International Workshop on Ser y Estar: Thinking Grammar, Teaching Language

In brief

Date: 22 May 2026

Venue: Room 4.35, Edinburgh Futures Institute

Organisers: Cervantes Chair; the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh; the Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom (SRUK/CERU)

About the event

This workshop aims to address key questions at the intersection of grammatical theory, second language acquisition, and classroom practice, offering new insights into one of the most distinctive features of Spanish grammar.

The programme features contributions from more than 15 scholars based at institutions in the UK, Spain and France, including:

  • University of Edinburgh
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Universidad de Alcalá
  • Universidad de Sevilla
  • Université de Tours
  • Université Paris Cité
  • Universidade da Coruña

Presentations will explore topics such as adjectival predication, variation and change in the Spanish verbal system, cross-linguistic influence in L2 acquisition, and corpus-based analyses of contemporary Spanish.

In addition to research papers, the workshop will include dedicated sessions on teaching practice, reflecting on how theoretical advances can inform grammar instruction in Spanish language teaching contexts. These sessions aim to foster dialogue between researchers and practitioners and to promote innovative approaches to teaching ser and estar in diverse educational settings.

Please note that this event will be held in Spanish.

9am - Registro y bienvenida: Carlos Soler Montes (U Edinburgh) y Alexis Grohmann (Cervantes Chair, U Edinburgh)

9:30am - ProfELEGram: aproximación al estudio de la research culture en gramática del profesorado de ELE a través de ser y estar: Federico Silvagni (U Complutense de Madrid) y Diana Gómez Vázquez (U Sevilla)

10am - Estar con adjectivos de edad. Un reto para la teoría lingüística: Silvia Gumiel-Molina, Norberto Moreno-Quibén e Isabel Pérez-Jiménez (U Alcalá)

10:30am - Pausa café

11am - Los modos de comparar en la adquisición de [ser/estar + adjectivo] en el aula de ELE: resultados de un estudio cuasiexperimental con aprendientes italófonos: Marzia Bencivenga (U Alcalá)

11:30am - Contrastes iberorromances y adquisición de L2: estar + predicados de individuo en L2 español por hablantes de L1 portugués: Aoife Ahern (U Complutense de Madrid), José Amenós-Pons (U Complutense de Madrid) y Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes (U Illes Balears)

12 noon - Teoría frente a práctica: reflexiones docentes I: Helena González Ruiz y José Ángel Tejero López (U Edinburgh) 

12:30pm - Pausa comida

1:30pm - Identidad profesional y saberes docentes en la enseñanza de la variación de ser y estar en el contexto educativo francés: Yekaterina García Márkina (U Tours) y Cristian Valdez (U Paris Cité)

2pm - Variación en el uso y en la combinatoria de los verbos de cambio en el español actual: un análisis basado en CORPES XXI: Eugenia Conde Noguerol (U Coruña)

2:30pm - Pausa café

3pm - Más allá de la experiencia directa: estar+ILP y la legitimidad del juicio evaluativo: Victoria Leonetti-Escandell y Victoria Escandell-Vidal (U Complutense de Madrid)

3:30pm - El verbo pseudocopulativo de percepción ver(se) con predicados adjectivales: Leticia Desborde Zamorano (U Alcalá)

4pm - Teoría frente a práctica: reflexiones docentes II: Elena Sanz Ortega y Roser Vich Gallego (U Edinburgh)

4:30pm - Clausura y despedida


How to attend

This event is open to all, and free to attend. If you would like to attend, please email the SRUK/CERU Language Policy Committee before 15 May 2026 to register.

Are you interested in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies?

Founded in 1919, LLC has one of the best-established departments of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (SPLAS) in the UK, offering a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including teaching and supervision in Basque, Catalan, Latin American, Portuguese and Spanish studies.

Tags

European Languages and Cultures
Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies