Possessive Determiner Phrases in Spanish: The Intersection of Number and Meaning

Caitlin E. Samples

The University of Georgia

caitlin.samples@uga.edu

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American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Conference

San Juan, Puerto Rico

July 11, 2022

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Introduction

• In both English and Spanish, noun endings can be used to communicate various meanings in sentences expressing possession.
• (1) [_DP Paul and John] pick up [_DPtheir backpacks].
• Each picks up one or more backpacks.
• (2) [_DPPablo y Juan] recogen [_DPsu mochila].
• Each picks up one backpack.

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• The number morphology (singular/plural endings) of the possessor and possessum are important.
• possessor = owner
• possessum = possessed object
• I will limit my discussion to plural possessors today.

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• This morphology is found in determiner phrases (DPs), which are phrases consisting of nouns and their modifiers.

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• Possessum type (body part vs. non-body part) is also key as it influences the sentence types that are possible (Conti 2011:175, citing Haspelmath 1999:113 but c.f. Kliffer 1994, Kockelman 2009, Mendes 2017).

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Presentation outline

• Typical number-meaning mappings in English-Spanish.

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• Task-based language teaching.

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• Five tasks for teaching Spanish number-meaning mappings to L1 English-L2 Spanish speakers.
• The topic receives little focus in L2 Spanish textbooks.

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• Objective: suggest methods for integrating this grammar topic into L2 Spanish courses, i.e., how I would incorporate the topic when teaching it in the future.

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Canonical possessive structures: English

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Rappaport 2017

Canonical possessive structures: Spanish

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Pérez-Leroux, et al. 2002; RAE 2009

Canonical number-meaning mappings: English vs. Spanish

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The learning task for L1 English-L2 Spanish speakers

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Previous literature

• Vergnaud & Zubizarreta (1992): French requires that certain body parts, e.g., noses, stomachs, and throats (examples: V&Z 1992:604) be singular when used with articles, but either plural or singular when used with possessive pronouns. The same does not apply to English.
• Pérez Leroux, et al. (2002) note that body parts are expressed in the singular unless people have multiple exemplars of that part.
• This is an area of potential difficulty for L1 English-L2 Spanish speakers (Pérez Leroux, et al. 2002) .

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• Pérez Leroux, et al. (2002): L1 English-L2 Spanish learners become aware number morphology in possessive sentences as they become more advanced speakers; these results suggest knowledge of the sentences’ meanings.
• BUT we would need to test learners’ interpretations of the sentences to determine to what degree they know their meanings.

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• Connections among number morphology and interpretations of possessive sentences in L2 Spanish should be tested in future research.

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• Differences among grammar and meaning of possessive sentences in English and Spanish suggest a need to include this topic in L2 Spanish courses.

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Task-based language teaching (TBLT)

• “Teaching that is based entirely on tasks. Such teaching makes use of a procedural syllabus” (Ellis 2003:351).
• Procedural syllabus: “consist[s] of a graded set of tasks to be performed by the learners” (Ellis 2003:348).

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• Characteristics of tasks (Ellis 2003:9-10):
• “workplan[s]” with a specific end goal
• students can listen, read, speak, and/or write
• “cognitive processes,” i.e., the types of activities learners do while executing the task
• “real-world communication”

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Advantages of TBLT

• Several advantages of TBLT have been noted (Richards & Rodgers 114:176- 177, citing Leaver & Kaplan 2004:61 and Richards, forthcoming).

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• Course outcomes: better able to correct errors; have “greater curricular flexibility.”

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• Student attitudes: feel less bored, more motivated; enjoy class more.

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• Student communication: learn to convey desired meaning and communicate faster.

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• Student performance: take risks; “learn[] how to learn;” perform better with language.

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Introduction to the concept: consciousness-raising task

• Consciousness-raising tasks “engage[] learners in thinking and communicating about language. Thus, a language point becomes the topic that is talked about” (Ellis 2003:341).

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• This task could be used for introducing the relationship between number morphology and meaning in Spanish possessive sentences.

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Introduction to the concept: consciousness-raising task

1. Teacher prepares a text containing possessive sentences. Refers to 2 possessors and various possessum types and numbers (body part/non-body part, singular/plural). Distributes to students.

Helena y Ramón limpian su cuarto. Recogen sus libros del piso y los ponen en sus mochilas. Siempre les duele la garganta, así que tienen medicamientos en su mesita de noche. Los llevan a su baño. Una vez que lo arreglan todo, pasan la aspiradora.

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• Students work in groups to identify examples of possession.

Su cuarto, sus libros, sus mochilas, la garganta, su mesita de noche, su baño.

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Sutter 2008; Richards & Rodgers 2014; Samples 2016

Introduction to the concept: consciousness-raising task

3. They analyze these examples in terms of possessum number (one or more items per possessor) (Ellis 2003; ACTFL 2021-2022).

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• Class reconvenes and discusses; teacher explains.

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• The task is both focused and interpretive (Ellis 2003).

Focused: “has been designed to induce learners’ incidental attention to some specific linguistic form when processing either input or output” (Ellis 2003:342)

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Interpretive: “induce[s] learners to pay attention to specific grammatical forms while processing spoken or written input for meaning” (Ellis 2003:344, citing Ellis 1995).

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Sutter 2008; Richards & Rodgers 2014; Samples 2016

Academic listening task

• Academic listening tasks “involve[] learners listening to an academic text and then demonstrating their understanding, e.g., by answering questions. An academic listening task often involves note-taking and can be interactive or non-interactive” (Ellis 2003:339).

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1. Teacher prepares a text referencing possession.

Emphasis on non-body part possessums.

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• Students collaborate to complete questions on how many items each possessor owns.

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ACTFL 2021-2022

Listen-and-do task

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• Listen-and-do tasks are those “that require learners to listen to a text, e.g., instructions, and then perform some action, e.g., draw a picture, to demonstrate their understanding” (Ellis 2003:345).

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Listen-and-do task

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1. Teacher describes 2 monsters’ actions.

Los monstruos están rascándose la cabeza, Están arrugándose las narices, etc.

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• Students illustrate these actions as teacher describes. They can rotate the drawings among themselves for an added challenge.

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• They must pay careful attention to possessum number morphology.

Monsters scratch one head each, but wrinkle multiple noses each.

Hulke, Keeton Rodgríguez, & Samples 2017

Jigsaw task

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• For Ellis (2003), jigsaw tasks are types of information gap tasks in which students form groups, and each student provides information that the other(s) are missing in order to carry out the task (344).

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1. Students use listen-and-do drawings to create a new drawing with a partner.

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• Teacher makes 2 lists:

Student A describes monsters’ eyes, hands, legs.

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Student B describes monsters’ mouths, arms, feet.

Blanco & Donley 2016

Jigsaw task

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3. Students create a single drawing and take turns describing and drawing their monsters.

Los monstruos tienen tres ojos cada uno, Cada monstruo tiene un pie, and Los monstruos tienen los pies muy grandes así que usan zapatos muy grandes, etc.

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• They use the drawings in the opinion-gap task.

Blanco & Donley 2016

Opinion-gap task

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Ellis 2003

Opinion-gap task

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1. Teacher prepares instructions. Students must create the perfect monster and use the drawings from the previous tasks.

Ustedes son cientistas y tienen que crear dos monstruos. Utilizando los dibujos que han hecho, dialoguen sobre cómo crear los monstruos ideales. Debatan las ventajas y desventajas de las ideas que tengan. Es decir, para cada parte del cuerpo que decidan incluir, mencionen para qué les servirá a los monstruos.

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• Students debate and explain their decisions referencing possession.

Los monstruos deben tener cuatro manos cada uno para que puedan comer y cepillarse el pelo al mismo tiempo. Así usarán sus cuatros manos para hacer varias cosas a la vez.

Ellis 2003

Concluding thoughts

• The relationship between number morphology and meaning receives little attention in L2 Spanish textbooks.

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• Through employing methods such as the tasks listed previously, instructors can assist their students in learning these structures.

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Next steps

• Collect and analyze data on uses and interpretations of possessive sentences in L1 English-L2 Spanish, heritage Spanish, and L1 Spanish-L2 English for my dissertation project.

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• Compile the data in a website directed at L2 and heritage language teachers and researchers.

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• Provide task-based teaching resources to instructors through the website.
• https://tinyurl.com/posstblt

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Selected references

• ACTFL. 2021-2022. AAPPL test.
• Blanco, José A., & Philip Redwine Donley. 2016. Activities manual for Vistas: Introducción a la lengua española. Boston, MA: Vista Higher Learning.
• Brandl, Klaus. (2008). Communicative Language Teaching in Action: Putting Principles to Work. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Conti, Carmen. (2011). Possessive data revisited: Another view of external possession in Spanish. Studia Linguistica: A Journal of General Linguistics 65(2). 170-197.
• Hulke, Billie, Ginger Keeton Rodríguez, & Katie Samples (2017). “Channeling All Your C’s and Modes through Music and Video.” Chicago, IL: AATSP conference.
• Lemos, Marcela. (2021). “A task-based needs analysis of Portuguese for business at the college level.” Atlanta, GA: AATSP conference.
• Kliffer, Michael D. (1994). Gradience, determiners and null possessors: Revisiting French inalienable syntax. LINGUISTICA atlantica 16. 59-84.
• Kockelman, Paul. (2009). Inalienable possession as a grammatical category and discourse pattern.
• Mendes, Fernanda. (2017). Acquisition of inalienable possessive structures: the case of body part names in American English and Brazilian Portuguese. Revista de Estudos da Linguagem, Belo Horizonte 25(3).1567-1611.
• Pérez-Leroux, Ana T., Erin O’Rourke, Gillian Lord, & Beatriz Centero-Cortes. (2002). Inalienable possession in L2 Spanish. In Ana T. Pérez-Leroux, & Juana Muñoz Liceras (eds.), The Acquisition of Spanish Morphosyntax, 179-208.
• Rappaport, Jennifer. (2017). Singular or plural? Sometimes, it depends. https://style.mla.org/singular-or-plural/.
• Real Academia Española (RAE). (2009).
• Richards, Jack C., & Theodore S. Rodgers. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. 3^rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Samples, Caitlin Elizabeth. (2016). Teaching verbal aspect of Spanish and French past tenses. Unpublished MA thesis. Waco, TX: Baylor University.
• Sutter, Ralph. (2008). “Preterite or imperfect.” https://www.fullbean.com/spanish/.
• Vergnaud, Jean-Roger, & María Luisa Zubizarreta. 1992. The definite determiner and the inalienable constructions in French and in English. Linguistic Inquiry 23(4). 595-652.

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