Palabras ancla en el léxico disponible de estudiantes italófonos de español. Un análisis de las partes del cuerpo a partir de los grafos de conocimiento

Recent research in lexical availability has paid special attention to so-called “anchor words”, which, due to their high number of connections, play an essential role in structuring the lexical networks of both native and non-native speakers. The present study aims to carry out a microscopic analysis of “anchor words” in the lexical networks of Italian-speaking learners of Spanish within the semantic field of body parts. The study offers three important innovations from a theoretical, technical, and applied perspective. The theoretical contribution lies in the need to distinguish the concept of the “associative centrality” of a lexeme from its “semantic centrality,” and to define the relationship between the two. Regarding technical innovation, the paper proposes the use of “knowledge graphs” for the analysis of semantic networks. Finally, the results of the analysis suggest a new approach to vocabulary teaching by identifying the pathways through which new words are introduced and integrated into the semantic networks of learners of Spanish as a Foreign Language.