Revolutionizing Spanish Language Teaching

María Moliner’s Dictionary and Pragmatic Competence

Authors

  • Ángela Lancione Universidad de Valladolid

Keywords:

Pragmatics, L2 teaching, Innovation, Diccionario Moliner, Communicative competence

Abstract

This paper explores how the Diccionario Moliner becomes a valuable tool for teaching pragmatics in Spanish as a second language (L2) classes. Its detailed focus on linguistic nuances, contextual definitions, and usage examples provides students with an essential resource for understanding variation according to context, politeness, and communicative intentions.

The research was carried out as a case study with both qualitative and quantitative approaches, conducted in March 2025 with 50 Italian-speaking A2-level students at the Università degli Studi di Roma – Foro Italico.

The methodological design included four phases (theoretical introduction, familiarization, analysis of contrastive pragmatic expressions, and practical application in dialogues) and combined questionnaires, observation, and self-assessment.

In summary, the study demonstrates that the systematic use of the dictionary in guided activities enriches students’ lexical repertoire, strengthens pragmatic competence, and raises cultural awareness to help them engage effectively in real-life interactions.

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References

Alcón Soler, E., & Safont Jordà, M. P. (2008). Pragmatic variation in second language contexts. Peter Lang.

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Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.

Escandell Vidal, M. V. (2006). Introducción a la pragmática. Ariel.

Escandell Vidal, M. V. (2009), Los fenómenos de interferencia pragmática, UNED.

Grice, P. (1975), Logic and conversation, University of California.

Hernando Cuadrado, L. A. (1995), El diccionario de María Moliner y el usuario extranjero, ASELE, Actas VI.

Herrera Burstein, M. (2003), Los espejismos del sentido: malentendidos en la comunicación verbal, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lexis XXVII. 1-2 (2003): 313-358.

Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (eds.), Sociolinguistics. Penguin.

Kasper, G., y Rose, K. R. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Language Learning, 52(Suppl1), 1–352.

Moliner, M. (1996), Diccionario de uso del español, Madrid, Gredos.

Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge University Press.

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Published

30-06-2026

How to Cite

Lancione, Ángela. (2026). Revolutionizing Spanish Language Teaching: María Moliner’s Dictionary and Pragmatic Competence. EDU REVIEW. International Education and Learning Review Revista Internacional De Educación Y Aprendizaje, 14(1), 21–33. Retrieved from https://edulab.es/revEDU/article/view/5479

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Research articles

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