People
J. César Félix-Brasdefer | Faculty
Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Office: Ballantine Hall 858
TEL: 855-9551
Email: cfelixbr
Education
Ph.D. University of Minnesota, 2002
M.S. Georgetown University, 1998
M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago, 1996
Licenciatura, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, México, 1991
Specializations
- Pragmatics
- Discourse analysis
- Cross-cultural and Interlanguage Pragmatics
- Pragmatic variation
- Instruction of Pragmatics
Selected Publications
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (in press, 2009). Pragmatic variation across Spanish(es): Male requests in Mexican, Costa Rican, and Dominican Spanish. Intercultural Pragmatics.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2009). Dispreferred responses in interlanguage pragmatics: Refusal sequences in learner-native speaker interactions. Applied Language Learning, Vol. 19 (1-2), 1-27.
- 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).
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2008). Pedagogical intervention and the development of pragmatic competence in learning Spanish as a foreign language. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 47-82.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2008). Perceptions of refusals to invitations: Exploring the minds of foreign language learners. Language Awareness,17(3), 195-211.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2008). Sociopragmatic variation: Dispreferred responses in Mexican and Dominican Spanish. Journal of Politeness Research, 4(1), 81-110.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2008). Teaching Spanish pragmatics in the classroom: Explicit instruction of mitigation. Hispania, 91(2), 477-492.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2008). Cuando estudie en el extranjero, voy a vivir con una familia hispana. ¿Qué necesito saber sobre la cortesía? [When I study abroad, I will live with a Hispanic family. What do I need to know about politeness?] (pp. 95-107). In J. Ewald and A. Edstrom (Eds.), El español a través de la lingüística: Preguntas y respuestas. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. (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.C. (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. C. (2006). Speech act perception in interlanguage pragmatics: Exploring the minds of foreign language learners. /LAUD paper 652/. Duisburg/Essen: Linguistic Agency, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2006). Linguistic politeness in Mexico: Refusal strategies among male speakers of Mexican Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 38(12): 2158-2187.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2006). Teaching the negotiation of multi-turn speech acts. Using conversation-analytic tools to teach pragmatics in the classroom. In K. Bardovi-Harlig, C. Félix-Brasdefer, & A. Omar (Eds.), Pragmatics and Language Learning, Vol. 11 (pp. 165-197). National Foreign Language Resource Center. University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (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. C. (2006). Pragmatic and textual functions of o sea: Evidence from MexicanSpanish. In T. Face & C. Klee (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 191-203). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Prpceedings Project. (Available on line at: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/8/index.html)
- Greenslade, T. & Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2006). Error correction and learner perceptions in L2 Spanish writing. Conference . In C. Klee & T. Face (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 7 th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages (pp. 185-194). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Prpceedings Project. (Available on line at: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/casp/7/index.html)
- Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. (2005). Métodos de recolección de actos de habla: Peticiones en el discurso natural y simulado de hablantes mexicanos. 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. ISBN 91-974521-2-2, URN:NBN:se-2006-2. (Available on line at: http://www.edice.org/2coloquio/2coloquioEDICE.pdf)
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (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. Paper available on-line at http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/7/
- Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. (2004) Interlanguage Refusals: Linguistic Politeness and Length of Residence in the Target Community. Language Learning, 54(4), 587-653.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. (2004). La mitigación en el discurso oral de mexicanos y aprendices de español como lengua extranjera. In D. Bravo and A. Briz (Eds.), Pragmática sociocultural. Estudios sobre el discurso en cortesía en español (pp. 285-299). Spain: Ariel.
- Félix-Brasdefer, J.C. (2003). Validity in data collection methods in pragmatics research. In P. Kempchinsky and 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.C. (2003) Declining an invitation: A Cross-Cultural Study of Pragmatic Strategies in Latin American Spanish and American English. Multilingua, 22(3): 225-255.
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, K., Félix-Brasdefer, J.C., & Omar A. (2006) (Eds.). Pragmatics and Language Learning , Vol. 11. National Foreign Language Resource Center. University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Book Reviews
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2009). Learning how to request in an instructed language learning context. Linguistic Insights. Studies in Langauge and Communication. Vol. 68. Peter Lang AG. Year: 2008 (Published in the Linguist List).
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2006). Spanish Pragmatics by Rosina Márquez-Reiter & María Elena Placencia (2005). Palgrave, Macmillan. Available in the Linguist List on line at http://cf.linguistlist.org/cfdocs/new-website/LL-WorkingDirs/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=66345
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2004). Gender and politeness by Sara Mills (2003). Cambridge University Press. http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/15/15-262.html
- Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (with T. Greenslade). (2003). A workbook in everyday Spanish (2003) by E. Santamaría Iglesias. http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/14/14-1890.html
- J.C. Félix-Brasdefer (2003). Plazas. Spanish textbook for beginning Spanish. Review requested by Prentice Hall. (Book chapter)
Teaching
Undergraduate Courses
- Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
- Spanish Phonetics
- Spanish Applied Linguistics
- Syntax-Pragmatics Interface
- Pragmatic Development in a Second Language
Graduate Courses
- Pragmatics
- Grammar and Social Interaction
- Conversation Analysis
- Cross-Cultural Pragmatics
- Research Methodology
- The Role of Instruction in Learning Second Language Pragmatics
Honors and Awards
- International Travel Grant, Indiana University (http://www.iub.edu), 2005 – Riva del Garda, Italy. Internacional Pragmatics Association (http://webhost.ua.ac.be/ipra/)
- International Travel Grant, Indiana University (http://www.iub.edu), 2004 - San José de Costa Rica. Programa EDICE (http://www.edice.org)
- Faculty Grant, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2003 - Project: “Teaching of Pragmatics” (http://www.uncg.edu)
- Block Grant for Dissertation Research, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Minnesota, 2002 (http://www1.umn.edu/twincities)
- CARLA Fellow, Center for Advanced Research of Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota, 2000–2001 (http://www.carla.umn.edu)
- Student Council Representative, Faculty of Philophy and Letters, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Mexico, 1990-1991 (http://www.uatx.mx)
Current Research Projects
- The pragmatics of service encounters
- Pragmatic variation across varieties of Spanish and English
- Pragmatics and prosody
- (Im)polite Behavior, Facework, and Power


