article with escritorio and casa (first mention indefinite article) and then we repeat those nouns along the definite article. Why? Because the addressee knows already which escritorio and casa are we talking about.

As we can see both the direct and the associative relation of the Anaphoric use refer to an element of the discourse previously mentioned. This is called Punto de Anclaje/Anclado (Anchor´s point) that in "A´s" example would be un nuevo ordenador and in "B´s" example un escritorio and una casa.

These are the basic and general concepts of the Anaphoric use of the definite article in Spanish. In the next entry we will discuss another types of anaphoric uses.

DELE: The holistic scale

Recently, I have finished the course for DELE examiners of the Instituto Cervantes. It is a course everyone must do in order to get the official accreditation to be an examiner in the DELE exams. In my case, I did "B" levels (B1, B2). I have chosen this course because in South Korea (where I am currently working as a Spanish teacher), most of the Spanish students prepare these exams rather than A or C levels. The course has lasted 1 month and it has been done entirely online, through simple but straight activities and tasks and full of interesting information regarding the DELE system as well as the CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Nevertheless, the most interesting part of the course has been the evaluation system it follows using the holistic and analytic scales in the conversational part of the exam. And it is the holistic one I want to talk about:

- The holistic scale is a method to measure the communicative competence of the candidate. That means, it measures the ability, the candidate has, to get on with the communicative situations that are presented in the exam tasks. It has in consideration the capacity of understanding, the linguistic knowledge, the ideas to resolve the tasks, etc. Here you can see the holistic scale of the B2 DELE exam in Spanish:

As you can see, the holistic scale is divided between 0 and 3 points, being 0 the lowest result the candidate can obtain where he/she is barely able to communicate and even needs the help of the examiner to understand and answer the conversational activities; and being 3 the highest result where the candidate is considered to speak outstandingly well for this Spanish level and proves an excellent fluency with little help coming from the examiner.

This scale does not focus on how much Spanish does the student know (at least not entirely) but rather in the ability the candidate has to think in ideas and how he/she communicate those ideas. Now, that is an interesting point for me as a Spanish teacher for Korean students.

Generally speaking, the Korean student tends to follow a very strict discipline to study the grammatical structures and the vocabulary related to DELE but it is in the holistic scale where he/she has more problems

If there is a problem that Korean students present not only when studying Spanish but also any other language is the inability (some, not all) to think and see the reality outside the box. When I practice in class with my students the DELE exams, the most common complaint I hear is that of "Teacher... I cannot think about ideas to do the activities..."  This reality often disables students who, even if they meet the requisites for passing the DELE exam, are unable to generate ideas and solutions for the oral activities and because of this they end up failing the oral part and in many cases the whole exam.

I will not go into full detail of why this happens to Korean students (at least not for now) but I must say that it is in this moment when the teacher more than ever, must stay by the side of the student and guide him/her and make him/her see the reality from another perspective (to think outside the box). A simple activity I do to begin opening their minds is that of thinking of a concept/word, any and from there think of another things that can be related to the first concept/word and explain me why. 

For example: Let´s think about: SCHOOL. ¿What other things are related to this and why? Well, we may think about: CHILDREN (because children study in the school); PARENTS (because children studying in the school usually have parents); TEACHERS (so far we have not been replaced by extreme intelligent robots in the schools); POLITICIANS (their decisions affect highly to the education system thus the school); ECONOMY (if the national economy is not doing so well, usually the schools are affected by cutbacks); TECHNOLOGY (little by little schools are being modernized by it); BULLYING (very present in nowadays school); etc. 

There we have 7 concepts that we can connect with the first one. Through them, the student can develop new ideas and perspectives that allow him/her to be more communicative and can become more talkative in order to solve the activities presented in the oral part of the DELE exam. Because, deep inside, what we all want when we learn a new language is to understand and communicate in that language.