Nuestra NEBRIJA 25 - Mayo 2018

33 larger part of the visible face of the moon. The Faculty of Languages and Education of the Nebrija University is working to colonize new territories which enable us to expand our knowledge of the visible hemisphere of the moon. The lines of research aimed at the acquisition of Spanish as a different language to the mother tongue, which are being developed from the field of applied linguistics, represent a multidimensional strategic advance. Divided between linguistics, education and cognitive science, applied linguistics offers a new perspective to understand how people of different origins, with different mother tongues, with very different cognitive profiles and with different socio- demographic situations acquire Spanish as a foreign language. Thus, the Faculty of Languages and Education is working to break down the boundaries of knowledge and to strategically position itself on a scientific level offering us a more global approach of our particular moon, which is the Spanish language. Thanks to the lines that are being developed by the University, and thanks to collaborations with institutions that complement the potential of Nebrija University with techniques that enable us to deepen into the cognitive and cerebral processes that underlie the processing of language, today we are closer to understand the complexity of the visible face of the moon. However, the work does not end there. Understanding the acquisition of a new language needs, as we said, a watchtower offering a full picture. The visible face of the moon only represents one of the two sides. We still have to learn to observe the remaining 41%. We lack new perspectives that show us the far side of the moon, and the Faculty of Languages and Education has set to work on building those new beacons of light that enlighten knowledge. To this end, research projects are being undertaken to address the emotional dimension and to understand the relationship between affective processes and language learning. The key to understanding the dark side of the moon probably lies in emotions, since, as Antoine de Saint- Exupéry underlined in his most famous work, it is only with the heart that one can one see rightly. Although the essential is invisible to the eye, our research lines have as their ultimate goal to allow us to see also the far side of the moon. That is precisely my answer to those who asked why I joined the Nebrija family. I came to this University because I trust in multidisciplinary scientific approaches. I came to Nebrija in order to make the invisible visible from new perspectives. A n approach to multilingualism based on cognitive science and psycholinguistics is fundamental to understand a larger part of the visible face of the moon Artículo traducido por Marina Rengifo