César Félix-Brasdefer
- Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics
- Adjunct Assistant Professor of Second Language Studies
Education
- Ph.D. 2002, Hispanic Linguistics, University of Minnesota
- M.S. 1998, Spanish Linguistics, Georgetown University
- M.A. 1996, Hispanic Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago
- B.A. 1992, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, México
Contact Information
Indiana University
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Ballantine Hall 858
1020 East Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405-7103
Office Phone: (812) 855-9551
e-mail: cfelixbr@indiana.edu
Research Interests
- Cross-cultural and interlanguage pragmatics, politeness theory, speech act theory, conversation analysis, instruction of pragmatics
Personal Statement
My research examines issues of discourse pragmatics, face theory, politeness theory, and the intersection between speech act theory and conversation analysis. I am particularly interested in both politeness as practice and in the scientific conceptualization of politeness as a theoretical construct. I have conducted research on various aspects of cross-cultural pragmatics, comparing the realization patterns of speech acts and interactional patterns among native speakers of Spanish and English. Also, I am interested in sociopragmatic variation in the Spanish-Speaking world which can be examined by means of an analysis of spoken discourse in two or more varieties of Spanish.
I also research different aspects of pragmatics in second language learning, including the realization of speech acts and conversational practices. In this respect, I am interested in the intersection between grammar and discourse pragmatics. For example, I am currently investigating the grammatical resources that second language learners use for the construction of turns and how turns are designed and then put into practice in learner-native speaker interactions. Another related interest is how prosody (e.g., intonation, stress) contributes to pragmatic meaning in conversation. I am currently designing a website that aims at providing a model for the teaching of pragmatics in second and foreign language contexts. The website is based on research in instruction in second language pragmatics and includes on-line activities to equip educators to teach various aspects of pragmatics in the classroom. In addition, the site features a component on pragmatic variation in the Spanish-speaking world and a series of speech acts that will be available in audio. This website will be available in March 2007.
Courses Recently Taught
- Conversation Analysis: Issues in Spoken Discourse.
- Cross-Cultural Pragmatics.
- Pragmatics.
- Syntax-Pragmatics Interface: Variation in the Spanish-Speaking World.
- Pragmatic Development in a Second Language.
- Spanish Phonetics.
- Spanish Applied Linguistics.
- Introduction to Spanish Linguistics.
Service to the Profession
- American Association of Applied Linguistics, Associate Chair 2007
- Member of the Overseas Study Advisory Council, Indiana University
- Member of External Board Review: Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). Santiago, Dominican Republic. October 23-38, 2005.
- Resident Director, Indiana University Program in Cuernavaca, Summer 2005.
- Co-Organizer of the 16th International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning, Indiana University, April 2005.
Books
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César. (2008). Politeness in Mexico and the United States: A contrastive study of the realization and perception of refusals. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen, Félix-Brasdefer, J. César, Omar, Alwiya. (Eds.) (2006). Pragmatics and Language Learning, vol. 11. Manoa, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center University of Hawai’i.
Articles
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César. (2008). Teaching Spanish pragmatics in the classroom: Explicit instruction of mitigation. Hispania, 91(2), 477-492.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César. (2008). Perceptions of refusals to invitations: Exploring the minds of foreign language learners. Language Awareness, 17(3), 195-211.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César. (2008). Sociopragmatic variation: Dispreferred responses in Mexican and Dominican Spanish. Journal of Politeness Research, 4(1), 81-110.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2007). Natural speech vs. elicited data: A comparison of natural and role play requests in Mexican Spanish. Spanish in Context 4(2): 159-185.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2007). Pragmatic development in the Spanish as a FL classroom: A cross-sectional study of learner requests. Intercultural Pragmatics 4(2): 253-286.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2006). Linguistic politeness in Mexico: Refusal strategies among male speakers of Mexican Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 38(12): 2158-2187.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2006). Teaching the negotiation of multi-turn speech acts. Using conversation-analytic tools to teach pragmatics in the classroom (pp. 165-197). In K. Bardovi-Harlig, C. Félix-Brasdefer, & A. Omar (Eds.), Pragmatics and Language Learning, vol. 11. Manoa, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center University of Hawai’i.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2006). The acquisition of functional categories in early Spanish: Evidence from the strong continuity hypothesis. Indiana University on line Working Papers, Vol. 6 (pp. 1-33). Available on line at: https://www.indiana.edu/~iulcwp/contents.cgi?which=6
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2006). Pragmatic and textual functions of o sea: Evidence from Mexican Spanish. In T. Face & C. Klee (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 191-203). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. (Available at: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/8/index.html)
Greenslade, Terri & Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2006). Error correction and learner perceptions in L2 Spanish writing. In C. Klee & T. Face (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 7th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages (pp. 185-194). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. (Available at: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/casp/7/index.html)
Félix-Brasdefer, J.César (2005). Métodos de recolección de actos de habla: Peticiones en el discurso natural y simulado de hablantes mexicanos [Data collection methods of Speech acts: Requests in natural and simulated discourse of Mexican speakers]. In J. Murillo Medrano (Ed.), Actas del II Coloquio Internacional del Programa EDICE (pp.221-245). Estocolmo-Costa Rica: Programa EDICE-Universidad de Costa Rica. (Available on line at: http://www.edice.org/2coloquio/2coloquioEDICE.pdf)
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2005). Indirectness and politeness in Mexican Requests. In D. Eddington (Ed.), Selected Proceedings of the 7th Hispanic Linguistic Symposium (pp.66-78). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. (Available at http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/7/)
Félix-Brasdefer, J.César (2004). Interlanguage refusals: Linguistic politeness and length of residence in the target community. Language Learning, 54(4), 587-653.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. César (2004). La mitigación en el discurso oral de mexicanos y aprendices de español como lengua extranjera [Mitigation in the oral discourse of Mexicans and learners of Spanish as a Foreign Language]. In D. Bravo and A. Briz (Eds.), Pragmática Sociocultural: Estudios sobre el Discurso en Cortesía en Español [Sociocultural Pragmatics: Studies on Discourse Politeness in Spanish] (pp. 285-299). Spain: Ariel.
Félix-Brasdefer, J.César (2003). Validity in data collection methods in pragmatics research. In P. Kempchinsky & C. E. Piñeros (Eds.), Theory, Practice, and Acquisition. Papers from the 6th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium and the 5th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese (pp. 239-257). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Félix-Brasdefer, J.César (2003) Declining an invitation: A Cross-Cultural Study of Pragmatic Strategies in Latin American Spanish and American English. Multilingua, 22(3): 225-255.
