Although there is consensus in the literature that writing skills are important in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) studies, they are often neglected. However, some efforts have been made to correct this deficiency, one of them being the development of assessment rubrics. This study seeks to contribute to the discussion by presenting the results of the application of a rubric designed to assess the writing skills of a group of 3rd year engineering students. This rubric, which includes linguistic and rhetorical-organizational criteria alongside the mathematical and technical, was used to assess a number of written exercises and essays submitted by students in a 15-week course. The main interest of this study was to test the efficacy of the rubric as a diagnostic tool, conceived to detect the areas of improvement in the students’ written performance and, ultimately, to also help them to achieve higher levels of competence. This goal was achieved, as one of the main conclusions of the study is that, although students usually master the technical aspects of the course, they must improve the linguistic and rhetorical aspects of their written communication. It can likewise be said that all the participants involved in the study profited in one way or another from the application of the rubric and contributed to identifying the ways in which the rubric itself can be improved for future application.

Although Error Analysis (EA) has been broadly used in Foreign Language and Mother Tongue learning contexts, it has not been applied in the field of engineering and by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students in a systematic way. In this interdisciplinary pilot study, we applied the EA methodology to a wide corpus of exercises and essays written by third-year students of mechanical engineering, with the main purpose of achieving a precise diagnosis of the students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing skills. For the analysis to be as exhaustive as possible, the errors were typologized into three main categories (linguistic, mathematical, and rhetorical–organizational), each of which is, in turn, subdivided into 15 items. The results show that the predominant errors are rhetorical–organizational (39%) and linguistic (38%). The application of EA permits the precise identification of the areas of improvement and the subsequent implementation of an educational design that allows STEM students to improve their communicative strategies, especially those related to the writing skills and, more precisely, those having to do with the optimal use of syntax, punctuation, rhetorical structure of the text, and mathematical coherence.

"The acquisition of personal pronouns in French as a foreign language (FFL) is one of the key points in the learning of French grammar. In order to study this aspect, we have compiled the written production of Spanish-speaking speakers of FFL. The results show that these speakers acquire the personal pronoun system at different at different stages in the learning process in the following order: firstly, they acquire the subject pronouns, secondly the tonic pronouns, then the atonic pronouns, and lastly the pronouns en/y, these results are in line with the studies carried out on the acquisition of personal pronouns in FLE. In this order of acquisition, linguistic competence is also significant."

El pronombre en supone un reto para cualquier docente de francés como lengua extranjera (FLE) en un entorno hispanohablante, sobre todo por la falta de correspondencia entre el español (lengua de partida) y el francés (lengua de llegada). Comenzamos con un análisis contrastivo de las funciones sintácticas de en en francés y en español. A continuación, señalamos las equivalencias traductológicas de este pronombre en español. Concluimos con una propuesta didáctica para el curso de FLE. Utilizaremos textos literarios para establecer un análisis contrastivo traductológico y sintáctico de este pronombre en contexto. De este modo, una mejor comprensión del funcionamiento del pronombre en redundará en una mejora de su adquisición. Le pronom en constitue un défi pour tout enseignant de français langue étrangère (FLE) en milieu hispanophone surtout à cause du manque de correspondance entre l’espagnol (langue source) et le français (langue cible). Nous analysons, d’abord, de façon contrastive les fonctions syntactiques du en en français et en espagnol. Après, nous signalons les équivalences traductologiques de ce pronom en espagnol. Nous terminons avec une proposition didactique pour le cours de FLE. Nous nous servirons des textes littéraires pour établir une analyse contrastive traductologique et syntactique de ce pronom en contexte. Ainsi, une meilleure compréhension du fonctionnement du pronom en, emmènera à une amélioration dans son acquisition.

El objetivo de este artículo es establecer un análisis comparativo de cuatro aplicaciones móviles (apps) diseñadas para la adquisición del francés como lengua extranjera (FLE). Dos de ellas se dirigen a un público generalista en el que el francés es una de las lenguas ofrecidas: Bussu y Duolingo. Los otros dos han siso creadas exclusivamente para aprender FLE: Le Bon Mot et Français Premier Pas. La revisión bibliográfica nos permite afirmar que la autonomía y la sencillez son ventajas del uso de las apps, mientras que el aspecto repetitivo sigue siendo una limitación. Nos centraremos en el estudio de los ejercicios propuestos en las aplicaciones seleccionadas con respecto a las habilidades orales de comprensión y expresión. Nuestro estudio llega a la conclusión de que, aunque las habilidades de comprensión están bastante bien desarrolladas, las de expresión podrían mejorarse para que estas aplicaciones sean herramientas eficaces.