Sabine De Knop

Argument constructions and language processing: Evidence from a priming Experiment and pedagogical implications

The notion of argument construction is widely accepted in Cognitive Linguistics circles as a highly explanatory theoretical construct. It has recently been incorporated into the Lexical-Constructional Model (LCM; Ruiz de Mendoza and Mairal 2007, 2008), a theoretical approach to meaning construction that integrates argument constructions into a broader model that incorporates meaning dimensions traditionally dealt with in the domain of pragmatics and discourse analysis. The LCM has an argument level of description, in the form of constructional templates, which are in general equivalent to the argument constructions postulated in Goldberg’s (1995, 2006) Construction Grammar, although there are crucial differences in the descriptive metalanguage and the principles used to explain their linguistic behavior. Since the LCM is geared to have psychological adequacy, like all cognitive (cf. Lakoff 1990) and some functional approaches to language (e.g. Dik 1997), it is essential to find to what extent the notion of argument construction is a real processing mechanism. This paper presents a priming experiment measuring reaction times to sentences that had the same formal configurations but were based on different argument constructions, and to sentences that were formally similar and embodied the same argument construction. Subjects responded significantly faster to target sentences that shared the same construction as the previously viewed sentences. Thus, constructions appear to be psychological entities that play an important role in linguistic processing. If this is correct, then it has potentially important consequences for planning adequate L2 teaching

Applied Construction Grammar

Current research within the framework of Construction Grammar has mainly adopted a theoretical or descriptive approach, neglecting the more applied perspective, and especially the question of how language acquisition and pedagogy can benefit from a CxG-based approach. The present volume explores various aspects of the field of “Applied Construction Grammar”, through a collection of studies that apply Construction Grammar (CxG) and CxG-inspired approaches to relevant issues in L2 acquisition and teaching. Relying on empirical data and covering a wide range of constructions and languages, the chapters show how the cross-fertilization of CxG and L2 acquisition/teaching can lead to new theoretical insights and improved pedagogical practices. Applied Construction Grammar can improve the description of learners’ use of constructions, provide theoretical insights into the processes underlying their acquisition (e.g. with reference to inheritance links or transfer from the L1), or lead to novel teaching practices and resources aimed to help learners make the generalizations that native speakers make naturally from the input they receive.

The ‘Learner Corpus Research, Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition’ nexus: a SWOT analysis.

Abstract The introductory chapter of this special issue on ‘Learner Corpus Research, Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition’ addresses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats of using both learner corpora and Cognitive Linguistics to research second language acquisition. We also discuss some terminological issues related to the notion of second language acquisition. Finally, we present the various chapters included in the volume and explain how each of them concretely articulates the connections between the three disciplines under analysis.

Conceptual tools for the description and the acquisition of the German posture verb "sitzen"

The study of German posture verbs has attracted the interest of many linguists, e.g. Berthele (2004 and 2006), Fagan (1991), Kutscher-Schultze-Berndt (2007) and Serra-Borneto (1996). It is surprising that most studies disregard the posture verb sitzen ‘to sit’. The present paper aims at looking at this neglected area of description. A corpus study of sitzen allows us to get a differentiated picture of the different uses of that verb and to show that sitzen is not restricted to the concrete sitting position but is also used to express more abstract senses, e.g. Er sitzt in der Falle, lit. ‘He sits in the trap’ (= ‘He has problems’), or Das Kleid sitzt nicht, lit.‘The skirt does not sit’ (= ‘The skirt does not fit’). Foreign language learners have difficulties with the more abstract or metaphorical uses of verbs (compare Littlemore 2011), this also pertains to the abstract uses of sitzen. Interestingly enough, most teaching manuals for German do not describe the semantic uses of sitzen either. The study aims at making up for these deficits. With examples from the German corpora from the Digitales Wörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache (DWDS), it first describes the different uses of the verb sitzen. It then offers a brief critical overview of teaching manuals for German. Based on essays from learner corpora, e.g. Falko, and cloze tests by French students it further presents the difficulties encountered by foreign learners of German with the more abstract or metaphorical uses of sitzen. In the framework of Cognitive Linguistics the study also proposes some ‘conceptual tools’ to facilitate the learning of the more abstract uses of the verb sitzen. These tools are semantic networks, visuals, and conceptual metaphors. Spatial distinctions such as those between container and contact are extended to more abstract areas of experience, especially in the context of situations describing abstract states. Here one of the main issues for the learner is to find out whether the abstract goal is conceptualized as a container, a contact or still another basic spatial relation. The efficiency of these conceptual tools is tested with a cloze test conducted with French-speaking students.

