Cover not available
Part of
Corpus Use in Cross-linguistic Research: Paving the way for teaching, translation and professional communication
Edited by Marlén Izquierdo and Zuriñe Sanz-Villar
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 113] 2023
► pp. 108–123

Chapter 6
run away!

Exploring the iceberg of core vocabulary with English-Spanish parallel corpora

| University of León

Drawing on a previous translation-based study on the manner and path of motion in English and Spanish (Labrador 2018), this paper examines a tier-1 word (Beck et al. 2002), the verb run, with the aim of illustrating how parallel corpora can assist in revealing the iceberg underneath the tip of core vocabulary, i.e., in providing the co-text, uses and translations of basic words. The parallel corpus P-ACTRES has been used to analyze all the occurrences of run, comparing fiction and non-fiction, identifying the most frequent collocates, and contrasting its use followed by a satellite with the corresponding translations. The results show a more frequent use of this combination in fiction and crosslinguistic differences in terms of patterns and collocates in the expression of motion.

Keywords: parallel corpus, English-Spanish, core vocabulary, motion
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Tier-based approach
  • 3.The expression of path and manner of motion
  • 4.Analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Intralinguistic stage
    • 5.2Interlinguistic stage
  • 6.Discussion and pedagogical implications
  • 7.Conclusions
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.113.06lab
References
Beck, Isabel, McKeown, Margaret, & Kucan, Linda
2002 Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New York NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Berman, Ruth A. & Slobin, Dan Isaac
1994 Relating Events in Narrative: A Crosslinguistic Developmental Study. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Boulton, Alex
2010 Data-driven learning: Taking the computer out of the equation. Language Learning 60(3): 534–572. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Choi, Soonja & Bowerman, Melissa
1991 Learning to express motion events in English and Korean: The influence of language-specific lexicalization patterns. Cognition 41: 83–121. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Chung, Stephanie F.
2012 Research-based vocabulary instruction for English language learners. The Reading Matrix 12(2): 105–120.Google Scholar
Cifuentes-Férez, Paula
2013 El tratamiento de los verbos de manera de movimiento y de los caminos en la traducción Inglés-Español de textos narrativos. Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies 47: 53–80. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gavioli, Laura
2000 The learner as researcher: Introducing corpus concordancing in the classroom. In Learning with Corpora, Guy Aston (ed.), 108–137. Houston TX: Athelstan.Google Scholar
Hijazo-Gascon, Alberto
2010 La adquisición de eventos de movimiento en segundas lenguas. Interlingüística 20. UEA repository.Google Scholar
Hochestein, Jill, Eisenberg, Ann & Naigles, Letitia
2006 Is he floating across or crossing afloat? Cross-influence of L1 and L2 in Spanish-English bilingual adults. Language and Cognition 9(3): 249–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, Iraide
2003 What translation tells us about motion: A contrastive study of typologically different languages. IJES: International Journal of English Studies 3(2): 151–175.Google Scholar
Izquierdo, Marlén, Hofland, Knut & Reigem, Øystein
2008 The ACTRES Parallel Corpus: An English-Spanish translation corpus. Corpora 3(1): 31–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johns, Tim
1991 Should you be persuaded: Two examples of data-driven learning. Classroom Concordancing. English Language Research Journal 4: 1–16.Google Scholar
Labrador, Belén
2018 Crossed transposition in a corpus-based study of motion in English and Spanish. Languages in Contrast 18(2): 207–229. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marzano, Robert
2012 A comprehensive approach to vocabulary instruction. Voices from the Middle 20(1): 31–35.Google Scholar
Molina, Lucía & Hurtado Albir, Amparo
2002 Translation techniques revisited: A dynamic and functionalistic approach. Meta 47(4): 498–512. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nation, Ian
1990 Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York NY: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Newmark, Peter
1981 Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Nicoladis, Elena & Brisard, Frank
2002 Encoding motion in gestures and speech: Are there differences in bilingual children’s French and English? In Space in Language: Location, Motion, Path and Manner. Proceedings of the 31st Stanford Child Research Forum, Eve V. Clark (ed.), 60–68. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Oxford Dictionaries
2011 The OEC: Facts about the language 26 Dec 2011 <[URL]/[URL]> (15 April 2021).
Pym, Anthony
2018 A typology of translation solutions. The Journal of Specialised Translation 30: 41–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sanjurjo-González, Hugo & Izquierdo, Marlén
2019 PACTRES 2.0. A parallel corpus for cross-linguistic research. In Parallel Corpora for Contrastive and Translation Studies [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 90], Irene Doval & M. Teresa Sánchez Nieto (eds), 215–232. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, Norbert
2000 Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Schmitt, Norbert & Carter, Ronald
2000 The lexical advantages of narrow reading for second language learners, TESOL Journal 9(1): 4–9.Google Scholar
Slobin, Dan Isaac
1996 Two ways to travel: Verbs of motion in English and Spanish. In Grammatical Constructions: Their Form and Meaning, Masayoshi Shibatani & Sandra Thompson (eds), 195–220. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Stringer, David
2007 Motion events in L2 acquisition: A lexicalist account. In BUCLD 31: Proceedings of the 31st annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, Vol. II, Heather Cauntnulton, Samantha Kulatilake & I-hao Woo (eds), 585–96. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Talmy, Leonard
1985 Lexicalization patterns: Semantic structure in lexical forms. In Language Typology and Lexical Descriptions, Vol. 3: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon, Timothy Shopen (ed.), 36–149. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
2007 Lexical typologies. In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. III: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon, 2nd edn, Timothy Shopen (ed.), 66–168. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thornbury, Scott
1999 How to Teach Grammar. London: Longman.Google Scholar
2004 How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar