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Chapter 14. Construction grammar and foreign language learning (L3)

Target and non-target language patterns including the Spanish verbs tener and ser
  • Kathleen Plötner
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Constructions in Spanish
This chapter is in the book Constructions in Spanish

Abstract

This paper focuses on predicative constructions with ser and have-constructions with tener in written language production of native German students studying Spanish as a third language (L3). First, I establish a common ground between a usage-based approach and construction grammar and then define so-called ‘construction learning’ in the teaching of a foreign language. Subsequently, the study investigates the use of tener (‘to have’) and ser (‘to be’), both irregular high-frequency verbs, in the third person singular and the constructional embedding of these two verbal forms in patterns like [N es ADJ] ( Mi amigo es alto ‘my friend is tall’) and [ART N tiene ART N ADJ] ( La chica tiene los ojos azules ‘the girl has blue eyes’) by 12- and 13-year-old and 15- and 16-year-old native German students. As a text type, the ‘description of the person’ was chosen – a text type which is already practiced in the first year of language learning and is therefore suitable for comparative corpus-based studies of different learner levels.

Abstract

This paper focuses on predicative constructions with ser and have-constructions with tener in written language production of native German students studying Spanish as a third language (L3). First, I establish a common ground between a usage-based approach and construction grammar and then define so-called ‘construction learning’ in the teaching of a foreign language. Subsequently, the study investigates the use of tener (‘to have’) and ser (‘to be’), both irregular high-frequency verbs, in the third person singular and the constructional embedding of these two verbal forms in patterns like [N es ADJ] ( Mi amigo es alto ‘my friend is tall’) and [ART N tiene ART N ADJ] ( La chica tiene los ojos azules ‘the girl has blue eyes’) by 12- and 13-year-old and 15- and 16-year-old native German students. As a text type, the ‘description of the person’ was chosen – a text type which is already practiced in the first year of language learning and is therefore suitable for comparative corpus-based studies of different learner levels.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part 1. Introduction
  4. Chapter 1. Construction Grammar meets Hispanic linguistics 2
  5. Part 2. Comparative word-formation constructions
  6. Chapter 2. Collection nouns as a derivational category in Spanish 28
  7. Chapter 3. Lexical reduplication in Spanish and Italian 57
  8. Part 3. Phrase-level constructions
  9. Chapter 4. A constructional approach to causative support verbs in Spanish 78
  10. Chapter 5. From idioms to semi-schematic constructions and vice versa 103
  11. Chapter 6. The construction [ a TODO N sg ] in Spanish 129
  12. Part 4. Abstract and schematic constructions
  13. Chapter 7. On deconstructing mood 156
  14. Chapter 8. Quotative que constructions in Spanish 193
  15. Chapter 9. Que conste/sepas and como si constructions in Spanish 224
  16. Chapter 10. A constructional analysis of digo yo in peninsular Spanish 255
  17. Part 5. Extending the scope of constructionist research on Spanish
  18. Chapter 11. From he aquí to aquí está 280
  19. Chapter 12. On the role of verb-particle constructions in Old Spanish 309
  20. Chapter 13. What can collaboratively produced lists tell us about constructions? 340
  21. Chapter 14. Construction grammar and foreign language learning (L3) 375
  22. Subject index 405
  23. Construction index 408
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.34.14plo

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part 1. Introduction
  4. Chapter 1. Construction Grammar meets Hispanic linguistics 2
  5. Part 2. Comparative word-formation constructions
  6. Chapter 2. Collection nouns as a derivational category in Spanish 28
  7. Chapter 3. Lexical reduplication in Spanish and Italian 57
  8. Part 3. Phrase-level constructions
  9. Chapter 4. A constructional approach to causative support verbs in Spanish 78
  10. Chapter 5. From idioms to semi-schematic constructions and vice versa 103
  11. Chapter 6. The construction [ a TODO N sg ] in Spanish 129
  12. Part 4. Abstract and schematic constructions
  13. Chapter 7. On deconstructing mood 156
  14. Chapter 8. Quotative que constructions in Spanish 193
  15. Chapter 9. Que conste/sepas and como si constructions in Spanish 224
  16. Chapter 10. A constructional analysis of digo yo in peninsular Spanish 255
  17. Part 5. Extending the scope of constructionist research on Spanish
  18. Chapter 11. From he aquí to aquí está 280
  19. Chapter 12. On the role of verb-particle constructions in Old Spanish 309
  20. Chapter 13. What can collaboratively produced lists tell us about constructions? 340
  21. Chapter 14. Construction grammar and foreign language learning (L3) 375
  22. Subject index 405
  23. Construction index 408
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