The acquisition of the German case system by foreign language learners through computer animations based on cognitive linguistics
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Valentina Gradel
Abstract
In the area of teaching German as a foreign language, the major difficulty for learners is to master German cases. With this in mind, Wegener (1995) therefore proposed starting by conveying those syntactic and semantic roles of the case which occur most frequently, i.e., the so-called prototypical functions. Furthermore, Scheller’s (2008) study has shown that animations based on cognitive linguistic theories enhance grammar instruction, although a verification of such an effect for conveying cases is not yet available. The present study therefore examines the question whether an approach which conveys knowledge about cases through presenting prototypical functions on the one hand and using animations on the other hand can offer advantages over traditional teaching methods. Over a period of two months, such an approach, together with traditional teaching methods, has been tested on two groups of subjects learning German as a foreign language at A1 level. The results reveal that the approach which involved a combination of conveying prototypical functions and interactive animations outperformed traditional methods. An integration of such a method into textbooks and into German as a foreign language classrooms could make it easier for learners to master the German case system in the future.
© 2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- Section A
- Introduction: Cognitive approaches to L2 learning and teaching
- German modals in second language acquisition: A constructionist approach
- „Im Deutschen kan das nicht“ – Text type didactics for the teaching of German modal verb constructions
- Path encoding in German as a foreign language: Difficulties encountered by L1 Spanish learners
- One step closer to the target: Using Construction Grammar to teach the expression of motion events to Japanese learners of English
- Section B
- Metaphors and grammar teaching
- The acquisition of the German case system by foreign language learners through computer animations based on cognitive linguistics
- Animation of grammar – Interplay of cognitive linguistics and multimedia learning: The example of German modal auxiliaries
- Teaching the form-function mapping of German ‘prefield’ elements using Concept-Based Instruction
- Frame-based instruction: Teaching polysemous nouns in the L2
- Conceptual motivation as a tool for raising language awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom – Does it enhance learning outcomes? Insights from an empirical study
- A lexical-semantic analysis of the English prepositions at, on and in and their conceptual mapping onto Arabic
- Section C
- The role of scaffolding in children’s questions: Implications for (preschool) language assessment from a usage-based perspective
- Destabilisation, IL variation and restructuring in foreign language learning
- Gesture as a window onto conceptualization in multiple tasks: Implications for second language teaching
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- Section A
- Introduction: Cognitive approaches to L2 learning and teaching
- German modals in second language acquisition: A constructionist approach
- „Im Deutschen kan das nicht“ – Text type didactics for the teaching of German modal verb constructions
- Path encoding in German as a foreign language: Difficulties encountered by L1 Spanish learners
- One step closer to the target: Using Construction Grammar to teach the expression of motion events to Japanese learners of English
- Section B
- Metaphors and grammar teaching
- The acquisition of the German case system by foreign language learners through computer animations based on cognitive linguistics
- Animation of grammar – Interplay of cognitive linguistics and multimedia learning: The example of German modal auxiliaries
- Teaching the form-function mapping of German ‘prefield’ elements using Concept-Based Instruction
- Frame-based instruction: Teaching polysemous nouns in the L2
- Conceptual motivation as a tool for raising language awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom – Does it enhance learning outcomes? Insights from an empirical study
- A lexical-semantic analysis of the English prepositions at, on and in and their conceptual mapping onto Arabic
- Section C
- The role of scaffolding in children’s questions: Implications for (preschool) language assessment from a usage-based perspective
- Destabilisation, IL variation and restructuring in foreign language learning
- Gesture as a window onto conceptualization in multiple tasks: Implications for second language teaching
