Complutense Journal of English Studies

Analysing the discourse of knowledge transfer practices: A study of proximity in psychology-related podcasts

2025-09-11T10:24:25+00:00

This paper offers a study of proximity (Hyland 2010) in knowledge transfer podcasting discourse aimed at broad digital audiences. To do so, ten podcast openings were retrieved from The Psychology Podcast (Kaufman 2014-present), a popularising English-medium channel with an interview-like style. Samples of the podcaster’s and the experts’ discourse were compiled and analysed by adapting Hyland’s (2005) stance and engagement categories to podcast discourse. Results from the manual close-readings of the transcripts showed that Self mentions (SM), Attitude markers (AM), Listener mentions (LM) and Immediate addressee (IA) are particularly frequent in these podcast openings. Moreover, closer examination of the use of these rhetorical devices by the experts and by the podcaster revealed that they perform different roles. Whilst the former functions as a scientist-storyteller, narrating their personal how did I get here story, the latter acts as the main catalyst for drawing the listeners in. Building on available research into popularisations (Caliendo 2014; Scotto di Carlo 2014; Spinelli and Dann 2019; Engberg 2023b; Liu and Jiang 2024), this study will argue that podcasting discourse couples transfer of knowledge with affinity appeals to broad audiences, allowing for the creation of a space based on communication as well as personal connection.

Attempts to Avoid Traumatic Occurrences through the Posthuman in Don DeLillo’s Zero K (2016) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021)

2025-12-01T13:02:57+00:00

Don DeLillo’s Zero K (2016) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) explore the possible outcomes on the path toward a future riddled with artificial intelligence, as they examine the role posthumanism may embody in future societies. Both texts concern themselves with the depiction of characters who attempt to avoid traumatic occurrences through the (ab)use of posthuman proceedings, as well as with the impending hierarchical (re)ordering implicit in the access to posthuman practices.

DeLillo and Ishiguro portray worlds in which human beings tamper with science not yet fully explored as they depict the uncertainties that the encounter with the posthuman other entails. Concurrently, both authors theorise that privilege may be abused to avoid suffering and loss, by showcasing attempts at avoiding emotional turmoil. This way, both authors provide an exploration of the future uses posthuman practices may provide, and the possible inherent dangers implied. In so doing, both novels explore the ways in which the approach to trauma and posthumanism may be inextricably linked.

Taboo language research in the new millennium: A literature review

2025-09-15T12:05:02+00:00

Taboo and taboo naming are not single, unified phenomena that can be addressed from a single perspective. Indeed, in the last twenty-five years, linguistic research on taboo avoidance and taboo breaking, that is, on euphemism and dysphemism, has spanned across different, yet interconnected, linguistic fields, including cognitive semantics, discourse studies, pragmatics and sociolinguistics, among others. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to offer an overview of the state of work in taboo-related research in the twenty-first century (2000-2024) in the Anglophone academic context and, by doing so, make the existing work accessible to a wide academic community. This study provides insights into the academic disciplines involved in taboo language research, main publication formats, most cited publications and relevant journals in the field. The literature review shows that discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and pragmatics rank the most relevant research disciplines, followed, at a distance, by cognitive semantics, psycholinguistics and translation studies. Accordingly, the academic journals publishing work on taboo-related language range from those that are general in scope to others devoted to specific research areas or subjects, which shows the interdisciplinary nature of taboo language research in the new millennium.

On the use of the way-construction with the verb make: A diachronic perspective

2025-10-01T10:08:43+00:00

Although the English way-construction is reported to have expanded its semantic domain by recruiting an increasing number of new verbs over the last two centuries, the general verb make remains the most common predicate in all periods since the construction was first attested. Notwithstanding this central role, its use and behaviour has gone almost unnoticed in the abundant literature on the way-construction in favour of other semantically richer verbs. In order to fill this gap, this study is intended to offer a detailed characterization of the way-construction with make by focusing on two core semantic features: the implication of difficult movement or overcoming of barriers that the construction is argued to convey and its ability to express not only concrete movement but also abstract motion. The analysis of a corpus of more than 4,000 occurrences from the last two hundred years provides evidence that cast doubts on the notion of difficult movement being an integral component of the construction and suggests that this meaning is not its prototypical sense anymore. Additionally, and despite the increase in its token productivity in the last decades, the construction does not seem to be more open to the expression of abstract movement.

Metaphoric and metonymic motivation in the Light Verb Construction with GIVE

2025-10-14T07:03:17+00:00

This article demonstrates that the English Light Verb Construction (henceforth LVC) with GIVE is motivated by generic-level metaphors and metonymies. Following Brugman (2001) and Cetnarowska (2012, 2014), LVCs are defined based on criteria that are notably less restrictive than those outlined by Dixon (2005) and Wierzbicka (1982). The study examines the GIVE LVC as a representative case to illustrate the broader pattern of metaphor-driven LVCs. In an LVC, the light verb evokes the source domain of a conceptual metaphor, while its nominal complement indicates the target domain. Thus, in the GIVE LVC, GIVE evokes the transfer schema. This schema, serving as the source domain of metaphors, is mapped onto the conceptual structures underlying the nominal complements of the light verb. Since event schemas represent distinct types of situations, each characterized by unique configurations of thematic roles, metaphoric mappings occur between these roles. However, in the absence of generic-level metonymies, such metaphoric mappings would not be viable. The Correlation Principle (Ruiz de Mendoza and Santibáñez 2003) and the Mapping Enforcement Principle (Ruiz de Mendoza 2005) facilitate metonymic mappings within the target domain, ensuring that conceptual projection from source to target remains systematically constrained.

Lexical Analysis of Oral Discourse Among Young Spanish-Speaking Gamers: The Case of Minecraft

2025-11-17T07:24:01+00:00

The presence of video games is notable and currently constitutes one of the means of socialization among Spanish-speaking youth. This article analyzes the impact that some gamer YouTubers, who create content related to the world of video games, currently have. Based on a selection of Minecraft videos from three gamer YouTubers with millions of subscribers, the type of language they use will be examined. On the one hand, the considerable use of anglicisms and the formation of anglicized neologisms will be examined. On the other hand, the study will delve into the specialized nature of the language they use while playing Minecraft. The results reveal that the use of non-adapted anglicisms and neologisms is very frequent in the oral discourse of gamers. Furthermore, the use of specialized terminology or jargon is evident, contributing to fostering a sense of belonging within the Minecraft player community. Many of the lexical units examined fulfil different pragmatic functions in discourse: referential, expressive, and textual.

Suggestions: An integrated taxonomy and its pedagogical application in L2 pragmatic instruction

2025-10-28T08:58:59+00:00

This article presents a unified taxonomy of linguistic strategies and politeness markers for making suggestions in English, alongside guidelines for its integration into second/foreign language (L2) pragmatics instruction. In response to the lack of systematic frameworks for analyzing this speech act in recent decades, the development of such a typology is essential. Drawing on four existing classification systems, the taxonomy incorporates both the inherent features of the speech act and language-related factors, such as directness and mitigation, that influence its realization. The second part of the article proposes an instructional sequence for teaching suggestions in L2 contexts, designed to implement the unified taxonomy while incorporating five key instructional components: input presentation, awareness-raising, metapragmatic instruction, communicative practice, and feedback. This sequence aligns with current conceptualizations of L2 pragmatics, promotes learner agency, and underscores the teacher’s role in supporting learners as they negotiate their identity through pragmatic choices.

When the Puppet Becomes Human: The Gothic Posthumanism of In the Lives of Puppets (2023)

2025-11-17T13:13:51+00:00

In the Lives of Puppets (2023) reinterprets Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio set in a dystopian future where most of humanity has disappeared. Victor Lawson is a 19-year-old human who lives peacefully with his unconventional family of non-human machines. Their tranquil life in an isolated wood is shattered when Victor finds and repairs an android, Hap, and unintentionally reveals the family’s location to the dangerous robots from the City of Electric Dreams.
This paper discusses In the Lives of Puppets through the lenses of posthumanism, Affect theory, and Gothic fiction. Drawing on Rosi Braidotti’s view that posthuman subjects are relational entities defined by connections with both human and nonhuman agents, the story challenges the traditional boundaries of identity. Affect theory emphasizes the fluidity of relationships and emotions, challenging notions of human superiority and suggesting that emotions can transcend human experience. The novel’s connection to Gothic fiction’s exploration of societal anxieties further develops this analysis. Through its depiction of fears related to biotechnological advancement, In the Lives of Puppets reflects contemporary concerns about identity and agency in a machine-dominated world. Ultimately, the novel

The Use of Emoji Across Age Groups: Insights from the Exchanges of Music Fandom in Twitter/X Discourse

2025-11-28T12:05:22+00:00

Emoji have recently gained in popularity in digital communication. However, while age has been considered in emoji studies, mainly in relation to frequency and preference, its role in shaping emoji meaning, its connection with the topic in question, position and pragmatic value within Twitter/X discourse remains underexamined. This study addresses the gap by considering how different age groups use emoji in the Twitter/X discourse context of music fandom.

Two samples of data are analysed: one consisting of posts from the accounts of three British rappers in their mid-twenties, and the other comprising tweets from three well-known London singers born in the 1950s and 1960s.

Findings suggest that age, which has consistently been found to play a significant role in offline communication, also influences the use of emoji in Twitter/X. Indeed, very notable differences here were observed between the two groups. The categories of ‘Hearts’, ‘Music & Films’ and ‘Celebrations’ occur more frequently among the mature adults of the sample, whereas those of ‘Fire’ and ‘Hands & Fingers’ are more commonly used by the younger adults. Additionally, the former group seems to favour ‘standalone’ emoji as responses to previous messages. Pragmatically, subjective functions are more prominent among the participating mature adults, whereas intersubjective functions are more frequent with the younger users.

Un/Learning the Suffragette in Kate Muir’s Suffragette City and Lisa Evans' Old Baggage

2025-11-17T09:01:26+00:00

This article focuses on the instructive protagonists of Kate Muir’s Suffragette City (1999) and Lisa Evans' Old Baggage (2018) in what regards their revisionist didacticism of the British suffragette movement. The narrative devices deployed by Muir and Evans will be analyzed as revealing the novels’ double didactic value as pedagogic tools for characters and readers. I argue that Muir and Evans do not seek to gain supporters for a cause already accomplished, but to fill in existent gaps in the historical record about such a crucial part of feminist history. The use of different narrative elements − epistolary fragments in Suffrage City and lectures and speeches in Old Baggage − confer these novels with an educational tone helping readers un/learn certain aspects of the women’s campaign for the vote. Ultimately, I seek to prove that the authors offer an insight of the suffrage movement that stems from the revision and disclaim of wrong assumptions and ideas about the Cause. In this respect, I argue that the novels urge readers to learn about the women’s movement and challenge preconceived notions about this historical period achieving this double purpose by emphasising the role of the suffragette as educator and mentor.

Pedagogical Value of Didactic Audiovisual Translation through English Language Learners’ perceptions

2025-09-18T05:59:07+00:00

This paper assesses the validity of various modes of didactic audiovisual translation (DAT) in supporting foreign language learning, with a focus on a project conducted throughout 2022 and 2023. Fifty-five participants completed a comprehensive set of tasks, including an Initial Test of Integrated Skills (ITIS), a Final Test of Integrated Skills (FITIS), and a series of 30 piloted lesson plans—15 for B1 and 15 for B2 levels. These lesson plans followed a task-based learning structure and were designed around five modalities: subtitling, voice-over, dubbing, audio description, and SDH, in line with the methodological framework proposed by Talaván and Lertola (2022). Our findings suggest that all DAT modes contributed comparably to the development of language skills, linguistic components, and cross-curricular competences. Notably, revoicing techniques were perceived as particularly beneficial for enhancing oral skills. Participants reported high levels of engagement with the DAT-based project and expressed strong support for its recommendation to other language learners. Although some technical challenges were noted, participants also identified secondary gains in ICT skills. The study offers promising insights into the pedagogical value of DAT methodologies for comprehensive language learning.

