J. César Félix-Brasdefer, Professor of Linguistics
I am a Professor of Spanish and Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University. I am also an adjunct Professor in the Department of Linguistics, the Department of Second Language Studies, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Center for Computer-Mediated Communication. I mentor students in these departments and programs and take an active role in supervising undergraduate honors theses, M.A. research papers, and Ph.D. dissertations. For me, mentoring extends well beyond the boundaries of particular semesters, and I take pride in mentoring my undergraduate and graduate students with equal dedication.
I serve as the supervisor/director of undergraduate research projects. I mentor students individually and teach them how to conceptualize a research project, ethical issues related to data collection and IRB (e.g., Human Subjects), statistics, and standard guidelines for writing an academic research paper. Given the independent study format of S499, I meet with students over the course of the semester to provide constructive feedback for revision and completion of the honors thesis.
Created in 2010, the Provost’s Award seeks to recognize undergraduates that spearhead or collaborate on excellent or original academic work. Students are nominated by mentoring professors and then selected by a committee of faculty and administrators. I mentored/nominated three undergraduate student research papers, and these students received this award.
Ivette Dreyer (Spring 2020): Pragmatic Variation of Forms of Address in Golden Age Spanish
Andrew Johns (April 2013): French Requests in Dakaar French
Allison Yates (April 2014): Pragmatic Variation in Service Encounters in Argentine Spanish
College of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity: This award is one of the highest undergraduate honors offered by the College.
Ivette Dreyer received the Executive Dean’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity due to her innovative research project: Pragmatic Variation of Forms of Address in Golden Age Spanish (Spring 2020)
These publications were conceptualized in my courses of Pragmatics/Sociolinguistics (HISP-S 429) and Syntax (HISP-S 427), and subsequently developed as honors theses. I then encouraged the students to submit their papers for publication and mentored them during the peer-review process. The publications below were published as part of a thematic volume in the IU Working Papers in Linguistics.
These publications were conceptualized in my graduate courses of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis (HISP-S 612). I encouraged the students to revise their final papers and submit them for publication. I also mentored them during the peer-review process. The publications below were published in the refereed IUL Working Papers in Linguistics. The papers in this thematic volume examine current topics in pragmatic variation from an interdisciplinary perspective.
This special volume of IULCWP represents a welcome contribution to the teaching and assessment of pragmatics and intercultural competence in foreign language contexts. The nine pedagogical activities, written by experienced language instructors of Spanish and French at Indiana University, are informed by current research in second language pragmatics and intercultural competence. The instructional units were conceptualized and completed in two graduate courses I taught: L2 Pragmatics: Language Learning and Teaching (HISP-S 716, Spring 2018) and The Intercultural Speaker Abroad (HISP-S 612, Fall 2020). These pedagogical activities were designed to test key models of pragmatics instruction and intercultural communicative competence. Authors also had the opportunity to pilot their activities with students learning Spanish or French at Indiana University. The publications below were published in refereed IUL Working Papers in Linguistics.
These publications were conceptualized in my graduate courses of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis (HISP-S 612) and Second Language Pragmatics (HISP-S 712 / S 716). I encouraged the students to revise the final paper and submit for publication. I mentored them during the peer-review process. The publications below were published in journals, conference proceedings, and edited volumes.
Denbaum, N. (forthcoming/2022). The benefits of social interaction and proficiency for L2 acquisition of Spanish conventional expressions: Evidence from native English-speaking college students. Spanish in Context.
DiBartolomeo, M. (2021). Pragmalinguistic variation in L2 Spanish E-mail correspondences: Learner strategies and instructor perceptions. In J.C. Félix-Brasdefer, & R. Shively (Eds.), New Directions in Second Language Pragmatics (pp. 208–235). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Escalona Torres, J. (2020). The effects of social distance in service encounters in Puerto Rican panaderías. In J. C. Félix-Brasdefer & M. E. Placencia (Eds.), Pragmatic variation in service encounter interactions across the Spanish-speaking world (pp. 230–247). Oxford and New York: Routledge.
Kanwit, M. (2018). Encantado de conocerte virtualmente: Native/non-native speaker electronic chats in Spanish. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 33 59–90.
Merino Hernández, L. M. (2020). The role of gender in Mexican e-service encounters. In J. C. Félix-Brasdefer & M. E. Placencia (Eds.), Pragmatic variation in service encounter interactions across the Spanish-speaking world (pp. 115–129). Oxford and New York: Routledge.
Rodríguez Sánchez, E. (2022). ¡Madre mía de mi alma!: Pragmalinguistic variation and gender differences in perception of piropos in Badajoz, Spain. In J.C. Félix-Brasdefer, & R. Shively (Eds.), New Directions in Second Language Pragmatics (pp. 103–127). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Solon, M. (2013) Cross-cultural negotiation: Touristic service encounters in Yucatán, Mexico. In: C. Howe, S. E. Blackwell, & M. Lubbers Quesada (Eds.) Selected Proceedings of the 15th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 252-268). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Félix-Brasdefer, J.C., & DiBartolomeo, M. (2021). Developing pragmatic competence in Spanish. In M. Menke & P. Malovrh (Eds.), Advancedness in Second Language Spanish: Definitions, challenges, and possibilities (pp. 327–351). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. & Hasler Barker, M. (2015). Complimenting in Spanish in a short-term study abroad context. System48, 75–85.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. & M. Hasler-Barker. (2012). Compliments and compliment responses: From empirical evidence to pedagogical application. In L. Ruiz de Zarobe & Y. Ruiz de Zarobe (Eds.), Speech Acts and Politeness across Languages & Cultures (pp. 241–273). Bern: Peter Lang.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C., & M. Hasler-Barker. (2017). Elicited data. In A. Barron, Y. Gu, & G. Steen (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics (pp. 27–40). Oxford & New York: Routledge.
Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. & McKinnon, S. (2017). Perceptions of impolite behavior in study abroad contexts & the teaching of impoliteness in L2 Spanish Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 3, 99–113.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C., & Lavin, E. (2009). Grammar and turn expansion in second language conversations. In J. Collentine, M. García, B. Lafford, & F. Marcos Marín (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 11th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 53-67). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Available online at: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/11/paper2202.pdf
Fink, L. & Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2015). Pragmalinguistic and gender variation in U.S. café service encounters. In K. Beeching & H. Woodfield (Eds.), Researching Sociopragmatic Variability: Perspectives from Variational, Interlanguage and Contrastive Pragmatics (pp. 19-48). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Johns, A. & Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2015). Linguistic politeness and pragmatic variation in request production in Dakar French. Journal of Politeness Research11(1), 131–164.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. & Yates, A. (2020). Regional pragmatic variation in small shops in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, & Seville, Spain. In Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. & M. E. Placencia (Eds.), Pragmatic variation in service encounter interactions across the Spanish-speaking world (pp. 15–34). Oxford/New York: Routledge Press.
