Centralidad asociativa y centralidad semántica: asociaciones semánticas en el léxico disponible de estudiantes italófonos de Español como Lengua Extranjera

Despite the impact that graph theory has had on recent research into lexical networks, numerous studies consider the necessity to address the qualitative dimension in the analysis of these connections. Our investigation addresses this problem throughout the lexicon of Italian students learning Spanish as a foreign language, and it aims to explore the link between the degree of connectivity of a lexical node (associative centrality) and its semantic contribution to the overall structure of the network (semantic centrality). To achieve this goal, the research was carried out in three phases: data collection from lexical availability tests, quantitative analysis of lexical networks, and assessment of the semantic content of connected pairs. The research hypothesis is developed along two approaches: theoretical and applied. The theoretical approach examines the relationship between the number of connections generated by a node and the semantic strength it contributes. As for the applied one, the study aims to demonstrate the increase in meaningful connections as the linguistic competence of students increases. Finally, the article suggests the incorporation of “knowledge graphs” to represent semantic connections.