Konstruktionsgrammatik in den romanischen Sprachen

Der Begriff der „Konstruktionsgrammatik“ (Construction Grammar, CxG) bezieht sich auf eine Familie grammatischer Theorien, die von sogenannten „Konstruktionen“ als Basiseinhei-ten der Grammatik ausgehen. Vor allem im angelsachsischen Sprachraum hat sich die Konstruktionsgrammatik in den letz-ten zwei Jahrzehnten insbesondere mit den Publikationen von Charles Fillmore (1988), Willi-am Croft (2001), Adele Goldberg (1995 und 2006) und Michael Tomasello (2003) parallel und als Alternative zur Kognitiven Grammatik Langackers (1987 und 1991) entwickelt. Im deutschen Sprachraum haben die Publikationen von Fischer und Stefanowitsch (2006) und Stefanowitsch und Fischer (2008) in den letzten Jahren fur eine gewisse Verbreitung dieser Familientheorie im deutschsprachigen Raum gesorgt. Kennzeichnend fur alle CxG-Ansatze ist eine radikale Abkehr vom Phrasenstruktur-Prinzip, nach dem bestimmte Formklassen (V, N, A, usw.) nach allgemeingultigen, abstrakten und formalen Regeln zu Phrasen (Syntagmen) zusammengesetzt werden: Jede Konstruktion, vom Wort bis zum Satz, wird als potenziell eigenstandige, symbolische Einheit betrachtet, die eigene formale und inhaltliche Regeln mit sich bringen kann. Konstruktionen sind somit durch das Prinzip der „Nichtkompositionalitat“ gekennzeichnet. Nach der CxG stehen Form und Bedeutung in einer symbolischen Beziehung zueinander, d.h. dass grammatische Phanomene nur im Hinblick auf ihre semantische Relevanz zu untersuchen sind. Trotz der zahlreichen Abhandlungen uber den Nutzen der CxG fur die Beschreibung linguisti-scher Phanomene (wie kann z.B. die Transitivierung eines nichttransitiven Verbs wie sneeze ‚niesen’ in einem Beispiel wie John sneezed the napkin off the table erklart werden?) hat die CxG bislang wenig Interesse fur die Beschreibung romanischer Sprachen gefunden. Die Sektion versteht sich als erstes offizielles Treffen von an CxG interessierten deutschspra-chigen Romanisten. Ziel ist es, Strukturen der romanischen Sprachen nach den Prinzipien der CxG zu beschreiben, und zwar in synchronischer, diachronischer und/oder kontrastiver (in-nerromanischer bzw. romanisch-deutscher) Perspektive. Willkommen sind Beitrage, die sich theoretisch und methodologisch mit der CxG in ihrem breiten Spektrum befassen oder das Verhaltnis zwischen konstruktionsgrammatischen Ansatzen und anderen Theorien analysieren, insbesondere der Valenztheorie, die gewissermasen als Pendant zur CxG gesehen werden kann („top-down“- vs. „bottom-up“-Analyse). Weitere Schwerpunkte sind Spracherwerbs-, Syntax- und Grammatikalisierungsforschung und Phraseologie.

The constructional patterns of L2 German meteorological events by native French-, Dutch- and Italian-speaking L1 learners

Abstract Weather expressions can be seen as a relevant topic in foreign language (FL) teaching. Traditional teaching methodology focuses on fixed FL expressions like impersonal verbs discarding both the rich array of verbal and nominal constructions for typical weather states, as well as the learners’ needs for their production. Construction grammar may fill this gap in two respects, by focusing on weather expressions produced by second language learners (L2). This study describes: (1) the variation in the preferred L2 constructional patterns for weather forecasts in three samples of non-native speakers of German (French, Italian and Dutch); (2) an inventory of constructional and associated lexical deficits in German-L2, compared to the participants’ L1. Descriptive results lead to constructional recommendations for language pedagogy of L2 German. From a contrastive perspective, we explore the influence of L1- on L2- constructions, in order to show possible learner interferences. More specifically, we contrast the Dutch learners as representatives of a Germanic language, with the speakers of the Romance languages. Finally, we propose some guidelines for construction-based teaching as an alternative to the conventional lexical approach to meteorological expressions.