Just as Surprised as Everybody Else

2025-09-10T12:02:47+00:00

Applauded crime fiction author Louise Welsh published Plague Times, a cross-genre trilogy set in the context of a flu-like pandemic, only a few years prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. The fictional nature of Plague Times feels particularly realistic and ominous when read after enduring an actual global pandemic, due to Welsh’s thorough research on epidemics and her insight into human nature. This interview is articulated around how fiction and reality converged, and this understanding of human reactions in the face of fear. The subjects of solidarity—or lack thereof—and community are key as we approach the main characters, strangers who, following their own storyline in the first two instalments of the trilogy, finally team up in the last novel. Their journey is not only that of personal growth, but also geographical; there is a deliberate choice of locations contextualizing the development of both characters and story. This conversation takes place outdoors, on a sunny day in Louise Welsh’s Glasgow neighbourhood community garden, a coincidental parallelism with the optimistic outlook that permeates an otherwise sombre topic.

‘What hath God wrought’: Dystopia, Empathy and Revolution in Naomi Alderman’s The Future

2025-11-20T14:01:02+00:00

. This article delves into Naomi Alderman’s The Future (2023), a sci-fi feminist dystopia that revisits and updates her previous novel, The Power (2017). Whereas in The Power, a cataclysm turns gender roles upside down, The Future goes further as it seemingly features the end of Western neo-liberalism and civilization. In the Capitalocene envisaged in The Future, there are still a few survivalists, i.e. nomad characters in a pluriversal scenario, who contest the new order (a continuation of its predecessor) and struggle for an ethical one based on a partnership model where empathy and a liberating revolution can replace a hierarchical and exterminist paradigm. Yet, this paper argues, this dystopia recalls Alderman’s previous fiction: it is at once parodic, devastating and especially cautionary because the system which intends to replace the current techno-dystopia can be easily corrupted. As the analysis of the novel shows, a dystopian regime is cyclically replaced by a similar one in the Capitalocene. To explore Alderman’s latest dystopia and its redeeming features, this essay considers Riane Eisler’s “dominator” and “partnership” models, Jeremy Rifkin’s conception of empathy, and Hannah Arendt’s idea of revolution.

Rodríguez-Juárez, Carolina. 2025. Introducción a la alternancia locativa en inglés: Análisis y propuesta de formalización. Colección Lingüística. Editorial Universidad de Sevilla. 175 pp. ISBN: 978-84-472-2629-0

2025-10-08T10:20:22+00:00

Esta reseña ofrece un resumen y una valoración crítica del libro "Introducción a la alternancia locativa en inglés: análisis y propuesta de formalización" de Carolina Rodríguez-Juárez. En este estudio se ofrece un análisis de la alternancia locativa en lengua inlgesa desde diferentes modelos que comparten una visión comunicativa y construccionista del lenguaje, aunque se centra en aportar un análisis formalizado de este fenómeno gramatical según los principios de la Gramática Formalizada Léxico-Construccional, la cual busca diseñar una gramática construccional basada en procesos de unificación que pueda ser implementada computacionalmente.

Manuela Romano. 2024. Metaphor in Socio-Political contexts. Berlin and Boston: De Grouter Mouton. 340 pp. ISBN 9783111001258

2025-09-15T06:57:01+00:00

Academic review of the volume entitled Metaphor in Socio-Political Contexts, edited by Manuela Romano and published in 2024 by De Grouter Mouton.

Kramnick, Jonathan B. 2023. Criticism and Truth: On Method in Literary Studies. The University of Chicago Press. 129 pp. ISBN: 978-0-226-83054-4 (e-book).

2024-01-11T00:24:20+00:00

Echauri-Galván, Bruno. Polvo eres y en cine te convertirás. Valoraciones y relevancia de la fidelidad en la recepción de crítica y público de la adaptación cinematográfica de Ask the Dust. Bern: Peter Lang, 2023, 184 pp. ISBN: 978-3034346818

2025-11-17T07:23:59+00:00

Desilla, Louisa. 2025. Translation and Pragmatics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-08150-2

2025-10-16T10:33:45+00:00

Louisa Desilla’s Translation and Pragmatics: Theories and Applications provides a comprehensive yet accessible insight into the relationship between pragmatics and translation. This review outlines the structure and pedagogical approach of the book, focusing on how Desilla translates theoretical insights into practical activities designed for students and early-career professionals. The review compares this work with other key contributions in the field, emphasizing its value in bridging theory and practice in audiovisual translation contexts.

Buchan, John. 2025. Los 39 escalones; Mantoverde. Edited by Eduardo Valls. Cátedra. 664 pp. ISBN: 9788437649214

2025-11-12T16:06:50+00:00