Complutense Journal of English Studies

Mirror Phonological Distributions in L1–L2 Mappings: [d ð ɾ] in L1 Spanish Learners of General American English

2026-06-18T07:09:34+00:00

The three phones [d ð ɾ] exist in both Spanish and some varieties of English (e.g., General American English). However, their phonological status differs across the two languages, creating a challenge for L1 Spanish learners of L2 English. This study examines the development of allophonic union and allophonic split involving these three phones. In allophonic split, the L1 allophones of /d/ ([d] and [ð]) must be mapped onto separate L2 phonemes (/d/ and /ð/), whereas in allophonic union, the L1 phonemes /d/ and /ɾ/ must be mapped as allophones of a single L2 phoneme (/d/). Ten Costa Rican Spanish speakers completed a production task targeting English /ð/ in word-initial and intervocalic contexts and English /d/ in intervocalic context. The results reveal a complex distribution of the three phones in the learners’ interlanguage, reflecting persistent L1 influence, emerging target-like patterns, and productive phonological processes that cannot be explained solely by either L1 transfer or L2 input.

Bineolingual upbringing or bilingual upbringing in non-native families: linguistic habits and strategies

2026-03-16T09:41:35+00:00

The knowledge of additional languages is a desirable value nowadays. Raising a bilingual child yields numerous advantages (Baker, 2014; Bialystok, 2001; Romaine, 1995). In order to help their children acquire and learn a foreign language (FL), mainly English, most parents decide to raise their children in a FL that is also foreign to them and that is not the language of the community. However, strategies and linguistic practices in BiNeoLingual (BNL) Upbringing (or bilingual upbringing by non-native parents) have not yet been studied using a statistically significant sample size to draw generalizable conclusions. There is a need to adequately portray and analyse this emerging sociolinguistic phenomenon (Lozano-Martínez 2019). In this quantitative study, through a simple random sampling, 571 families out of the 2010 that participated in a questionnaire were identified as using English as a FL with their children. Nevertheless, “family linguistic planning is crucial to children’s linguistic development” (Lozano-Martínez 2019, 235). Dealing with strategies, One Parent-One Language (OPOL) is the most well-known but, according to the results, OPOL is not the most followed strategy by BNL families. Statistical tests also show that strategies depend on different factors and are often mixed in the BNL family.

Assertiveness and Crisis Communication: A Multidimensional Analysis of English Varieties during COVID-19

2026-03-09T08:24:34+00:00

This paper investigates the linguistic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on different varieties of English, focusing on assertive and non-assertive linguistic markers in crisis communication. Motivated by the convergence of socio-cultural shifts and linguistic change, the study explores variations across Inner Circle (GB, US, NZ) and Outer Circle (SG, ZA) varieties within the Coronavirus Corpus (Davies 2019-). The central hypothesis posits an increased use of assertive markers and decreased use of non-assertive markers during crises. Such markers are taken from Biber’s (1988) multidimensional analysis, specifically from Dimension 4 and Factor 7. Thus, analyzing suasive verbs, conditional subordination, necessity modals, hedging strategies, downtoners, and concessive subordination, the findings reveal distinct patterns influenced by the timing and intensity of COVID-19 waves and the socio-political measures adopted. The results challenge the conventional Inner and Outer Circle dichotomy, emphasizing localized strategies in crisis communication over geographical distinctions, and they also confirm the validity of Biber’s multidimensional analysis nearly 40 years after its publication.

“You are Equipt I see a la Mode D'Espagne”: Transnational Cross-Dressing and the Performance of National Identity in Mary Pix’s The Adventures in Madrid (1706).

2026-06-11T06:15:49+00:00

This article examines how Mary Pix’s The Adventures in Madrid (1706) uses transnational cross-dressing to critique national identity and gender norms. Written against the backdrop of the War of Spanish Succession, the play relocates English characters to a caricatured Spain, where English men don Spanish clothing. This theatrical cross-dressing contributes to contemporary debates about emerging national identities, both Englishness and Spanishness and highlights their performative nature. This article argues that national identity is constructed through a series of markers that can be imitated, ridiculed, and ultimately rejected and draws attention to sartorial identities. Spanish fashion—especially the golilla—becomes a symbol of decline, rigidity, and emasculation, while English masculinity is framed as pragmatic and modern. The play’s farcical tone masks a deeper ideological critique: England’s apparent superiority is affirmed through direct (if somewhat timid) praise and through contrast with a decaying Spanish other. Pix demonstrates how Anglo-Iberian relations and emerging nationalism affected women’s lives while she subtly questions whether English liberty, especially for women, is a genuine condition—or merely another seductive performance.

Monsters, Magnates, and Maims: Reading #MeToo Trauma Narratives in Dizz Tate’s Brutes (2023)

2026-06-05T07:47:24+00:00

Dizz Tate’s Brutes (2023) commences with an ominous “Where is she?”, which reverberates in a narrative haunted by the disappearance of fourteen-year-old Sammy. Noticeably informed by the testimonies that survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Springs underage exploitation pyramid (2001-2006) offered during #MeToo, Tate explores the pervasiveness of sexual trauma in the lives of the protagonists. She paints a vivid portrait of a contemporary Florida, parallelly haunted by a lake monster and the ominous presence of showbusiness magnate Stone. Through a close reading based on the affects derived from sexual trauma—namely guilt, shame, and pain—this paper intends to frame this novel as part of the growing literary corpus to be forwarded by the affective forces of #MeToo. It will specifically focus on the notions of disruption, breakage, and disappearance of the self as trauma response, as conceptualized by trauma theorists Cathy Caruth, Judith Herman, and Anne Whitehead; and on the manifestation of trauma through the monstruous and the uncanny, informed by Laurie Vickroy’s theory.

“Then she spotted me accent an’ said te me, de ye come from the north?”: Analysing the representation of a rural South Derry accent in Frances Molloy’s No Mate for the Magpie (1985)

2026-06-17T11:38:20+00:00

This paper explores the representation of a rural South Derry accent in Frances Molloy’s No Mate for the Magpie (1985). It aims to identify the pronunciation features used by Molloy to index a rural South Derry identity as well as to assess the authenticity of the features portrayed in the novel. The analysis combines qualitative and quantitative, corpus-based methods to facilitate assessing the authenticity and consistency of Molloy’s portrayal. The qualitative analysis reveals that fourteen dialectal pronunciation features are represented in No Mate for the Magpie through respellings of words and that all of those features are likely to occur in the South Derry area, which contributes to a fairly authentic representation. On the other hand, quantitative findings suggest that the author is consistent in her use of respellings throughout the novel. In addition to providing interesting information about the authenticity and consistency of the literary portrayal, this study affords insights into: (1) the linguistic landscape of rural South Derry, which seems to be considerably influenced by Ulster Scots and (2) Molloy’s ability to create a unique portrayal of a South Derry accented voice by combining traditional respellings with her own Ulster-Scots-influenced respellings.

Ana Elvira Ojanguren López. Predications in competition and the rise of serial verb constructions in English: The verbal and nominal complementation of Old English aspectual and manipulative verbs. Lausanne: Peter Lang, 2024. 534 pp. DOI: 10.3726/b21357

2026-05-12T06:32:50+00:00

Victoria Guillén-Nieto (2024). The Language of Harassment: Pragmatic Perspectives on Language as Evidence. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield. 147 pp. ISBN 9781793619075 (cloth), 9781793619082 (ebook).

2026-02-23T09:32:15+00:00