2023-2024 / LROM0118-1

Stylistics and automatic processing of Spanish texts

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Bachelor in modern languages and literatures : general5 crédits 
 Master in multilingual communication (120 ECTS)5 crédits 

Lecturer

Alvaro Ceballos Viro

Language(s) of instruction

Spanish language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

This course will address text linguistics and generic traditions, as well as the use of new information technologies for the production and analysis of texts - or text corpora - in Spanish. It will be structured around a series of writing and analysis tasks that will be subject to collective evaluation.

The main objective of this course is to train competent writers of expository and argumentative texts in Spanish; writers who are sensitive to the semantic richness of words and the flexibility of syntax; writers who are aware both of the radical heterogeneity of everyday texts and of the fact that the production of a concrete text must meet a series of culturally determined expectations.

Additionally, we will learn to use textual corpora for lexicographical research in Spanish (CREA, CORDE, Corpes XXI) as well as for discourse or stylometric analysis (Voyant, Sketch Engine). We will explore software for automatic transcription of manuscripts (Transkribus) and present, even if only briefly, the main stages of preparing a textual corpus for computer analysis (NLP). We will take a critical look at machine learning algorithms (DeepL, ChatGPT), focusing on their functionalities, as well as the legal, economic, and ecological dilemmas they pose. Finally, in a less practical manner, we will put the notions of "isotopy" and "subject" to the test with topic modeling software (DARIAH TopicsExplorer, MALLET).

By the end of the semester, ideally, students will have mastered the fundamental conventions of formal Spanish rhetoric (connectors, logical links, arrangement, register, structure of various academic genres) and will have discovered a series of digital tools that will enable them, on one hand, to be more effective in producing texts in Spanish and, on the other hand, to quantify stylistic specificities of large textual corpora.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

* Correct grammar errors, discourse register, and logical arrangement (supraoracional) in Spanish texts.

* Demonstrate mastery of metalanguage to rationalize and evaluate discursive productions in Spanish.

* Demonstrate knowledge of the digital tools presented in the course, as well as the linguistic tasks they can help us fulfill.

* Confirm a high level of proficiency (C1 level) in written and oral productions in Spanish.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Level B2+/C1 of spoken and written Spanish. 

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Written exercices, discussions. Hands-on exercices.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face.
This course will be taught in Spanish.

Recommended or required readings

A digital version of work documents and obligatory reading material will be made available to students on the eCampus when required.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Additional information:

Written exam including questions about key notions. Participation will also be taken into consideration for the final mark and will be worth at least half of one mark.

Assessment criteria: key learning outcomes.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

///

Contacts

Álvaro CEBALLOS VIRO Département de Langues et Littératures Romanes Place Cockerill, 3/5 (A2) - 4000 Liège Tel. : 04 366 53 89 E-mail : A.CeballosViro@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online

Online Notes
Notes available on eCampus.