El interior y el exterior: hacia una nueva didáctica de nociones binarias en español como lengua adicional

This article presents a semantic-cognitive reflection with pedagogical implications for teaching Spanish as an additional language (ELA, by its Spanish acronym). It proposes a unified pedagogical approach by means of the ontological planes of the ‘interior’ and the ‘exterior’, which could help ELA students and teachers more easily understand the main binary concepts in the Spanish language (the contrast between the verbs “ser” and “estar”, the simple, compound, and imperfect past tenses, and the indicative and subjunctive moods). Aided by cognitive grammar, the dynamics of usage for these key binary concepts have been accurately described. However, until now, they have been explicitly taught in terms that can be highly technical and pedagogically confusing, such as the speaker’s “non-declaration” in the subjunctive mood. These ontological planes are articulated along three pedagogical axes in this new proposal. The first addresses the inherent and circumstantial attributes of an utterance, associated respectively with the ‘interior’ and the ‘exterior’, and with the contrast between the verbs ‘ser’ and ‘estar’. The second concerns speakers’ degree of involvement when referring to a past action: greater on the ‘interior’ plane and lesser on the ‘exterior’ plane. This axis addresses the contrast among the simple past, present perfect, and imperfect tenses. The third examines speakers’ access to an embodied idea, termed ‘foundation’: this foundation is within their reach on the ‘interior’ plane and beyond their reach on the ‘exterior’ plane. This final axis addresses the contrast between the indicative and subjunctive moods.