The constructional patterns of L2 German meteorological events by native French-, Dutch- and Italian-speaking L1 learners
-
Sabine De Knop
,
Paul Sambre
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.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Preface
- A blueprint of the Entrenchment-and- Conventionalization Model
- Metonymies don’t bomb people, people bomb people
- “Oft in my face he doth his banner rest”
- The historical development of saburafu
- Loanword adaptation: Phonological and cognitive issues
- Framing the difference between sources and goals in Change of Possession events
- Usage-based linguistics and conversational interaction
- Intelligent design
- The constructional patterns of L2 German meteorological events by native French-, Dutch- and Italian-speaking L1 learners
- Linguistic congruency of nominal concept types in German texts
- How bizarre!
- Let’s go look at usage
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Preface
- A blueprint of the Entrenchment-and- Conventionalization Model
- Metonymies don’t bomb people, people bomb people
- “Oft in my face he doth his banner rest”
- The historical development of saburafu
- Loanword adaptation: Phonological and cognitive issues
- Framing the difference between sources and goals in Change of Possession events
- Usage-based linguistics and conversational interaction
- Intelligent design
- The constructional patterns of L2 German meteorological events by native French-, Dutch- and Italian-speaking L1 learners
- Linguistic congruency of nominal concept types in German texts
- How bizarre!
- Let’s go look at usage
