BU Research Blog

This summer I visited the Faculty of Media and Communication (Bournemouth University) as a Visiting Scholar for the second time for a period of three weeks (July-August 2016) to continue the research on Language, Communication and the Mass Media that I had started in 2015. During my second research stay at BU, I conducted research on the topics listed below:

English as the global language: namely, its distinguishing features and its influence in other languages (mainly Spanish);
The phenomena of culture and identity (heterogeneity vs. homogeneity);
Transnational relationships;
The specific language of different media spaces (mainly, advertising).

What I have learnt in these two research stays at BU forms the basis for the research project entitled Lenguaje y medios de comunicación: relaciones interlingüísticas e interculturales ingles-español (Reference: FFI2016-74858-P) (Language and the Mass Media: English-Spanish interlinguistic and intercultural relationships), for which I have applied for funding from the Spanish Ministry for Education and Innovation. Dr. Bronwen Thomas, Associate Professor at BU, will take an important part in the project, if approved and granted, thus helping to establish some institutional links between the University of Bournemouth and the University of Huelva.

Apart from the aforementioned research project, I am working at the moment on a scientific paper which analyses Spanish advertising, a particular means of communication almost completely unknown to me before my two stays in Bournemouth. My paper will have a special emphasis on the influence English advertising has – graphically, socially and linguistically.

Since the Sir Michael Cobham Library is an amazing source of a vast and rich number of bibliographical references related to the topics I am interested in, I hope to return to BU next summer to continue my research. Furthermore, I would take advantage of this third stay to get in touch with some other members of the Faculty of Media and Communication who might be interested in participating in my research project. Anyone who is interested can contact me at arrizaba@dfing.uhu.e